CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Standing on the 16th tee box at Quail Hollow Club on Saturday, LIV Golf League captain Bryson DeChambeau had the outright lead in the PGA Championship.
DeChambeau had just made a birdie on the par-5 15th, his fifth of the round, to get to 8 under. He was one stroke ahead of Davis Riley and Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas, the unlikely leader in each of the first two rounds.
"I was pumped," DeChambeau said. "I was like, 'All right, in the lead. Let's go. Let's keep pressing.'"
Unfortunately for DeChambeau, he still had to play the "Green Mile," Quail Hollow's famous three-hole closing stretch.
He didn't have the lead for long.
On the par-4 16th, DeChambeau hit his 375-yard drive into the right rough. His second shot from 142 yards stopped on the fringe of the green. He chipped to about 6 feet, then hit his par putt too hard. The ball lipped out, leaving him with a bogey that dropped him to 7 under.
Then, on the par-3 17th, DeChambeau's tee shot from 187 yards wasn't long enough and went into the lake in front of the green. After a drop, he hit his third shot to 23 feet. He two-putted for a double-bogey 5.
"Hit a great 9-iron exactly the way I wanted to," DeChambeau said. "The wind just pumped it. Nothing I can do. Wind flipped from being neutral off the right like it was on 4, I believe, and it just was almost straight in and we misjudged that."
With a par on the 18th, DeChambeau posted a 2-under 69. He was tied for eighth at 5 under after 54 holes, six strokes behind world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler, who seemed to take control of the tournament with a 6-under 65 on Saturday.
"All I can do is control what I can control, and if I go out and shoot 6, 7 under, that's what I'm focused on doing," DeChambeau said. "Not that that's what I'm going to do, but you never know. But I'm going to shoot as low as I possibly can.
"I'm behind the 8-ball now. I've got to get my guns a-blazing tomorrow."
The odds are stacked against DeChambeau coming from that far back to win on Sunday. All but one of the past 35 winners of the PGA Championship were among the top five after 54 holes (Justin Thomas was tied for seventh before winning in 2022), and all but one of the past 14 winners were either leading or within two strokes going into the final 18 holes (Thomas was seven strokes behind).
DeChambeau's length off the tee will once again be an advantage -- he leads the field with a driving distance average of 331 yards -- but he'll have to play nearly flawless golf. He hit only five of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens in the third round.
And, of course, the steady Scheffler will have to make more than a few mistakes.
DeChambeau would have been a lot closer to Scheffler if not for the gaffes on Nos. 16 and 17.
"That's why golf is the worst four-letter word in the world," DeChambeau said.