Although no round should technically be worth more than any other, day three has possessed a mystique of its own for decades. It’s the only one of the four to have a metaphoric nickname. Moving Day has demanded respect and reverence from all who play 72-hole events. It’s the day, usually Saturday on the professional tours, when golfers position themselves for the final round, dispatching some of the pursuers and securing late-day tee times for round four.

At Quail Hollow, a few contenders drifted away  on Saturday. Denny McCarthy, Viktor Hovland, Ryan Fox, and Robert MacIntyre all fell outside the top ten, unable to find the mid-60s round that was needed to keep pace. For the first time in 36 holes, the pace was not set by Jhonattan Vegas. The virile Venezuelan remained in the chase, but barely. He’ll start round four a literal handful of shots behind the leader. Unfortunately for him and the others, the leader is currently the most feared man in golf.

Before the final round of Glory’s Second Shot unfurls like a banner, let’s have a look at the quintet of nuggets we gained today, on Saturday at the PGA Championship.

5. The Green Mile can be tamed or …

something else. Bryson DeChambeau came to the closing stretch on a serious run. He was well under par for the day, fresh off birdies at 14 and 15. The final trilogy demand something akin to perfection, and BDC was not up to the task. He made a lazy, sloppy bogey at the par-four 16, where each of his first four shots were just enough off line to hamper the next. At 17, with a nine-iron in his hands, he found Lake Despair short and left, and could not get up and down from the drop zone. Truly, his par save at the last might be all that keeps him from a sleepless night. His deficit doubled from three strokes to six, thanks to the wondrous play over the same stretch, by the 54-hole leader.

4. Beware the hard-working, wounded bear

Alex Noren is one of the hardest-working professionals, in a sports known for grinders. Over the first 4.5 months of the year, the Swede had made precisely one start, thanks to injury and recovery. Noren has made the cut in eight of twelve PGA Championships in his career, but he has never reached the heights that he did in 2025. Thanks to a Saturday 66, Noren will tee off in the final Sunday pairing, three shots behind the leader.

Noren closed about as well as anyone could (more on that later.) He made birdies at 14, 15, 17, and 18. He holed for birdie from sand at 15, and hit a spectacular iron from a fairway bunker, onto the green at 16. His putts for birdie at the final two holes were from nine and sixteen feet. Noren should need the same magic on Sunday, as he needs to chase down the number-one player in the game, a man with two green jackets who wishes to wait no longer, to reach the halfway point to the career grand alsm.

3. If not for that magical 65 …

Jon Rahm and Si Woo Kim, among others, might feel like they have a good chance at winning. Well, Rahm at least. The Basque bulldog should have more than two major titles to his credit, but he opted out of full-time competition in 2024, and we all know what has since transpired. Rahm stood five-under on the day through 16 holes, thanks to a trilogy of birdies on the preceding three holes. He gave one back when he could ill afford to do so, and dropped to -4/day and -6/week. Kim stood second at day’s launch, but struggled to retain his day-two form. He posted three each of birdies and bogeys, and stand tied with Rahm at 207, with 18 holes to play. Unless the 54-hole leader does something uncharacteristic, Sunday will be about paychecks and major exemptions for the field.

4. Why aren’t we talking about three and four?

Mainly, because their names are J.T. Poston and Davis Riley. Both are quite successful on the PGA Tour, with three and two titles, respectively, to their names. Neither one was a highly-decorated amateur, so they don’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of their touring mates. Might one of them win on Sunday? Absolutely, says the law of chance. Will one of them lift the Wannamaker trophy as 107th champion of the PGA of America? Doubtful, says the law of probability. Even though the PGA Championship is the grand slam event that most often goes to a one-and-done major champion, that won’t happen this year. How do we know? Well, the PGA of America didn’t have one video of the either on its YouTube page. We had to go to Twitter/X to find some coverage!

Davis Riley nearly dunks one from the fairway at 10.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/fre7QC03k2

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2025

5. Your 2025 Champion Professional of the Year will be …

Scottie Scheffler. He has it all. He has the game, the confidence, the record, and the caddy. He might have the best relationship with a caddy anywhere in the world, and that is a sharp arrow in the quiver. His goofy , foot-sliding swing is the most repeatable thing in the world. His belief in self is resolute, and his clubs are at his beck and call, from driver through putter.

Scheffler, came to the 14th tee at five-under par. He seemed content (or at least we were content) with a top-five position for Sunday. He then did that thing that others had done this week. He ripped drive inside five feet for eagle at 14, then played the closing quartet in minus-three figures. Scheffler moved five strokes to the good over his final five holes, better than Noren, better than anyone else. It’s not just a Scottie lead of 1 or 2 strokes. It’s three strokes. Someone will need to start super-fast, like six under through six, to make him pay attention. We’ll say it now: congratulations on major championship title number two, Scheff. #YesScheff