Ewan Murray's report
So much for the Monday, possibly Tuesday, finish, huh? All of a sudden, the major year is done and dusted. Danny Willett, Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Jimmy Walker have all broken their ducks in 2016. And in spectacular style, too. Those were four pretty great championships, right? 2017’s got a lot to live up to. Sweet dreams, everyone, and thanks for reading!
-14: Walker
-13: Day
-10: Summerhays
-9: Grace, Matsuyama, Koepka
-8: Stenson, Kaymer, Streb
-7: Hatton, Casey, McGirt
-6: Harrington, Simpson, Spieth, Reed, Grillo
Walker is presented with the Wanamaker Trophy, and hoists it high over his head. It’s a big cup, that’s a lot of extra effort given he’s just had to play 36 holes of golf under the most intense pressure. “I was thinking birdie at 17 would do it. We made the birdie. but sometimes things don’t come easy. Golf isn’t an easy game, and Jason is a true champion, so I wouldn’t expect anything less. Eagle at the last! That’s unreal! I had to make par, and sometimes pars are hard. But we got it!” One of the most gracious interviews by a winner you’re likely to hear. Poor old Jason Day. But he’ll come again. Congratulations to the wonderful Jimmy Walker!
Jimmy Walker, the winner of the 2016 PGA Championship, is signing for a bogey-free 67! What a way to win your first major! He had to hole his fair share of nervy short ones, and wriggle his way out of a couple of tight spots too. But every time he looked in any sort of trouble, he came up with the putt, or the chip, or the perfectly judged approach! And then he was tested to breaking point by Jason Day, the world number one. Most would have buckled. Walker didn’t. Day could have done nothing more - the poor chap looks appropriately drained as he trains his eyes on a point approximately one thousand yards in the distance - but he comes out of this with flying colours too. There’s only one winner, though, and Walker is the deserving champion!
JIMMY WALKER IS THE 2016 PGA CHAMPION!
His motor skills don’t desert him. He rolls in the three footer, like he’s done all day, and punches the air in celebration! He hugs his caddy, then his wife and kids. That was something else. He was pushed to the limit by the genius of the defending champ Jason Day, and still didn’t buckle. The deserved winner of the 2016 PGA Championship! Day arrives to give him a hug. “Well done mate.” These are sweet scenes.
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The tension around the 18th at Baltusrol is palpable. Crackling. Maybe this was the electrical storm they were predicting. Walker pounds up and down the green, then strokes what looks like a fine putt towards the cup. But it keeps rolling, three feet past! What a nervy one he’ll have coming back! Robert Streb goes as quickly as he can to tidy up for his par, and a final-round 69; it still seems like an age to Walker. Finally, his moment of destiny. He’s not about to do a Doug Sanders, is he? He steps up, takes aim, makes his stroke, and ...
This is a jaw-dropping end to another wonderful major! Day sits in the scorer’s hut with his wife and child. Walker stands by his ball with his hands on his hips, the nerves clanging like a Milt Jackson vibraphone solo. But he doesn’t hang around. A few practice swishes with his wedge - and he plays the safe bet. He lobs high into the centre of the green. He’ll have two putts from 30 feet for the par that’ll secure the 98th PGA Championship!
Oh my! Walker hoicks his 3-wood way right, over the bunkers on that side of the green, into the thick stuff! The business end of a major championship, right here, right now! He doesn’t have a terrible lie, and he’s got green to work with. But even so!
Walker plays it safe off the 18th tee with iron. It’s in the fairway. No messing. No risk. A very clever play. Meanwhile up the hole, Day bends forward as he reaches the green to squint at the leaderboard. “Aw fuckin’ hell!” he softly mouths as he gently spins his club in impotent frustration. He’s just hit one of the great long irons under all sorts of pressure, but almost certainly for no reward! Though he’s going to make Jimmy Walker answer the question: he rolls in his eight-foot eagle putt!!! He reels round in celebration! A huge grin. He’s done all he can. That’s a 67, though his number isn’t the point: what an iron! What a putt! What an eagle! What a stunning defence of his title, whatever happens now!
