2025 PGA Championship leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler takes control with sensational 65 to lead after Round 3

Scheffler holds his third career 54-hole lead at a major championship putting him in pole position for his first crown outside Augusta National

Moving Day at the 2025 PGA Championship brought the world's No. 1 golfer to the No. 1 spot on the Quail Hollow leaderboard. Scottie Scheffler fired a sensational 6-under 65 to post the best round of the day and take a three-shot lead into Sunday's final round in Charlotte.

Scheffler finished his day with an eagle, seven birdies and three bogeys in what was simply an incredible display of golfing talent. That has put him 18 holes away from his third major championship crown and first outside Augusta, Georgia. He won both of his Masters green jackets as the 54-hole leader of that tournament and sits 9 for 15 in his PGA Tour career converting third-round leads into victories. That includes five straight successes when facing such opportunities.

Scheffler got off to a rough start Saturday, bogeying the 1st hole to fall back to 4 under, four off the pace of 18- and 36-hole leader Jhonattan Vegas. However, Vegas likewise bogeyed the 1st (and the 2nd) to kick off his third round, suddenly bringing a whole host of players into the mix.

Scheffler truly started making his move on the middle of the front nine as he nearly aced the par-3 4th to set up his first birdie of the day. That sparked a little run of three birdies across four holes to move the two-time Masters champion into a tie for the lead at 7 under. 

It appeared as if Scheffler like he might steamroll his way past the rest of the field; however, he faltered in the middle portion of his round, failing to take advantage of birdie holes on No. 8 and No. 10. A bogey-birdie-bogey stretch from the 11th to 13th dropped him out of the lead and two back once again, but this time, it was Bryson DeChambeau who had surged ahead with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15. 

It suddenly appeared as if DeChambeau was going to post a number and dare Scheffler and the rest of the field to catch him. Unfortunately for the big-swinging 31-year-old, the Green Mile had different ideas. DeChambeau bogeyed the 16th after finding the rough on the hill above the fairway off the tee before dumping his tee shot in the water on No. 17 for an eventual double bogey. 

While DeChambeau was in the middle of his ejection on the 17th, Scheffler was beginning his surge across the lake. After his bogey on No. 13, the Texan stepped up to the drivable par-4 and put his best swing of the day on a 3 wood, hoisting a high draw that landed just short and rolled out to 2'9" from the hole for eagle. 

The roar from that shot traveled across the lake and forced DeChambeau to back off his bogey putt as Scheffler put himself back in front at 8 under, tied with Alex Noren, who had just birdied four of his last five holes to post 8 under as the clubhouse lead. 

Scheffler wasn't done, though. Unlike DeChambeau, he was not deterred by the Green Mile. 

A birdie on No. 15 moved him into the solo lead at 9 under, and he played the 16th nearly perfectly with a great drive and a 7 iron to 12 feet below the hole. He couldn't pay off the birdie putt, but it was clear that the ball-striking that had been shaky all week was rounding into form at just the right time. 

Scheffler carried that confidence in his swing to the 17th tee and executed a perfect tee shot right where DeChambeau's hopes had been crushed an hour earlier. This time, he sank the 18-footer for birdie, moving to 10 under and putting some real distance between himself and the field for the first time. 

For most, that would've been satisfying enough, but Scheffler put his killer instinct on full display. With his swing fully in a groove and the putter red-hot, he hammered a drive down the middle of the fairway. Despite seeing it settle onto and old divot, he fired a picture-perfect iron to hole high, 9 feet from the pin. He poured that in to post the clubhouse lead at 11 under, three clear of Noren in second place. 

While Scheffler's round was magnificent, it was far from perfect. From No. 8 to No. 13, he had to scratch his way around without his best stuff, but once the swing got back on the rails on No. 14, it never left. He rode that heater all the way to the end. 

All of his best traits were on full display on Saturday afternoon at Quail Hollow. The ball-striking was all-world for much of it, but his ability to grind out scores when he's not hitting it perfectly is second to none. On top of that, he has such an incredible sense of the moment and ability to rise to it. 

Scheffler had to have a great tee shot on the 14th, coming off two bogeys in three holes and seeing DeChambeau jump to the lead, and he answered by delivering his best swing of the day. He bullied his way through the Green Mile, giving himself birdie putts of 12, 17 and 9 feet in a preposterous display of ball-striking, paying off two of those with makes. He played the final five holes at Quail Hollow in 5 under, seizing full control of a tournament that felt up for grabs all day. 

