Scottie Scheffler putts golf ball into bunker at WM Phoenix Open
Scottie Scheffler has a nightmare on the 18th green in the third round at TPC Scottsdale.
Scottie Scheffler's bid for a record three-peat at the WM Phoenix Open suffered a minor setback in the third round as the World No.1 putted his golf ball into the greenside bunker on the par-4 18th.
Scheffler went on a birdie blitz when play resumed in the third round on Sunday at TPC Scottsdale.
He drained five birdies in a row from the 9th before coming to a halt with a bogey at the tricky par-4 14th.
Scheffler was then rolling again with birdies at 16 and 17.
But he somewhat took the gloss of his fine third round when putting his 40-footer for birdie into the greenside bunker.
It was a face-meet-palm moment for Scheffler, but to his credit he did get his ball up and down for bogey.
WATCH SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER PUTT HIS BALL INTO THE BUNKER!
A bogey on 18 for Scottie Scheffler after putting it into the bunker.
The 2-time defending @WMPhoenixOpen champion is T4 heading into Round 4. pic.twitter.com/t3msZNQi00— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 11, 2024
Scheffler ended up carding a 5-under 66 to move to 13-under par thru 54 holes.
That saw him lie two shots off the pace heading into the final round, which concludes on Sunday night.
It is more than likely the final round of the Phoenix Open will finish just after the start of the Super Bowl between Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
That has irated a number of golf fans.
Scheffler is bidding to win the WM Phoenix Open for a third time in a row.
Should he win the tournament tonight then he would become the first player to achieve the feat since Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic three straight years from 2009 to 2011.
Scheffler has been struggling badly on the greens in recent times on the PGA Tour.
He recently decided to work with putting guru Phil Kenyon on his putting stroke.
But things have yet to improve a great deal as Scheffler ranks well down the Strokes-Gained: Putting statistic on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler might be first in greens in regulation this season, but he is a lowly 117th when it comes to the greens.
GolfMagic recently caught up with Kenyon, who spoke to us about his work with Scheffler.
Thankfully Scheffler's stats on the greens are a lot better this week as he ranks inside the top 25.
That is despite putting a ball into the bunker.