Jhonattan Vegas even even exceeded the wildest expectations that he may have had for himself in the PGA championship.
Nobody would predict that 40-year-old Venezuelan would lead after the first round. Nobody thought he would be there after round two.
But when the sharks started circling around the top of the leadboard on Saturday, Vegas finally showed signs of nerves and paid an expensive price.
Walking on the 15th hole, after he celebrated the short par-four 14th, he showed no sign of wilt and had to feel that he had the chance to become an unlikely big champion.
But then he found the water with his tee shot. A precious mistake that led to a bogey with the infamous ‘green miles’ that would still come.
Vegas managed to stabilize the ship with back-to-back pars and ran the 18th Fairway, knowing that he had two Putts of 45 feet to be within four shots of Scottie Scheffler who went into the last round of Sunday.
Jhonattan Vegas fell away at the PGA championship after two bogeys in his last four holes
His tee shot on the 15th found the water before he missed his par putt on the 18th hole
He left himself five feet for par, but then a disaster struck. Vegas pulled it on the left and a second bogey in four holes probably ended his hope to win.
After three rounds of consistent and Nederveless Golf, it is easy to forget how not -announced the career of Vegas has been.
A four -fold winner on the PGA Tour, he never finished in the top 20 in a major and missed the cut in nine of his last 13 performances. He had not qualified for this.
But Vegas stormed on the leaderboard on the first day with five birdies over his last six holes and did everything he can hang around, such as Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Bryson Deschambeau.
To merge the misery of Vegas, he had brilliantly recovered from the kind of beginning to a round that could have ruined his self -confidence. His overnight stay disappeared after a bogey-bogey started early on Saturday
He left his approach in the first near the lip of a greenside bunker from where he struck within 24 feet with his heels over the edge of the danger and then two-handed for Bogey.
On the Par-Vier second, Vegas again hit a wandering Tee shot and was forced to chip out of the trees on the way to another bogey, but he refused to withdraw.
Vegas stabilized with four-right pars before he finally got a shot back with a Birdie on the Par-Five 7th.
Vegas is now five shots behind the night leader Scottie Scheffler goes into the final round
He then had a glorious opportunity to reclaim the outright lead after driving the Par-four eighth gap, but could not cope with money after he was three feet of 26 feet.
While Scheffler Momentum started to get and produced four Birdies and an eagle on the rear nine, Vegas hung in their five-right pars for the Birdie at 14.
Scheffler chased a third career major and moved to 11-under for the tournament after compensating three Bogeys with seven birdies and an eagle in the short par-4 14th hole.
Late in the day, Swede Alex Noren became the nearest pursuer of Scheffler, three back of the world no. 1 after a third round 66 with four birdies in his last five holes.
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