Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – World number one Scottie Scheffler recorded his worst round in almost three years, shooting a 4-over-par 76 at the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines on Saturday. Patrick Rodgers, with an eight-under score, holds a one-stroke lead over fellow American Denny McCarthy heading into Sunday’s final round, with both aiming for their first wins on the PGA Tour. Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, who shot a hole in one on the third hole, is a further shot back on the course near San Diego, as the tournament is being hosted there instead of Riviera due to wildfire damage in Los Angeles.
Despite Scheffler’s worst score since the final round of the 2022 Players Championship, the two-time Masters champion is not completely out of contention. Scheffler is five shots off the lead, tied in eighth place alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, who will also be hoping to make a charge on Sunday. The dominant force in golf last year, Scheffler won nine tournaments worldwide, including the Olympics. He made a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole before the first of three bogeys came on the next hole—the par-5 sixth—where he found a fairway bunker and then missed a 4-foot putt for par.
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Another bogey followed on the par-5 ninth, where Scheffler encountered trouble in the rough, but it was his double bogey on the par-4 14th that did the most damage. Scheffler, who was the lone player without a bogey on Friday, drove wide left into the native area and took a drop. He then drove into the greenside bunker before two-putting. Rodgers would have had a bigger lead had he not ended a fine round with a bogey on the 18th, where he found water with his approach shot.
“It’s definitely an exciting finishing hole. You can have happen what happened to me today or you can hit a great shot and make a three; it’s all part of the excitement,” said Rodgers, who hesitated over his club choice for the fateful shot. “What happened was it came out just a little slower with the moisture, so my gap wedge, a little like 95, 100-yard shot just came out really slow. I felt like I executed OK. Obviously, it looked silly when it ends up in the water, but I’m proud of the way I got it up and in,” he added.
The 32-year-old, who joined the tour in 2014 after an excellent amateur career, has had to witness many of his contemporaries winning tournaments while victory has eluded him. However, he says he no longer struggles with the weight of expectation. “Early in my career, with the amateur resume that I had, I felt like there was a lot expected of myself internally. When immediate success and immediate wins didn’t come straight away, it was kind of fighting who I saw myself to be,” he explained. “So instead of playing with a monkey on your back that gets bigger and bigger over time when it doesn’t happen, I’m trying to play from a perspective that feels fresh, new, exciting, and full of opportunity because that’s what this game is, and I have a big one tomorrow,” Rodgers added.
Rodgers’ playing partner Aberg put himself right in the mix with his hole-in-one at the 140-yard, par-3 third hole. The Swede’s shot landed behind the pin and spun back into the hole for his first ace on the PGA Tour. “I hit a little cut pitching wedge up in the wind and landed behind it and came back. It was a really cool moment. I’ve never made a hole-in-one in tournament play before, so it was a first for sure,” he said.
Tony Finau shot the best round of the day with his 5-under 67, which included three chip-ins, leaving him tied for fourth, four shots off the lead, alongside Davis Thompson, Patrick Cantlay, and England’s Tommy Fleetwood.
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