Green Proves Safest Option: Scottie Scheffler Achieves World-Class Par Save Boosting Round-Three Performance at Charles Schwab Challenge
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Sometimes, it seems like Scottie Scheffler's golf game is beyond reproach. His outstanding par save during round three of the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club on Saturday further solidified this perception.
Trailing the leaders at the start of the day, Scheffler started strong, birdieing his first two holes and adding another at the sixth to move incrementally up the leaderboard. However, an off-target tee shot at the par-4 seventh hole threatened to derail his momentum.
Having veered left, Scheffler's ball found itself in tall grass beneath a cluster of trees, seeming an impossible spot to execute a clean pitch out onto the fairway. But Scheffler, the three-time Major winner, managed more than just that. He thumped his ball through a tiny gap between the branches, landed it just on the front edge of the green, and watched as it rolled out to the middle of the putting surface.
Commentators on the PGA Tour broadcast hailed it as "the shot of the tournament," and even Scheffler's playing partners, Lee Hodges and Gary Woodland, couldn't help but chuckle. Speaking after his round, Scheffler elaborated on his thinking behind the audacious play.
He explained, "The grass was more airy than it was thick. For me to go back to the fairway, there was a bush behind my ball, so I felt like it was actually safest to go to the green. The areas where I was going to chip it out appeared to be a challenging shot."
Despite saving par at seven and carding four additional birdies—plus an eagle—through the remainder of his round, Scheffler stumbled on the back nine, making three bogeys in his last seven holes. These errors would have left him just three strokes behind the leaders, Ben Griffin and Matti Schmid, had he avoided them.
Fatigued after his recent victories at the PGA Championship and CJ Cup Byron Nelson, Scheffler admitted that he was mentally drained but vowed to keep fighting for his latest PGA Tour title.
He stated, "I would say mentally, I'm definitely a bit tired, but my game feels like it's in a good spot. I'm going to try to get the two shots back as quickly as possible and see what happens this afternoon."
The future holds defense of his title at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village next week and a likely skip of the RBC Canadian Open to ensure peak performance at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club.
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Sources:[1] PGA Tour. (2025). Round 3 Recap: Charles Schwab Challenge. Retrieved from https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html[2] Golfweek. (2025). Scottie Scheffler's recovery shot at Charles Schwab Challenge is the shot of the tournament. Retrieved from https://golfweek.usatoday.com/[3] ESPN. (2025). Scottie Scheffler takes innovative approach to par save at Charles Schwab Challenge. Retrieved from https://www.espn.com/[4] Golf Monthly. (2025). Scottie Scheffler feared caddie smashed club in frustration during Charles Schwab Challenge. Retrieved from https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/[5] The Golf Channel. (2025). Charles Schwab Challenge 3rd-round highlights: Scheffler's outrageous recovery shot. Retrieved from https://www.golfchannel.com/[6] CBS Sports. (2025). Scottie Scheffler's near-struck caddie puts the finishing touch on incredible par. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/
- Scottie Scheffler's audacious recovery shot at the par-4 seventh hole during the Charles Schwab Challenge was hailed as the shot of the tournament and further solidified his reputation in golf.
- Despite a strong performance in the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge that included a number of birdies and an eagle, Scottie Scheffler struggled on the back nine, making three bogeys and finishing the tournament just three strokes behind the leaders in golf sports.
