CHARLOTTE — There is a presence about him. There is weight to his name. There is meaning when he crosses the finish line and finds the winner’s circle. Fans and players know, when he makes his move and his name rises to the first page of the leaderboard, the tournament is not over no matter who is in the lead. That’s where Jon Rahm sits with 18 holes to play at the 2025 PGA Championship.
The two-time major champion flashed with fury courtesy of a third-round 67 that saw him get as deep as 7 under at Quail Hollow. When he reached that number, thanks to a birdie at the onset of the Green Mile, he was met by four of his peers, including fellow LIV Golf member Bryson DeChambeau and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. A bogey on the penultimate hole combined with a scorching 5-under finish in Scheffler’s final five holes from Scheffler saw Rahm go from the center of the conversation to a bit lower at T5 on the leaderboard.
Nevertheless, he is firmly in this major championship.
“Hard to express how hungry I may be for a major. About as hungry as anybody can be in this situation,” Rahm said. “Very happy to be in position again. Don’t know where I’ll be. I’m assuming I’ll be at least one shot back starting [Sunday], but that’s a great position. This golf course is tricky and one shot is nothing on 18 holes.
“Very happy with the state of my game. I think today was the round that I knew I was capable of. Those first two rounds felt very confident and just did everything a little bit better. So, just very excited again to be in this position and looking forward to hopefully having a good Sunday.”
Rahm is no stranger to this moment and certainly not this stage. A winner at two different major championships (Masters, U.S. Open), an outside chance at raising a Wanamaker Trophy represents a chance no less for Rahm, and it will be one he won’t take for granted, even if the margin is larger than originally expected.
Should he prove victorious and mount a historic comeback from five strokes adrift of a surging Scheffler, it would set up another date with history only a couple months down the road at Royal Portrush where a career grand slam could await at The Open Championship. Just like that, we are talking about Rahm’s career grand slam aspirations, particularly relevant in 2025 given Rory McIlroy’s recent achievement at the Masters.
Since he made the switch to LIV Golf at the onset of 2024, things have been a little off … a little weird for Rahm. Last year’s major championship season was largely wasted as a Masters defense felt awkward, his PGA Championship was cut short Friday evening, and his U.S. Open was never started because of a lesion in between his toes.
The Spaniard insists it was a “me” problem and not a league problem; it’s hard to say he’s wrong. Rahm’s play has been consistent on LIV Golf since the transition as he was the league champion in his inaugural campaign and he has yet to finish outside the top 10 in the 54-hole circuit, but he hasn’t had that look and that feeling about him … until Saturday in Charlotte.
“Me going to LIV and playing worse in majors had nothing to do with where I was playing golf,” Rahm said. “My swing was simply not at the level it had to be for me to compete. It’s easier to post a score on non-major championship courses and venues, and I think when you get to the biggest stages like this one and these courses, those flaws are going to get exposed, and it did.
“There’s been weeks where I was able to play better, like The Open last year. The Masters obviously wasn’t a good start, but it got better as the week was on, and I’m still working and trying to get my swing to a better spot. But I would say, even 2023, after winning the Masters, I did not play good at all until the Ryder Cup, right? So, I think the problems began earlier than people think. But I’m now getting closer to a position of being comfortable. I think this week so far and this round has been a show of it.”
Rahm has been a reliable narrator of his game and his thoughts – though maybe not his intentions given his turnaround in the PGA Tour vs. LIV Golf decision — throughout his career. Why stop believing him now?
His swing is in order, and he is hungry as can be. The belief is there, and so is the game. If a move is made, it will be known. It will be heard and felt by not only those outside the ropes but most importantly by those inside (and those secretly hoping any name but his is the one that rises early Sunday afternoon).
Let’s take a closer look at Rahm and the five other golfers most likely to rise up the leaderboard to catch Scheffler on Sunday at Quail Hollow. The contenders are listed based on their current leaderboard position. Odds via DraftKings
Alex Noren (-8)
The Swedish veteran draws Scheffler in the final pairing in what is only his eighth competitive round of the year. Let’s repeat that … his eighth competitive round of the year. Noren returned to tournament golf last week at the Truist Championship, and he returned to the main screen Saturday with a stunning 66.
While Scheffler’s finish was one that will be talked about for quite sometime (if he does convert), Noren’s was not too shabby, either. The former top 10 player in the world carded four birdies in his final five holes to pose as Scheffler’s closest challenger from three behind. His ability to eliminate the left side of the golf course and roll the rock consistently should give him a fighter’s chance.
