“I feel good” — Scheffler closes in on third leg of career Grand Slam at The Open
Scottie Scheffler plays his third shot on the 12th hole at Royal Portrush. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
Scottie Scheffler insisted he was not aware of Rory McIlroy's third-round charge as he fired a bogey-free 67 to take a four-shot lead into the final round of The Open.
The world number one was not at his very best but as roars rang out all over Royal Portrush as McIlroy shot 66 to go into the final round six shots behind, he relentlessly pushed forward to edge closer to the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
"I feel good," said Scheffler, who eagled the seventh, birdied the eighth and followed stellar par saves at the 11th and 14th with his third birdie two of the week at the 16th.
"I had another good day today. I made a couple of nice par saves. I had a really good par save on 11, really good par save on 14 and I did some good stuff.
"Like you said, I was pretty patient most of the day but felt like I was hitting it really nice. Just sometimes major championships it can be tough to make birdies, and today was one of those days where I just had to give myself some looks and was able to hole a few.
"I'm just trying to execute, not overthinking things. I feel like I've been doing the right thing so far, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of tomorrow."
Asked if he was aware of McIlroy's charge, he was in no mood to give the Holywood star any encouragement, even if he was aware of the Holywood star's move up the leaderboard to joint fourth.
"Ehhh, no," Scheffler said as he headed for home to recharge for a final round pairing with China's Haotong Li, who trails him by four shots on 10-under after a 69.
Scheffler added a third major title to his two Masters victories by claiming the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in May and admitted it would be satisfying to add a Claret Jug to his collection and leave himself needing only the US Open to join McIlroy in the career Grand Slam club.
"Yeah, it would be nice, but I'm not going to be thinking about that tonight," said the American, who leads the putting statistics and lies second for strokes gained on approach.
"I'm going to be going home, trying to get some rest and get some recovery and then get ready for tomorrow."
Ominously for the chasing pack, Scheffler has converted his last nine 54-hole leads into wins.
Why he's such a good front runner is a mystery to him.
"Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "I like being out here competing. This is why we work so hard is to have opportunities like this, and I'm excited for the challenge of tomorrow.
"Winning major championships is not an easy task, and I've put myself in a good position.
"Going into tomorrow I'm going to step up there on the first tee and I'm going to be trying to get the ball in the fairway, and when I get to the second shot I'm going to be trying to get that ball on the green.
"There's not really too much else going on."
As for the chasers, Haotong feels he has nothing to lose when he heads out with Scheffler in the final group at 2:30 pm after almost quitting the game due to swing yips two years ago.
"I'm actually quite looking forward to it," he said. "Four shots behind, kind of like play for second, especially play with world No. 1.
"I just try to play my best out there and hopefully make something happen.
"For sure, nothing to lose. Especially from two years ago, swing yips, couldn't even pull the trigger until now. It's a massive step for me."
Fitzpatrick will play in the penultimate group with McIlroy and at five strokes adrift, he knows it won't be easy to catch a player of Scheffler's calibre.
"Let's be realistic, he's five ahead," he said. "It's not easy. But if you get off to a good start, then obviously put a bit of pressure on early doors and hope for the best, really."
McIlroy also knows it will be tough to catch Scheffler from six shots behind.
"Yeah, he's playing like Scottie," McIlroy said. "I don't think it's a surprise. Everyone's seen the way he's played or plays over the last two or three years.
"He's just so solid. He doesn't make mistakes. It looked like he could have made bogey on 14 there.
"He's turned himself into a really consistent putter as well. So there doesn't seem to be any weakness there.
Whenever you're trying to chase down a guy like that, it's hard to do. But he's incredibly impressive."
The Down man planned to watch "Oppenheimer" to distract himself from his task.
"I started 'Oppenheimer' last night," he said. "Try to get through another hour of it tonight and maybe finish it tomorrow morning.
"Apart from that, just keep my mind off of things. I always do better with distraction. So if I can just distract myself and get my mind on something else, that's always a good plan for me.”
