Shinnecock Hills is living up to expectations as everything gets tossed over, though not in the way many anticipated. This week, it’s producing a new name on the leaderboard each day, and Saturday belonged to Emiliano Grillo. The Argentinian posted a 3-under 67, the lowest round till then, to climb 40 spots up the leaderboard. When he sat down with the media after his round, the 2023 Charles Schwab winner was quick to assert his competition in the field.

“I mean, it’s hard, man. Like everybody is grinding so much,” he said at the post-round presser conference. “Everybody is practicing so much. Everybody out here, it’s hard to say that this is a weak field compared to week in, week out, just because of the level that you have.

“When you go on the PGA TOUR, you have 120-150 guys, and then when you’ve got everybody in the same week, you’ve got to beat guys like Scottie Scheffler. We haven’t seen somebody play that good in a long time. It’s hard to beat these guys.

“I don’t think I’m that bad, but I feel like I need to play really good to compete with these guys out here.”

The two-time PGA Tour winner backed himself in competition on moving day. Grillo entered the week ranked 123rd in FedEx Cup points and qualified in Canada to earn his spot in the field. After the two rounds, he sat at 3 over par, level with a group that included Jordan Spieth and Joaquin Niemann, and well outside any conversation about contention. But on Saturday, he has been steady in climbing the leaderboard to reach T6.

He had calculated his risks even before he stepped onto the first tee on Round 3. He had a brief understanding of what the winds and the course demanded, as he had caught enough television coverage to know what was waiting for him.

He caught sight of Dylan Wu five-putting the opening green just before him. Next, he watched Chris Gotterup mark his ball on the same hole, only to replace it and then helplessly see a gust of wind carry it 15 feet away. That was a fair warning for him as he started his Round 3. As he admitted in the conference, he was patient.

“Probably the shot of the year,” he said on the front nine as he went into a birdie run nobody else could match.

He started by making five straight pars to start his round. He kick-started his round with a birdie on the par-4 6th. The birdie streak stretched to the next three holes to go out four under par.

Across the four holes alone, the Argentinian holed putts totaling over 53 feet on greens running fast in swirling winds. By the time he made the turn, he had covered 66 feet of putting distance on the front nine alone as he climbed 40 spots in the leaderboard.

The back nine was not as clean for Grillo. His approach on the 10th went through the green as he made a bogey, carried by the downwind. However, he progressed through the round with more care. He picked up one more birdie on the 16th to keep his round alive, but dropped another shot at 17. Despite that, he signed for a 67. At the end, it was three shots better than anyone else posted on Saturday.

“It’s not like I haven’t played well, or maybe I’ve been in contention at a few majors here and there, but it’s just hard golf courses and hard setups. You have to be patient,” he said. “You have to be on top of your game. Then you have to get lucky, get lucky with the draw. There are a lot of things out there that need to be together to beat these guys that are really, really good at it.”

The two-time PGA Tour champion firmly believes that the difference between a regular tour event and a major championship is not just the golf course or the setup. According to him, the real challenge comes from elite players who show up in majors. While a typical PGA Tour field is always strong, majors bring together the very best golfers in the world at the same time.

At the heart of his argument is the belief that competing against such a field leaves virtually no margin for error. Every mistake is magnified, and opportunities are harder to recover from. Despite this reality and Shinnecock Hills proving difficult for him in the past, when he missed the cut, he remains confident in his chances.

Scottie Scheffler remains one of the toughest players to beat in golf, as Grillo acknowledges. And his bid for the career Grand Slam appeared to be moving in different directions this week. The World No. 1 carded back-to-back bogeys during Saturday’s round, slipping to two over for the tournament. He also fell outside the top 25 and was nine shots behind the leader, Wyndham Clark.

Even so, few would count Scheffler out. He has built a reputation for turning tournaments around when it matters.

Grillo, meanwhile, is looking to improve his previous experience at Shinnecock Hills. Heading into the final round, he sits at even par, seven shots behind the leader, Wyndham Clark. Whether Grillo can put together the round needed to justify his belief and mount a late charge is the question Sunday will answer.