“It was just my tendon in my hamstring on the sit bone,” Noren said. “It’s a bad injury but you can still live a quite normal life because you have two other tendons that support it. But I couldn’t swing a club. I couldn’t jump or run. I could walk kind of slowly and live a normal life. Like he just said, I could coach my kids. Spent a lot of time with the family. It’s been quite nice.” Odds: 18-1
Davis Riley (-7)
Don’t let some of the results fool you, Riley is a proper flusher. The owner of some of the best action on the PGA Tour, the Mississippi native climbed up the leaderboard after playing his final 12 holes in a 5-under fashion. A string of three straight birdies came crawling onto the scorecard around the turn, and he did well late to keep the squares off thanks to superb up-and-ins on his final two holes.
Despite his inconsistency, Riley won’t be a complete stranger to major championship contention. He was in the mix at Southern Hills a few years back and acquitted himself nicely in his Masters debut just one month ago. It’s the biggest stage of his career — no doubt about that — and a wide range of outcomes are possible. One of those, of course, is becoming a major champion.
“That’s what we work for; we want a chance to win these major championships. That’s what I kept telling myself today: ‘This is what you work for. Embrace it and have fun with it,'” Riley said. “I just try to go out there and compete and be really disciplined and really just hit shots that I know are proper shots and not try to be safe or anything coming in.
“Because it’s easy to say, ‘Oh, it’s playing hard; I just want to make pars coming in.’ And pars are really good on this finishing stretch, but still, I feel like that can change your lines, and the next thing you know, ‘Oh, I should have been 15 feet further left’ and then I’m short-sided barely in a bunker when I didn’t hit that bad of a shot.” Odds: 35-1
Jon Rahm (-6)
The signs have been there — the top 10 streak on LIV Golf, the back-to-back top 15s in major championships — and on Saturday, Rahm pieced it altogether. The two-time major champion rolled in seven birdies on Moving Day, including a run of three in a row that put him at the top of the leaderboard at one stage late in his back nine.
Although Rahm gave one back on the par-3 17th, he ultimately gave himself a chance to add another piece of the career grand slam with all that remained being the Claret Jug. His iron play did the talking in Round 3 as he ranked second in the field in strokes gained approach, and it will be those clubs again on Sunday that will hold the keys to unlock his PGA Championship chances. Odds: 22-1
Si Woo Kim (-6)
Kim looked the part early Saturday as he knocked in a birdie on the par-3 4th to climb into a share of the lead. The South Korean stumbled around the turn with a couple bogeys and a missed opportunity on No. 10, but he kept on coming back for more.
A birdie on Nos. 13 and 15 were overshadowed by what his playing partner (Scheffler) was doing before a bogey on the last may have been the final nail in his coffin. Still, anything remains possible for Kim, especially when he is putting it like he is right now and gaining roughly two strokes on the greens per round.
“I just played good the last three rounds. So just have one more round,” Kim said. “Just try to have fun and then trying to go low as I can [Sunday].” Odds: 55-1
Bryson DeChambeau (-5)
it’s tough to see Scheffler tripping up on the Green Mile, which means someone may have to steal this Wanamaker Trophy from him during that stretch. Sure, it was those exact three holes that tripped up DeChambeau on Saturday — he played them in 3 over while Scheffler played them in 2 under — but Bryson has the upside to take care of business if the opportunity is there late in the championship.
DeChambeau was flawless for 15 holes on Saturday before a 3-putt bogey on No. 16 and a misread of the wind on No. 17. He should take solace in that and hope another tournament-defining stretch will be in his future. If it is going to be, another fast start will be required like the one he put together Saturday when he was 3 under in his first eight holes.
“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’s going to do it, but you never know. But I’m going to shoot as low as I possibly can.” Odds: 30-1
Keegan Bradley (-5)
The 2011 champion played his final five holes in 3 under capped by a birdie on the difficult par-4 finisher. From out of the picture to into the conversation in the span of an hour, the Ryder Cup captain looks to roll the momentum into Sunday where he was have an opportunity to apply some pressure from up ahead on the golf course.
Bradley has performed much like one would expect him to perform this week. He has hit more than 30 fairways and flashed with his iron play. The ball striking is not the question. The question is whether he can convert at a high enough clip on the greens. Through the first three days, he has done enough (just about average in terms of strokes gained). If he does more than enough Sunday, he may give himself a run at raising his second Wanamaker Trophy.
“No matter what happens with these finishing holes, you just never know what’s going to happen,” Bradley said. “It seems like I’ll be out ahead of the leaders, which is kind of nice, and you know, hopefully go out there and shoot a great score. But we’re in a good spot.” Odds: 110-1