Jon Rahm kept his dream alive of being the first Spanish player to win three of golf's four Major Championships with a superb third-round 67 at the 2025 US PGA Championship.
Rahm, winner of the 2021 U.S. Open and the 2023 Masters, made seven birdies against only three dropped shots to take himself to six under par for the week at Quail Hollow.
World Number One Scottie Scheffler pulled away to 11 under and while his perfect record when leading a Major after 54 holes - winning the Masters in 2022 and 2024 - makes ominous reading for the rest of the field, Rahm was in high spirits after his round.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "I played really good golf.
"I played good the last couple of days but today was the round I thought I was capable of."
A third Major Championship would take Rahm outright second among Spanish players behind only the late, great Seve Ballesteros, who won three Open Championships as well as the Masters on two occasions.
And asked what it would mean to become the first Spanish winner of the US PGA Championship, Rahm said: "It's so much deeper than that.
"I'd be the closest Spanish player to the Grand Slam, the first since Seve to get three majors and the first Spanish player to get three different majors."
Rahm was relieved to see that his wayward approach to the 11th, which hit a spectator seated beside the green, caused no serious injury.
He said: "After I hit it and we saw the ball bounce out, which I haven't seen a ball ricochet like that in a while - I mean, if it was a driver, you would expect it, but for a 6-iron, that thing came in sideways quick.
"We were kind of sorting through things between golf clubs and golf balls (to give to the spectator). I don't think a glove and a tee is going to cut it.
"He took it great. I told him, if he was European and grew up playing soccer, football, and he just aimed a little bit better, maybe just get it closer to the hole!
"It's a weird moment. Sometimes when that happens and they're not hurt, they are so excited because they know we are going to go there and just have a five-minute conversation, and yeah, he took it great and he was a great sport about it."
