Ryan Lavner has suggested the reason why he does not believe that Scottie Scheffler can win the PGA Championship on Sunday at Aronimink.
With plenty of low scoring early on Saturday in Philadelphia, many would have expected Scheffler to take charge of the tournament given that he was tied for the lead after Thursday, and still inside the top 10 at the halfway mark.
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Unfortunately for Scheffler, his putter could hardly have been colder in the third round.
Scottie Scheffler’s hopes of winning the PGA Championship have been written off
According to Data Golf, the world number one lost 2.29 shots on the green on Saturday alone. Just eight players performed worse on the putting surfaces.
Scheffler now finds himself five shots off the lead with 18 holes to play. With Alex Smalley still awaiting his first PGA Tour win, many will be expecting a big name to make a real charge and snatch the title from his grasp.
Photo by Scott Taetsch/PGA of America via Getty Images
But speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner explained why he does not expect to see Scheffler win a fifth major today.
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“My winner to win this golf tournament was Scottie Scheffler. And then Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, missed six putts inside 10 feet. He is [out of it]. There are too many players ahead of him, 22 players ahead of him. It’s not even necessarily the number of strokes. It’s the number of players. It’s insurmountable,” he said.
Ryan Lavner names who he thinks will win the PGA Championship on Sunday
Not only are there a large number of players ahead of Scheffler, but there are some world-class names in the mix.
Jon Rahm will tee off in the penultimate group of the day, while Ludvig Aberg is also on four under par.
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Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele are ahead of Scheffler. And it cannot be forgotten that, unlike several of his rivals, Scheffler is having to build some momentum again after such an underwhelming Saturday.
Lavner went on to suggest that he can see a first major victory for Aberg in the coming hours.
“I think if Data Golf was pulled up right now, I bet you Ludvig Aberg and Jon Rahm would be neck and neck, probably in the 10 to 15 per cent ratio trying to win the golf tournament. I think it’s Ludvig’s time,” he said.
“Even though this tournament has been bizarre, even though things have not gone according to plan, even though it’s skewed very heavily to those making putts, not necessarily those who are striking the best, I’m going to have faith in the eventual outcome of major championships and those are the best ball-strikers. I think it’s Ludvig’s time on Sunday here at Aronimink.”
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Aberg’s ability to close out tournaments has come under scrutiny this year following his collapse at The Players Championship.
Winning at Aronimink with such an impressive chasing pack behind him would put so many of those concerns to bed in an instant.
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