-14: Walker (17)
-13: Day (F)
This is sensational! Jason Day whips a long iron 260 feet into the 18th green. It’s a laser-guided missile, straight at the flag! It lands four feet away to the left of the cup, and rolls perhaps a couple of feet further past! What an eagle opportunity he’s lined up for himself! A huge roar echoes around Baltusrol. But Jimmy Walker is immediately coming back at him! He tickles his birdie putt towards the hole. For a second it looks as though it’s going to kink off to the right, but the cup reaches out to grab the ball. In you come! That ball had to be missing on the right. But somehow it dropped! A birdie that has almost certainly secured his maiden major victory, unless he’s about to channel heroic Open legend Jean van de Velde. Day has to make his eagle putt, for a start! That was astonishing!
-14: Walker (17)
-11: Day (11)
Up on 18, Martin Kaymer drains a 40-foot eagle effort across the green! He finishes with a 66, at -8, and finally that’s a top-ten finish in a major that he’s not actually won. The Open champion Henrik Stenson can’t get up and down from the back: par, a 71, and he finishes at -8 too. He’s the only player in the top 40 to post an over-par final round; the efforts of Troon finally catching up with him. Ah well, those efforts were worth it, huh? Back on the tee, Day whip-cracks an iron down the centre of the fairway. And further back on 17, Walker spins a wedge from 70 yards to ten feet. He’s so very close.
With Walker waiting down the fairway to play his second, Day has a good think about his birdie putt. A long think. And eventually, after a lot of crouching and prowling, he hits the ball firm and true. Problem is, he’s misread it ever so slightly, the ball staying out on the left. He knocks in the return, but Day is about to book a room in the last-chance saloon. He vacates the green, still two behind at -11. Once he’s gone, Walker wastes no time in laying up. He’s in prime position to wedge close.
Walker screeches his tee shot at 17 straight down the middle. Up the hole, Day wedges to the front of the green, leaving a 15-foot uphill putt for birdie. You’d think he needs to make it, in order to place the leader under even more pressure. But then anything is possible at the denouement of a major. Assume nothing. Let’s just let the footage roll.
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Walker gives his putt across 16 an aggressive clack. It slides by on the right, and ends up five feet past the hole. Gulp. But he rolls it right into the middle of the cup! This is a stunning display of mental strength, if nothing else. Whenever he begins to look even a tad ragged, understandably so in the circumstances, he pulls it round. Usually with the putter, but he’s hit a couple of wonder approaches when out of position. Meanwhile up on 17, Day smashes his second out of the rough down the right and back into the middle of the fairway, setting himself up for a short iron in. And on 18, Stenson whistles a fairway wood over the pin and towards the grandstand at the back. It’ll be a fun up and down from there for a valedictory birdie.
-13: Walker (16)
-11: Day (16)
-10: Summerhays (F)
-9: Grace (F), Matsuyama (F), Koepka (F), Streb (16)
-8: Stenson (17)
Jimmy Walker hits his tee shot at 16 pin high, but 50 feet away in Jason Day Country. Day himself wings a wild drive into the punters down the right of 17, clapping some poor bugger on the back. Stenson meanwhile misses a two-footer up on the green for birdie. Troon seems a long way away right now. Troon is a long way away, in fairness. It’s late. I’m trying my best. I promise.
Walker can’t work out the line of a snaking birdie putt, but he gets the pace bang on, and taps in for yet another par. He’s -13, two clear of Day, who is up on the 16th green taking two putts from 5o feet for par. Walker’s so close to his maiden major now. Meanwhile from the fringe at the back, Streb doesn’t hit his 12-foot birdie effort, and he’s staying put at -9. Up on 18, Brooks Koepka finds the green in two, and nearly knocks in a 40-foot eagle effort. But that’s a birdie, and he’s smiling broadly as he signs for a 70 that sees him end the week at -9. After a tie for fifth last year, that’s another top-ten finish at the PGA.
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Day leaves his long par putt on 15 a good ten feet short of the cup. This could be the end, if he doesn’t knock this in. But he does, guiding a right-to-left slider into the cup! That was sheer quality, a putt that keeps his challenge alive. But unless he makes a move very soon - and he hasn’t gone close with his tee shot at 16 - he needs Walker to make a mistake. And while the leader got a massive break back down 15 when driving into the tree, he’s taken advantage of that luck. He fires low and hard towards the green from under the branches, and sends his ball pin high, leaving a 20-footer across the dancefloor for birdie! What a way to turn possible disaster into a possible deal-sealer!
