By Martyn Herman
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -The last nine times American Scottie Scheffler has led after 54 holes on the PGA Tour, he has closed out the victory and there is no reason to suggest he will not make that a perfect 10 at the British Open on Sunday.
The 29-year-old world number one extended his lead from one to four strokes with a calm and collected bogey-free round of 67 on a picture-perfect Royal Portrush course on Saturday.
Barring a nonchalant eagle at the par-five seventh, he left the chasing pack to provide the fireworks as he displayed the sort of Zen-like focus once associated with 15-time major winner Tiger Woods in his pomp to seize control.
Scheffler also led after 54 holes in all of his three major wins and while he will be taking nothing for granted on Sunday, someone will surely have to do something special to stop him.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Scheffler, the first world number one to lead the Open at the halfway stage since Woods in 2006, said when asked why he has become such a good finisher.
“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 much else going on.”
That simple mantra has worked wonders on Portrush’s Dunluce Links. He has made only three bogeys in three rounds — a figure matched only by China’s Li Haotong who is his nearest challenger ahead of Sunday’s finale on the Antrim coast.
After Friday’s majestic round of seven-under 64, the lowest of the week, Saturday was about making sure he consolidated having built a strong foundation.
With eagles and birdies being sunk all across the course, Scheffler took a while to get going but just when the field began to sense an opportunity, he eagled the seventh thanks to a sublime approach shot and then birdied the eighth.
He then dug in, making a vital par-save from 10 feet on the 11th hole after a rare missed green.
“I think the card could look stress-free, but I had two really nice par saves on the back nine that were key,” he said. “I made a nice eight-ish footer on 11, another one on 14, so two really important putts I felt like.
“I think anytime you can keep a clean card around a major championship, you’re going to be having a pretty good day.”
Scheffler, whose tied seventh last year at Troon was his previous best Open result, knows there is still plenty of work to do, but he is looking immovable.
Home favourite Rory McIlroy, who will start six shots back in a tie for fourth, said he was not surprised by Scheffler’s display so far.
“He’s playing like Scottie. Everyone’s seen the way he’s played over the past two or three years. He’s just so solid. He doesn’t make mistakes,” McIlroy said.
“He’s turned himself into a really consistent putter as well, so there doesn’t seem to be any weakness there. Whenever you’re chasing down a guy like that, it’s hard to do.
“He’s incredibly impressive.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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