Scottie Scheffler can join Tiger and Rory in elite club with PGA Championship win

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in prime position to win his third major championship.
Scottie Scheffler during the third round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club
Scottie Scheffler during the third round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club | Alex Slitz/GettyImages

Since the inception of the Official World Golf Ranking, a total of 25 men have held the top spot, the current No. 1, of course, being Scottie Scheffler.

Of these 25 players, all but two have won at least one major championship, the exceptions being Englishmen Lee Westwood and Luke Donald.

Of the remaining 23, only six have won at least one major while holding the No. 1 ranking, those being Ian Woosnam (1), Fred Couples (1), Tiger Woods (11), Rory McIlroy (1), Dustin Johnson (1), and Scheffler (2).

And of those six, only two have won the PGA Championship as the top player in the world.

Tiger hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy three times as the world No. 1 in 2000, 2006, and 2007. He was ranked second when he won his first PGA Championship in 1999.

As for Rory, he sat atop the OWGR for just one of his five major championship wins, that being the 2014 PGA Championship, which was famously his last major win for more than a decade before securing the career Grand Slam at The Masters last month.

That's the two-man club Scheffler is looking to make a trio on Sunday. And with a brilliant performance at Quail Hollow Club on Saturday, he put himself in prime position to do just that.

Entering his third round trailing 36-hole leader Jhonattan Vegas by three at 5-under, Scottie immediately dropped a shot with a bogey on the par-4 first but made three birdies over his next eight holes to card a 2-under 33 on his opening nine.

With the leaderboard getting ridiculously crowded at the top, Scheffler failed to take advantage of the par-5 10th, making a par, and bogeyed two of his next three holes, squeezing a birdie in between at the par-4 12th.

But that's where the fireworks began, as the two-time Masters champ eagled the drivable par-4 14th after hitting his tee shot less than three feet from the hole.

A birdie followed at the par-5 15th and, following a par at the always difficult par-4 16th, where he made a double bogey in the opening round, Scheffler closed with birdies at the par-3 17th and the par-4 18th to finish with a 6-under 65.

Now at 11-under for the week, Scheffler will take a three-shot advantage over Alex Noren into the final round, with Davis Riley and J.T. Poston sitting four behind and Vegas, Jon Rahm, and Si Woo Kim trailing by five.

While anything can happen in a major championship on Sunday, it's a strong bet that Tiger and Rory will soon have company.

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