LA JOLLA, Calif. – The cream didn’t rise to the top at Torrey Pines on Saturday.
Instead of a much-anticipated weekend duel between world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy, the world beaters fizzled, shooting 76 and 74 respectively to fall five back and into a share of eighth place. Instead, the top of the leaderboard features Patrick Rodgers, the 54-hole leader, and Denny McCarthy, who trails by a stroke, two pros who have managed to keep their card but never have tasted victory on the PGA Tour.
Rodgers, the former No. 1 amateur and 11-time winner out of Stanford University, shot 4-under 68 on Torrey’s South Course to improve to 8-under 208. That was despite rinsing a gap wedge at the par-5 18th hole from 91 yards and making his lone bogey of the day.
“Usually that’s a perfect little three-quarter lob wedge for me with no wind and no circumstances,” said Rodgers, who switched clubs during a 10-minute wait before he could go for the green. “Felt like I executed okay. Obviously it looked silly when it ends up in the water, but I’m proud of the way I got it up and in.”
Rodgers, 32, is in his 11th year on Tour and after a celebrated amateur career, he conceded that the expectations of others and his own have been tough to live up to and as he put it, “was kind of fighting who I saw myself to be.”
“It’s clearly something I’ve battled in my career. It’s the thing that whenever my name is mentioned, that’s the first thing that everybody says professionally so it’s something that I have to deal with. I think I’ve struggled with it for a long time, but I feel like I’m viewing my career from a different vantage point now and I’m excited about the opportunity to cross that finish line tomorrow,” he said. “Instead of playing with a monkey on your back that gets bigger and bigger over time when it doesn’t happen, I’m trying to play from a perspective that feels fresh and new and exciting and full of opportunity because that’s what this game is, and I have a great one tomorrow.”
Rodgers entered the week ranked No. 173 in Strokes Gained: Putting but he enjoyed his best day with the short stick on Saturday, gaining three strokes against the field and ranks third in the category this week. Rodgers attempted to implement the popular AimPoint Express method for reading greens at the beginning of the season. But in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open last month here at Torrey, he topped the field in greens in regulation but still shot 76 as his putter let him down. He decided to abandon using AimPoint and get back to “my DNA.”
McCarthy, who was a finalist in the 2014 U.S. Amateur, also would finally like to cross the finish line first. The 31-year-old is regarded as one of the Tour’s top putters but the bumpy poa annua greens at Torrey neutralized his super power and he hasn’t played in the Farmers Insurance Open, which annually hosts the Tour here, in the last four years. “I think I will need to add the Farmers to my schedule,” he said.
Poised to pick off a second Tour title if either of the front runners falter is Ludvig Aberg, who has called Torrey Pines one of his favorite courses. He’s alone in third two strokes back and looking for revenge after tumbling down the leaderboard at Torrey Pines last month at the Farmers when he became ill and lost eight pounds in two days. Aberg made his first hole in one on the Tour, a pitching wedge that found nothing but the bottom of the cup at the third hole.
“It was one of them that I actually hit the shot I wanted to as well, which is nice when it goes in,” said Aberg, who shot a third-round 70. “It was a really cool moment.”
Three Ryder Cuppers are among a quartet that trail by four shots. Tony Finau (67), Patrick Cantlay (68) and Tommy Fleetwood (69) all have the game to make a run on Sunday. Finau had a wild day, featuring three chip-in birdies in the first eight holes.
“I think that’s the most chip-ins I’ve had in one round really in my life, for sure in my career,” he said. “I guess the golfing gods were on my side today.”
It was a forgettable day for Scheffler. His 4-over 76 marks his highest round on Tour since shooting the same score during the final round of the 2022 Players Championship, a span of 212 official rounds. But he and McIlroy, who struggled with the putter and made a double at 16, still are lurking only five shots back and with just seven golfers ahead of them. In other words, don’t count out either of the stars or Justin Thomas (69), who is part of a four-way tie for eighth, making a Sunday charge for the trophy.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The cream didn’t rise to the top at Torrey Pines on Saturday