Hmm. This isn’t over yet, of course. Walker haplessly slices his drive at 15 into the branches of a huge tree. He’s very fortunate to see his ball drop down on the other side. That’s not perfect, of course, but it could have been a whole lot worse. Meanwhile finally a putt goes in for Hideki Matsuyama! A birdie on 18, and he signs for a bogey-free 68. That could have been a seriously brilliant round if his putter was even lukewarm. As it was, he missed at least five tiddlers on the back nine. As he’s finished at -9, this goes down as one serious missed opportunity for the brilliant tee-to-green Japanese star.
“In regulation” undersold Walker’s approach to 14 a tad: he’d left himself a 12-footer for birdie. He doesn’t hit the putt, though, the ball refusing to hold its line and dying off to the left. Par will do under the circumstances. We’re a hole closer to a full sweep of first-time winners in the majors. It’ll be the first since 2011, when Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Keegan Bradley grabbed the prizes. Before that, 2003, when Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel swept them up. Not a classic year, 2003, was it.
No back-to-back majors for Henrik Stenson. He misses the six footer he leaves himself for bogey, and slips back to -8. Ah well, he’ll always have Troon. Walker is safely on the 14th green in regulation. Day, up on 15, needs something soon, but sends his drive into the rough down the left, and can only find the front of the green, some way from the flag. Walker is the hot favourite right now, but as we’ve seen a hundred times in major championship golf, there’s many a slip.
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Jordan Spieth takes his leave of Baltusrol. It’s not a particularly happy exit, even though he’s signing for a 68. Two very short putts missed for birdie at 17 and 18. He was hardly missing a thing from inside 20 feet last year! His putter’s letting him down right now. As is the rest of his game, I guess, but at -6 he’s only seven off the lead despite having misplaced his A, B and C games. He’ll be back soon enough, and more brilliant than ever. Also with the putting woes: Hideki Matsuyama, who has missed a short putt on just about every hole on this back nine. The latest a birdie chance at 17. He’s -8. He could conceivably be leading this tournament. He’s missed a series of incredibly daft ones. Tee to green he’s been exceptional. It’s as though he’s been taken over by the spirit of Sergio. Sergio? Is that you?
Walker doesn’t go particularly close with his wedge into 13, then rattles a 25-foot birdie effort four feet past the hole. Another test of the flat stick, and his nerves. And in it goes! This is very impressive. He stays two clear at -13, though Day nearly knocks in a long birdie effort across 14 to close the gap.
Meanwhile up on 15, Stenson goes for the flag, tucked back left, and overcooks the approach, sending his ball into the thick stuff behind. He’ll not have much room to play with. And he duffs the chip back. He leaves the chip from the fringe a good six feet short, too. This looks like the end of the Open champion’s challenge. If it’s to be a scoreboard shootout, it’ll be between Walker and Day.
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Brooks Koepka needed something to happen. Well, something’s happened! He rolls in a 50-footer on 15 for his first birdie of the day, and moves back to -9. He’s got to keep the spectacular scoring going now, if he’s to have any real hope. Henrik Stenson nearly drains a 30-foot birdie chance on 14, but races it by the hole. He keeps his nerves under control to knock in the three-foot return and save his par. His playing partner Martin Kaymer’s been going along well, incidentally. Birdies at 2, 7, 12 and now 14, offset only by bogey at 5, and he’s -7, back inside the top ten. Two major championships to his name, but otherwise no top-ten finish. Could this break that strange duck?
-13: Walker (12)
-11: Day (13)
-10: Summerhays (F), Stenson (14)
-9: Grace (F), Koepka (15), Streb (12)
Up on 18, Daniel Summerhays kisses an effortless fairway wood into the heart of the green to set up a 45-foot eagle effort. He doesn’t make the putt - one more turn was all it needed, a superlative attempt - but the birdie gives him a 66. He’s -10, the new clubhouse leader, and after a tie for eighth at Oakmont, he’s set for an even better major-championship finish at Baltusrol.
A long putt for Jason Day from the centre of 13. The second it comes off the face of his flat stick, it bounces in the air. Robbed of momentum, the ball stops a good six feet short of the hole. With Walker already two clear - and having just crashed a mammoth drive down the middle from the teebox behind - this is a pressure putt for Day. But he knocks it in, and stays at -11. That was rock.
Walker’s tee shot at 12 isn’t all that: in the middle of the green, but the pin’s towards the back right. A long lag, and he knocks it up to three feet. He’s leaving a lot of these short putts. The sort you should get, but when the nerves are clanging at the business end of a major, they’re very missable. He thinks about it a lot, but eventually tidies up. Streb, from 25 feet, flashes his putt straight at the hole. Problem is, he hit it with the power to cover 35 feet. It pings up on contact with the cup and stays out. Par, but a more delicate touch would have given him another birdie. He stays where he was too.
