A major record round, again? Shane Lowry's nine-under 62 Saturday matched Xander Schauffele's record-tying opening-round score at Valhalla Golf Club, with the Irishman's third round the fifth time a 62 was shot in men's major championship history. Lowry's moving day blitz puts him only two shots off the Schauffele and Collin Morikawa's 15-under lead heading into Sunday.
Lowry and the field had a nearly historic third round, averaging 69.58 on Saturday. It was only .08 away from the men's major third-round scoring record (69.50) set in 2018 at Bellerive Country Club.
Here are five other interesting stats from the third round of the 106th PGA Championship.
1) More than double the previous record (7) of players will start the final round of a men's major at -10 or better
At the end of Saturday in Louisville, 15 players were at -10 or better. The previous record of seven was set three separate times: the 2006 Open Championship, the 2010 PGA Championship, and the 2022 Open Championship.
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.@ShaneLowryGolf with a record round.@ROLEX | #Rolex pic.twitter.com/EpEuJbZXj7
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
2) Lowry's Vault up the Leaderboard has only happened four times in the last 25 PGA Championships
Lowry started Saturday at T29, with his 62 vaulting him up to T3. Only three others have gone from outside the top 25 at the beginning of the third round to inside the top five. Thomas Bjorn (2005) went from T36 to third with a seven-under 63. Padraig Harrington (2008) went from T26 to T4 by carding a four-under 66. W.C. Liang (2010) went from T40 to T4 after shooting an eight-under 64.
In good news for Lowry, Harrington won in 2008 after his third-round charge. A victory for the 2019 Open Championship winner would be his second career major title.
3) Scottie Scheffler's 42 rounds of par or better streak ended
Scheffler's went four over in his first four holes Saturday, battling back to post a 2-over 73 to fall from the top 5 to T24 going into the fourth round. His impressive run fell 10 rounds of even par or better shy of Tiger Wood's record, which the 82-time PGA Tour winner set between the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
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Shane Lowry just matched the Men’s Major Championship scoring record with a 62. 🔥#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/edloJzyssv
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
4) Lowry set Valhalla's nine-hole scoring record at the PGA Championship with his opening side
The 37-year-old carded a bogey-free six-under 29 over his first nine Saturday, the first time in Valhalla's four times hosting the major that has happened. Kevin Kisner (2018) was the last player to shoot a 29 at a PGA Championship during the second round on his back nine at Bellerive.
5) Justin Rose could join Sam Snead as the only players to do this with a Top-15 finish
Rose's third-round 64 moved him to 12 under and T5 going into Sunday, contending for his first major title since the 2013 U.S. Open. However, Rose has quite the potential consolation prize if the 43-year-old doesn't win the Wanamaker Trophy — ending up in the top 15 will make him only the second player to have five consecutive top 15 finishes at the PGA Championship when 40 or older. He finished ninth in 2020, a week after his 40th birthday, then T8 in 2021, T13 in 2022, and T9 last year. Snead pulled off the feat from 1956 to 1960.
Check out the leaderboard from the 106th PGA Championship here
