Explosive eagle-birdie finish (and new driver and putter) has Scottie Scheffler three back

LOS ANGELES – Scottie Scheffler, a Lamborghini of a golfer who has an air of inevitability at majors, was stuck in neutral throughout his Saturday round at Los Angeles Country Club.

The world No. 1 birdied the first hole, but a sloppy bogey at No. 2 ended any opening momentum. He spent the next 14 holes in a constant grind, never closer than five shots of the leader.

And then, with one glorious swing, a round stuck in the mud sped off toward a sublime finish.

A hole-out eagle from 196 yards on the par-4 17th catapulted Scheffler into the mix at the 123rd U.S. Open. He later said he couldn’t see his ball go into the hole, but an explosion of cheers from the crowd sent Scheffler and caddie Ted Scott into a frenzy. What fans behind the green saw was a beautiful, drawing iron shot in which his ball perfectly hit a mound on the front left of the green and tumbled into the hole.

“(The fans) erupted, which is always nice when you're standing back there in the fairway,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler followed that eagle with a birdie at the 18th, finishing off a third-round 68 that has him 7 under and three shots behind co-leaders Rickie Fowler and Wyndham Clark. Scheffler drained a 22-foot putt at the last, which was by far his longest make of the afternoon.

Within two holes, Scheffler gained three shots, turning an otherwise forgettable round into one that keeps his hopes of a second major championship alive.

“All of a sudden the shot goes in from the fairway and all that stuff just melts away,” said Scheffler, who will play alongside Rory McIlroy (9 under) in the penultimate pairing.

Despite the sluggish start, Saturday marked Scheffler’s best driving outing of the tournament. He hit 10-of-13 fairways one day after a viral video circulated online of him tossing his driver on the range in the aftermath of his Friday round.

According to Scheffler, his original driver was either flattened or caved, causing shots to veer left. The backup driver went straight, and thus a new club was placed in the bag for Saturday.

Scheffler also confirmed after his third round that he switched putters this weekend.

“Just something that was kind of an older look for me and something that just looked slightly different, maybe looked a little bit bigger line, would feel more forgiving,” Scheffler said. “I feel like I'm rolling it nice this week.”

So far, he’s 21st in the field in strokes gained: putting, and Scheffler hasn’t finished an event inside the top 30 in that stat since winning in Phoenix.

The new flatstick has a similar shape to the one he used winning the U.S. Junior in 2013. Ten years later, Scheffler’s hopeful the old design and a backup driver can propel him to lift the USGA’s biggest prize of all.