Now, he's made it so those chasing him -- headlined by Jon Rahm (-6) and Bryson DeChambeau (-5) -- have to produce something spectacular to usurp the leader. If Scheffler had just made three pars to close, it would've been a nice finish, and he would've been the strong favorite. The the door still would've been ajar.

Instead, he slammed it shut and will force someone to go out and play the round of their life to kick it down.

That's why he's the world No. 1. With a 3-shot lead, he is the heavy favorite (2/9 at DraftKings) to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy and cement his place as the best golfer on the planet. 

2025 PGA Championship leaderboard breakdown

1. Scottie Scheffler (-11): Put simply, it will be a shock if Scheffler isn't the winner come Sunday night. He showed Thursday and Friday that, even when he isn't at his best, he can post a round in the 60s. After finally putting it all together on the back nine Saturday, he hit the jets and ran away from the field. 

2. Alex Noren (-8): Noren is playing in just his second tournament since last October as he's dealt with myriad injuries and is seeking his best career finish in a major (T6 at the 2017 Open). His 66 on Saturday was the best round of the day until Scheffler's 65 and he, like Scottie, did his damage late with four birdies in the last five holes. Noren will be in the final pairing Sunday, which will be a new experience for him, but he has to feel like this week has already been a success and that can hopefully free him up to play some good golf under an intense microscope next to the world No. 1. 

T3. Davis Riley, J.T. Poston (-7): Both men did an incredible job keeping their cards clean Saturday as they each only put one bogey on the card, and it came early on the front nine. Their ability to stay steady, make pars and capitalize on opportunities for birdies has them in the top five and seeking their own career-best finishes in a major. 

T5. Jon Rahm, Si Woo Kim, Jhonattan Vegas (-6): Everyone was waiting for Vegas to stumble, and he finally did Saturday, opening with two bogeys to bring a ton of players in the field back into the mix. To his credit, he steadied the ship pretty well, but a loose swing on the par-5 15th put him in the water. Not being able to take advantage of the last great birdie opportunity was his biggest misstep of the day. 

Rahm surged up the leaderboard with a 67 and had it to 7 under for the tournament briefly before a bogey on No. 17, but he looks to be one of the biggest challengers for which Scheffler will need to worry. The problem is he's five shots back and will need to, at minimum, match the low round of the tournament so far with a 64 to have a chance at another major win. The positive for Rahm is he finally looks like himself again at a major for the first time since 2022. 

Kim was upand down in his third round, unable to capture the magic from his Friday 64. If he's going to have any hopes of winning, he'll need to replicate that low number Sunday. 

T8. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Matthieu Pavon, Tony Finau, Keegan Bradley (-5): DeChambeau will be kicking himself for how he ended his round. Missing the fairway on No. 16 is hard to do, and it put him behind the 8-ball. And then his shot into No. 17 was just the wrong shot to play into the wind. He hoisted an iron straight up into the air, and it got eaten up by a wall of wind -- shoved back towards him into the water. Now he needs something Herculean Sunday, and even with his strength and abilities, I'm not sure he has a six-shot comeback on Scheffler in him. 

Pavon and Fitzpatrick were with Vegas in the final group, and as a trio, they just struggled to get much going. Fitzpatrick just couldn't make anything of significance on the greens and watched as others passed him by. Pavon, meanwhile, had a great start to his back nine and got it to 8 under when he arrived at the Green Mile, but a bogey-bogey-bogey finish took the wind out of his sails. 

Watch the PGA Championship on Sunday from 1-7 p.m. on CBS, Paramount+, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App.

[May 17, 2025 at 7:00 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler birdies the 17th to get to -10, take a two shot lead

We are approaching the danger zone for the rest of the field, as the Green Mile has done nothing to slow Scottie Scheffler's march to the top of the leaderboard so far. He played the 16th perfectly and missed a great look at birdie for a tap-in par on the long par 4 and then hit a gorgeous tee shot pin high, just left of the flag on the 17th to set up another birdie look from a similar distance. 

This time he didn't miss and extended his lead to two over Alex Noren and became the first player since Jhonattan Vegas on Friday afternoon to reach 10 under. 

Now he has to navigate the long and difficult 18th, but a par at the final hole would give him a 66 for the day, matching Noren for the low round of Saturday, and a two-shot lead going into Sunday. 

