US PGA :: Round three in short

Day holds two-shot lead

Jason Day is in with his best chance yet of winning his maiden major title as he holds a two-shot lead heading into the final round at Whistling Straits.

The 27-year-old, who has nine top ten finishes in majors since the US PGA Championship in 2010, shot a 66 on Saturday, which included a double-bogey and two bogeys.

“I’ve been in position where I’ve been close to the lead going into Sunday,” said Day. “The US Open I was tied for the lead this year going into the last day. But to have a two-shot lead is pretty sweet.

“I’m not looking at it as a negative, you can’t, because you’ve got two shots and I’ve played phenomenal golf leading up to this. But now I’ve got to focus on round four.”

Spieth in final pairing

It certainly isn’t going to be easy for Day, whose nearest challenger heading into the final round is one Jordan Spieth.

After a 65 on Saturday, the American is looking to become the youngest player in the modern era to win three major titles and the first in history to win the Masters, US Open and US PGA Championship in the same season.

Oh, and there’s also world No.1 up for grabs. Spieth can achieve that if:

He wins and Rory is not second alone;
He finishes second alone and Rory isn’t in the top six;
He finishes tied second with one other and Rory isn’t in the top 13;
He finishes tied second with two others and Rory isn’t in the top 33.

But the American said his mind isn’t focused on history, just the chance to add the Wanamaker Trophy to his collection.

“I’ll go into tomorrow strictly for the history piece of trying to get my name on a different major,” he said. “It’s a goal of mine to capture all four throughout my career and I’ve got a great opportunity to get the third right now.”

Rose in the hunt

Very much in the mix heading into the final round is Justin Rose, who shot a 68 on Saturday to get himself to 12-under-par and just three shots behind Day.

And the 35-year-old remained coy on his chances of lifting his second major title, as he aims to become the first Englishman since Jim Barnes in 1916 and 1919 (the first two ever contested) to lift the US PGA title.

“It’s never easy to close out a major championship,” he said. “If I was to shoot 68 again, ask the question, you never know. Obviously I would like to go lower than that, but that would be the high end of what I would be thinking.”

64 sets Grace up well

The low round of the day went to the South African with an eight-under-par 64, hauling himself up into the penultimate group with Rose on Sunday on 12-under-par.

It marks the second major this year where the South African has been in contention heading into the final round – after the US Open – and he admits he’s looking forward to heading out onto the course for his chance at maiden major glory.

“It’s another chance, this is what we all play for,” he said. “We all play to give ourselves the opportunity to get close to a major championship and we’re all here, and the top guys are all here, for the same reason, we want to win this thing.

“It’s just getting out tomorrow, getting out on the first tee with a smile and hopefully the smile can be there all day.”

Past champ Kaymer not out of it

Like Spieth, Kaymer shot a 65 on Saturday to sit just four shots behind Day and, after his experience of winning at Whistling Straits five years ago, believes he can’t be discounted, especially after beginning his final round then in a similar situation.

“Five years ago, I think I was 5 or 6 shots behind after the third day, and all of a sudden I was leading after six holes on the golf course,” he said. “It’s one of those things in major championships, the last round so much can happen. I’m just glad that I put myself in a position to maybe have a chance tomorrow.

Jones out of the hospitality…

After two birdies in his first six holes, the Aussie was clear at the top of the leaderboard on 13-under-par. But it all unravelled from holes 15 to 17, where he went bogey, bogey, double-bogey to end back on ten-under alongside big-hitting Tony Finau.

Another of Jones’ bogeys was on the par-4 ninth, where he played this shot out of a hospitality tent…

US PGA Championship :: Who’s going to win?

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