Amid that Walker-inspired brouhaha on 11, Robert Streb had stuck his approach to a couple of feet, and that’s two birdies in three holes for Mr 63. He’s -9. Daniel Summerhays finds the centre of 17 in regulation with a wedge that should have been closer, and can’t knock in the 15-footer he leaves himself. Par, and he remains at -9 with just the one hole to play. Stenson arrows an approach straight to 13. But it’s 20 feet short, and he doesn’t give the birdie putt enough. This is magnificent entertainment.
-13: Walker (11)
-11: Day (12)
-10: Stenson (13)
-9: Grace (F), Summerhays (17), Streb (11)
I’m not going to tempt fate by saying it looks as though the expected electrical storms have given Baltusrol the bodyswerve. But, well, y’know. Here we are, this rather brilliant golf continues. The leader Jimmy Walker takes an age over a wedge from the middle of 11. He sends it pin high, but a good 30 feet to the right of the pin. He looks concerned and nervous as he uses his club as a loofah to rub the small of his back. Still frowning, he lines the putt up - and guides a left-to-right breaker over a ridge, down the slope, and into the cup! Never missing! Sheer brilliance on the last two holes, and that’s back-to-back birdies! He’s two clear again, and just as it looked like he might be buckling a tad, he proves he’s as solid as you like under the most intense pressure! Day meanwhile makes like Stenson at 12 and leaves his tee shot a club short. He rolls a monster up the green and nearly makes it, but it rolls six feet past. That’ll be a tester coming back. But in it goes. Under the circumstances, he really needed that!
-13: Walker (11)
-11: Day (12)
Maybe not! Jason Day finds the heart of 11, then curls in a 20-footer for a birdie of his own! You wait ages for a birdie, then it’s the old London bus scenario. Daniel Summerhays isn’t letting this go, either: he sends his tee shot at 16 to ten feet, and knocks the putt in to move to -9! Stenson rolls his long putt at 12 to a couple of feet, and secures his par. Hideki Matsuyama meanwhile misses three very makeable birdie putts in succession, at 12, 13 and 14. He’s currently -8. It’s all about the flat stick, really, as Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia will tell you.
-12: Walker (10)
-11: Day (11)
-10: Stenson (12)
-9: Grace (F), Summerhays (16)
Koepka nearly knocks in a 20-foot birdie effort on 12. He stays at -8. Coming behind, Martin Kaymer clacks his tee shot dead. He’ll move to -6. Stenson leaves his half a club short, though, and will have a 40-footer up the green for his birdie. But there’s a HUGE moment on 10: Walker pushes his long-iron second shot into the bunker to the right of the green. A spot of trouble, but he splashes out to ten feet, and sends the ball rolling into the cup for birdie! If you can remember the bunker shot that won the 1986 PGA for Bob Tway, it’s not entirely dissimilar. An Australian, in Greg Norman, was denied that time round. Will this do for Jason Day?
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Henrik Stenson is bidding to become only the fourth player to win multiple majors in the same season as a fortysomething. The other veteran legends? Ben Hogan (1953), Jack Nicklaus (1980), and Mark O’Meara (1998). Sending his second at 11 into thick rough to the left of the green, shortsiding himself, doesn’t necessarily assist him in that quest. A staunch up and down saves the day, though. Jimmy Walker meanwhile is getting a little ragged with nerves. He nearly sends his tee shot at 9 into a bunker to the right. He just about holds the green, but he’s 40 feet from the flag. And he lags up short. A testing five footer to save his par. But it’s in! He reaches the turn in 34, nine pars out of nine. His playing partner Robert Streb, who had clipped his tee shot to three feet, taps in for birdie: he turns in 33 after bogey at 3 and birdie at 5. He’s -8, and not out of this yet. Summerhays bogeys 14 but grabs the shot back at 15. Day meanwhile very nearly drains a 50-footer on 10 for birdie, but that’s another par. With everyone now on the home stretch, this is hotting up. And it’s hotting up like this:
-11: Walker (9)
-10: Stenson (11), Day (10)
-9: Grace (F)
-8: Summerhays (15), Matsuyama (8), Koepka (11), Streb (9)
Koepka manages to punch his second escape from the trees out to the semi rough. He then sends his fourth ten feet past the flag, and knocks in the return. A bogey to ruin that pretty card of pars, but he’ll feel pretty good after limiting the damage there. He’s back to -8, but that could have been so much worse. Matsuyama meanwhile creams a lovely tee shot to six feet at the par-three 12th. But he pushes a poor birdie effort to the right. He remains at -8. He can’t be passing up opportunities like that.