[May 17, 2025 at 6:26 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler takes the solo lead at -9 into the Green Mile

After a rocky start to his back nine, Scheffler took advantage of the two holes you have to at Quail Hollow with an eagle on No. 14 followed by a stress-free birdie on No. 15. That moves him into the lead alone at 9 under as he heads to the Green Mile, where Bryson DeChambeau's time in the solo lead came to a swift demise an hour ago. 

Behind Scheffler, Jhonattan Vegas tugged his tee shot into the water on the 15th after getting back into a tie for the lead at 8 under, and has some serious work to do from over the green with his third just to make par. Alex Noren remains the clubhouse leader at -8, and will be watching to see whether Scheffler stays ahead of him or comes back on the difficult final three holes of the day. 

[May 17, 2025 at 6:18 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau stumbles home to a Saturday 69, three off the lead going into Sunday

As he walked off the 15th green after his fifth birdie of the day, Bryson DeChambeau was in full control of his game, the crowd and the golf tournament as the solo leader. DeChambeau, as he did Saturday at Augusta National, was pointing and pumping up the crowd to give him more noise after his birdie to get to 8 under and the fans were happy to oblige. But where he did that on No. 18 at Augusta as he walked to the clubhouse, this time he still had three of the hardest holes on the golf course yet to play. 

DeChambeau wanted to ride that wave of energy into the clubhouse, but instead found himself careening into trouble. He sprayed his drive well right on the 16th into the rough above the bunker, and could only find the far left side of the green with his approach. That left a lengthy putt and he could not get it down in two for par, dropping a shot and back into a tie for the lead at the time. 

The 17th is when disaster really struck, as his tee shot launched too high into the air and got eaten up by the stiffening breeze coming into him and off the right, pushing it out towards the water where it bounced twice off the rough and then the stone wall before dropping into the lake. DeChambeau over corrected for the wind from the drop zone, leaving a 23-footer back for bogey that he had to back off after a roar came from across the water when Scottie Scheffler stuffed his drive on No. 14 to set up an eagle. 

DeChambeau would two-putt for double, falling back to 5 under where he would remain after a solid par on the 18th from the fairway bunker. It was not the round he hoped for, as two holes undid an entire day's worth of hard work. Now he'll have to make that push once gain in the final round from three (or more) back and exact some revenge on the Green Mile on Sunday. 

[May 17, 2025 at 6:08 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Alex Noren closes with 4 birdies in his last 5 holes to shoot 66; posts clubhouse lead at 8-under 

Alex Noren has missed most of the 2025 golf season due to a variety of injuries, making his first start of the year at the Truist Championship last week and finishing T51. As such, he was nowhere near the conversation coming into the week at the PGA Championship, but he thrust himself into the mix on Saturday with the round of the day. 

Noren shot a 5-under 66, besting 67s by Jon Rahm and Davis Riley, to climb into the lead at 8 under. He is one ahead of Riley in the clubhouse and tied with Scottie Scheffler on the course after one of the best closes to a round you will ever see at Quail Hollow. 

Birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 aren't anything to particularly write home about, but he went through the Green Mile in 2 under after a par on No. 16 and birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to finish his round in style. 

With that finish, he has put himself in position to be in the final group on Sunday as he looks for his first major win. Noren was once an ascending player but it's been quite some time since he was really in the mainstream golf conversation, as the Swede is currently 72nd in the world rankings. His best finish in a major is T6 at the 2017 Open Championship, but he'll have a great chance to best that on Sunday after a spectacular round of golf on Saturday. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:58 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler ties the lead at -8 with an eagle on No. 14

It has been a wild back nine for Scottie Scheffler, as he couldn't capitalize on the par-5 10th and then went bogey-birdie-bogey from No. 11 to No. 13. However, the bounce back king was at it again on the short par-4 14th, as he ripped a 3 wood to inside three feet, sending a roar across the water that made Bryson DeChambeau back off his putt for bogey on 17. 

Scheffler would tap that in for his eagle to move to 8 under, but that was not enough to take the solo lead as Alex Noren went on an incredible run to close his back nine, making four birdies in his final five holes including on the wildly difficult 17th and 18th to post the round of the day with a 5-under 66 and post the clubhouse lead at -8. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:52 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau makes double at No. 17 after going in the water off the tee

The wheels have come off for Bryson DeChambeau on the Green Mile. After taking the solo lead at 8 under, he bogeyed the 16th to fall back into a share of the lead. That wouldn't be a disaster on its own, but he compounded that mistake with an even bigger one on the 17th, as he threw his tee shot way up in the air and had it get eaten up by the wind blowing in and off the right. His ball stayed in the air for what felt like forever, bouncing off the rough, then the stone wall and into the water. 

Unsurprisingly after seeing the wind wreck his tee shot, he gave his shot from the drop zone a little bit extra, going over the flag a bit deep and leaving 23 feet back down the hill for his bogey. He didn't come particularly close with that putt and walked off with his second straight five on the card to drop back to 5 under, two behind the leaders as he stepped on the 18th tee. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:40 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau bogeys No. 16, Scottie Scheffler birdies No. 12. Five tied for the lead at -7 

DeChambeau's birdie streak came to an end on the 16th as he blew his drive way right into the rough and could not manage a two-putt to save his par after his approach went to the far left of the green. That moved him back to -7 and out of the solo lead, bringing four players into a tie for first with him. 

Among them is Scottie Scheffler, who bounced back from a bogey on the 11th to make a birdie on the 12th thanks to a great drive, solid approach to the back tier and a putt that found the dead center of the cup. 

That moves him back into a share of the lead and he will still get to play the 14th and 15th, which are playing as two of the easiest holes on the golf course. 

Joining Scheffler and DeChambeau at 7 under currently are Jhonattan Vegas, who has steadied the ship after his bogey-bogey start to the day to remain in the mix, and Davis Riley and Alex Noren, who are both 4 under for their rounds so far as they work through the Green Mile and will look to match or beat Rahm's 67 for the round of the day. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:25 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Jon Rahm shoots a Saturday 67 to post the early clubhouse lead at 6 under

After back-to-back 70s to open his week, Rahm finally found a little something on the greens on Saturday and was able to make a move into contention in the third round. Rahm got going early with birdies on No. 1 and No. 3 to make a quick jump on the leaderboard, and then surged into a tie for the lead with three straight birdies from on holes 14-16. He did give one back on No. 17, but a solid par on the 18th put him into the clubhouse at 6 under with a third round 67 that will have him firmly into contention on Sunday.

On the day, Rahm made seven birdies and three bogeys, as he got more aggressive and it paid off with his best round of the tournament. He's currently tied for fourth, two shots off Bryson DeChambeau's lead, but DeChambeau still has to navigate the difficult closing stretch of the Green Mile. For Rahm, just getting into the mix on Sunday is some progress after spending the last five majors well outside contention. 

Now, the former Masters and U.S. Open champion will look to add a PGA Championship to his collection with a strong final round performance and reassert himself as part of the conversation at the top of the golf world. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:19 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau takes the solo lead at -8 with birdie on No. 15

The solo leader is now Bryson DeChambeau, as he moves to the Green Mile 5 under for his round and 8 under for the championship after his fifth birdie of the day on No. 15. DeChambeau drove it into the right rough but was able to hit a fairway wood into the front bunker and got up-and-down from there (scaring the hole on the bunker shot) to make his birdie and become the first person other than Jhonattan Vegas to reach 8 under this week. 

DeChambeau now faces the difficult 16th, 17th and 18th holes but his length will give him a chance to cut the corner on No. 16 and have a wedge in, which we saw Jon Rahm take advantage of to make a birdie earlier. 

[May 17, 2025 at 5:09 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Davis Riley joins the lead at -7, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler drop back to -6

Seemingly every hole we see a change at the top of the leaderboard, and the latest shuffle sees Davis Riley join Bryson DeChambeau and Jhonattan Vegas at the top after he birdied the par-5 15th to continue his hot day, improving to 4 under on his round. 

Meanwhile, Jon Rahm's birdie streak came to a screeching halt at the long par-3 17th, as he couldn't get up and down from right of the green to save his par and fell back to 6 under. Back on No. 11, Scheffler got punished for a wayward tee shot in the left rough and couldn't get up-and-down from short of the green for his own par. 

With how dramatic the closing stretch is at Quail Hollow, with birdies almost a must at No. 14 and No. 15 followed by bogeys or worse lurking around every corner on the final three holes, the leaderboard shakeups are far from over on this Saturday afternoon. 

[May 17, 2025 at 4:56 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau joins the lead at -7 with a birdie on No. 14

Scheffler. DeChambeau. Rahm. Vegas. 

Those are your four leaders at 7 under right now as the top of the leaderboard has gotten an awful lot of star power all of a sudden on Saturday at Quail Hollow. After Rahm joined the party with three straight birdies on the back, DeChambeau is looking to follow his lead with a birdie on the short par-4 14th to get to -7. He blasted 3 wood up into the rough above the green to the right and hit a nice chip to inside 6 feet and finally paid off a putt. 

The reason the lead remains 7 under is Scottie Scheffler has missed a pair of short birdie putts in his last three holes, as he's left some shots on the table with missed putts on No. 8 and No. 10 from inside 6 feet. DeChambeau will now go to the par-5 15th with a great chance to move the lead to 8 under before he arrives at the Green Mile. 

[May 17, 2025 at 4:34 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Jon Rahm makes back-to-back-to-back birdies to tie for the lead at -7

The leaderboard is looking extremely tasty as the afternoon wears on in Charlotte, as Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Jhonattan Vegas lead at 7 under. Rahm joined that group with back-to-back-to-back birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to get to -7, with the most impressive coming on the difficult 16th when he stuffed one to a few feet from 167 yards out. 

Behind that trio, Bryson DeChambeau, Si Woo Kim and Davis Riley are all tied at -6 as everyone has made the turn to the back nine. All week the front nine has been where players have had to hold on (aside from Vegas' red-hot run in the first round) and the start of the back nine has been where birdies are available in bunches. As players make their way from No. 10 thru No. 15, we could see a lot of birdies (like Rahm made) to shift the leaderboard even further. 

However, after that it's all about just trying to get into the clubhouse without a disaster on the Green Mile, which has cost just about everyone in the field a double (or two) this week at some point. Rahm picked up more than a shot on the field with his birdie on No. 16, and he will have a chance to post the clubhouse lead if he can get through the 17th and 18th without much issue. 

[May 17, 2025 at 3:57 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler birdies No. 7, tied for the lead at -7

The world's No. 1 player is now on top of the leaderboard at Quail Hollow, as Scottie Scheffler has now birdied three of his last four holes to move it to 7 under, tied with Si Woo Kim for the lead. 

Scheffler's latest birdie came on the par-5 7th, as he was able to get it on the green in two, funneling into the bowl on the far right side of the green. From there he was able to two-putt for birdie, coming up and over the hill on his eagle putt and then sinking a 7-footer for birdie to tie Kim (who is in the same group) at -7, one ahead of Bryson DeChambeau and Jhonattan Vegas. 

All week, Scheffler has just remained steady and slowly climbed the leaderboard, and, like the Terminator, he has slowly walked down the leaders and is now threatening to grab control of this PGA Championship. 

[May 17, 2025 at 3:12 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau both make back-to-back birdies to move into T2

It took a little over 40 holes to get there, but we now have two of the three pre-tournament favorites at the top of the leaderboard. Si Woo Kim remains the solo leader at -7 after a par on No. 5, but now the group right behind him at -6 includes Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau, both of whom are on a bit of a heater having made back-to-back birdies. 

For Scheffler, it was a near-ace on the 4th followed by a long birdie roll on No. 5 that got him into red figures on the day for the first time and one back of the lead. 

DeChambeau, meanwhile, took advantage of his length by birdieing the par-5 7th and the short par-4 8th to get himself to 6 under alongside Scheffler, Ryo Hisatsune, Jhonattan Vegas and Matthieu Pavon. 

If the first two days created a little leaderboard chaos and a lot of surprises, Moving Day at the. 2025 PGA Championship is seeing the cream rise to the top and we appear in store for an incredibly entertaining weekend. 

[May 17, 2025 at 2:49 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scottie Scheffler nearly aces the par-3 4th, moves back to -5; Si Woo Kim takes solo lead at -7

It's been a slow start to the third round for Scottie Scheffler, but even with a bogey on the 1st and two ho-hum pars on the next two holes, he arrived at the 4th tee having moved closer to the lead thanks to Jhonattan Vegas' bogey-bogey start. On the fourth, he nearly holed his tee shot, coming up inches short of the cup to leave a tap in birdie to get back to 5 under. 

However, Scheffler still trails by two as the new leader is Si Woo Kim, who also stuffed his tee shot inside 6 feet on the par 3 and made a birdie of his own to move to -7 and the solo lead. 

Kim's advantage is one over three tied at -6 and two over a group at -5 that includes some heavy hitters including Scheffler, Tony Finau and -- provided they make short birdie putts on the 7th and 10th respectively -- Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. 

[May 17, 2025 at 2:35 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Vegas bogeys his first two holes, four now tied for the lead at -6

After holding the lead overnight for the last two days, Jhonattan Vegas now has company at the top after back-to-back bogeys at No.1 and No. 2. It was mistakes off the tee that cost Vegas on both holes, as he had to punch out from the pine straw on both of the first two holes and couldn't scramble his way to pars. That now puts Matt Fitzpatrick, Matthieu Pavon and Si Woo Kim into a tie for the lead despite none of those players making a birdie yet in their round. 

It also has brought a lot of players into the mix, as Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Tony Finau are all part of the group two back at -4, and in total 32 players are now within four shots of the lead. On a blustery day at Quail Hollow, that is going to make for a really interesting round of golf and if anyone can post a low score today they are going to have a chance to make a significant move up the board. 

[May 17, 2025 at 2:13 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Jhonattan Vegas bogeys No. 1 to drop to -7, lead down to 1 

Vegas' wayward tee shot into the pine straw on the first cost him a shot on the first, as he punched out to short of the green but had a very awkward stance with how close he was to the bunker. From there he stubbed his chip and could only two-putt for bogey, dropping back to -7, now just one ahead of Fitzpatrick, Pavon and Kim (all of whom made par on No. 1). The wind is whipping out there right now and pars are going to be very good, with birdies at a premium on Saturday afternoon at Quail Hollow. 

[May 17, 2025 at 2:03 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Max Homa and Scottie Scheffler make bogeys at No. 1 

The long par 4 is playing into the wind and very difficult on Saturday afternoon, and both Homa and Scheffler missed the green -- Scheffler left, Homa right -- and neither could get it close with their third. That left lengthy par putts that didn't scare the hole as both Homa and Scheffler dropped back to -4, four off the lead. Si Woo Kim was the only one to manage a par, as he got up-and-down from the right greenside bunker to stay at 6 under, two back of Vegas who is in some potential trouble off the tee in the group behind. 

[May 17, 2025 at 1:59 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The leaders are now on the course

The final grouping of the afternoon -- Jhonattan Vegas, Matt Fitzpatrick and Matthieu Pavon -- are now all on the course on a breezy Saturday afternoon in Charlotte. Vegas, the leader by two, is in a bit of trouble off the first tee after finding the trees down the right, and that opening tee shot won't do much to settle the nerves for the first-time major leader. 

There haven't been a lot of low scores out there early, as no one is better than 1 under for the day to start the third round as the winds picking up have made Quail Hollow play even more difficultly. That could mean Moving Day means players moving backwards, and those that can stay steady and shoot 2-3 under might find themselves climbing up closer to the top. 

[May 17, 2025 at 1:10 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bryson DeChambeau opens with birdie on No. 1 to get to -4

One of the headliners of the chase group, Bryson DeChambeau started the day five behind Jhonattan Vegas' lead, but has trimmed that deficit to four after his first hole. DeChambeau pumped driver over the corner to leave a short iron into the first. 

From there he left himself 30 feet below the hole and rolled it in beautifully for his longest made putt of the week, sending an early message that he plans on making a charge on Moving Day. 

DeChambeau has been excellent off the tee this week and his ball-striking, save a few loose ones, has been where it's needed to be, but the putter -- which carried him at the Masters for three days -- has let him down. If seeing a long one drop on No. 1 can get him going on the greens, like Jon Rahm who has also moved to -4 early on Saturday, he will be a major threat this weekend. 

[May 17, 2025 at 12:57 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland pick up early birdies to move up

The early action at Quail Hollow has seen a few players move a bit closer to the leaders. The marquee group of the early tee times is Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood, and it hasn't taken long for Rahm and Hovland to make some progress on the leaderboard. 

Hovland rolled a birdie putt in from just short of the green on No. 2 for birdie to move to -3, five back of Jhonattan Vegas' lead and build some early positive momentum. 

Rahm, meanwhile, finally saw a birdie putt drop at the first after a rough day on the greens on Friday, and then added another with a chip-in on No. 3 to move up to -4, just four back of the lead. 

With another hour until the last group tees off, there's going to be a few more opportunities for Rahm, Hovland and others to try and apply some pressure and tighten things up at the top of the leaderboard. After Rahm had a great ball-striking round on Friday but didn't pay it off on the greens, him seeing some putts and chips drop early could be what he needs to make a real charge and put something really low on the card.