Henrik Stenson has a chance to tie the lead at 10, but he fails to hit a straight 12-foot birdie putt. That was very timid. Jason Day knocks in his birdie putt, and he’s -10, one behind Walker who pulls his second shot into 8 but lags up well from 40 feet and rescues yet another par. But Brooks Koepka’s run of pars looks like coming to a sorry end. He hits his drive on 11 straight left into a bagatelle of trees. He fires a low escape towards the fairway, but only succeeds in hitting one of the trunks flush, and he’s pretty much back where he started. Oh dear. We’ve all done it. Just not on the back nine of a major championship.
It’s ten pars from ten for Brooks Koepka. Back down on the tee, Henrik Stenson blasts his 3-wood down the middle. It plugs. Don’t worry, he’s allowed to place his ball on these wickedly wet fairways. But that just shows how heavy the conditions are. Up on 11, Hideki Matsuyama breaks his long run of pars by curling in a putt from 35 feet. The birdie moves him to -8. And on 9, Jason Day whirls a gorgeous 6-iron to four feet. A broad smile. If he knocks that in, he’ll be back to level par for the round, and only one off Jimmy Walker’s lead.
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Two putts for Branden Grace, and that’s a brilliant - but not quite brilliant enough - final-round 67. He looks pleased enough, though, consoling himself with the idea that he was never really within range. Meanwhile Daniel Summerhays is making a late bid. He reached -7 with a long rake across 12, and he’s built on that with a wedge to five feet at 13. He rolls in for a second birdie in a row, and suddenly a player who tied for eighth at Oakmont is on course for another high major finish. Or something even better?
Jimmy Walker drives into more rough, this time at 7. He sends his second through the green, but gets up and down easily enough. All pars. Could he do a Nick Faldo at Muirfield, and win a major with 18 of the things? He’s still leading by one. It might suffice, because nobody’s making a run. Day pars again, this time at 8. But here’s an interesting stat: the defending champion is +1 for the first seven holes this week, and -10 for the rest. If he keeps that pattern going, Walker will have to make a couple of birdies.
Branden Grace took a brave run up the leaderboard, but that careless three putt on 16 took all the wind from his sails. No birdie at 17, and now he’s hooked his drive at the last into the drink down the left. He takes his penalty drop, then whipcracks a wood into the heart of the green. He’ll have two putts from distance for a closing par. Shame. But not as spectacular a late implosion as the one he suffered in last year’s US Open at Chambers Bay; he was never in the box seat this time, for a start. More good experience, though; he’ll come strong again. Meanwhile there’s not a whole load of birdies being made by the leaders right now. People playing some very careful golf. You don’t come this far in a major to take ludicrous gambles. Par for Day on 7, Stenson at 8 and Koepka at 9.
Birdie for Paul Casey at the last. That’s a fine closing round of 67, to go with three other sub-70 efforts. He ends the tournament at -7, alongside his countryman Tyrrell Hatton. Casey, Hatton, Beef, Justin Rose, Andy Sullivan, Matthew Fitzpatrick and the current Masters champ Danny Willett: English golf is in pretty good nick right now. Meanwhile Jimmy Walker sends his drive into the rough down the left of 6. Another tight lie, but he arrows his second into the heart of the green, and will have a good look at birdie from ten feet or so. He doesn’t hit it, but that’s six pars in a row and he’s still one clear at -11. He’s looking super-steady under pressure. Major championships don’t start until the final nine holes on Sunday, of course.
-11: Walker (6)
-10: Stenson (7)
-9: Grace (17), Koepka (8), Day (6)
-7: Hatton (F), Casey (F), Summerhays (12), Matsuyama (9), Streb (6)
A small spot of bother for Henrik Stenson down 7, his second at the bottom of a steep-faced greenside bunker. But he splashes out brilliantly to 18 inches to save his par. Up on 17, two big hits from Branden Grace, who is looking to repair the damage of that dropped stroke at the par-three. He sends his third to 12 feet, leaving an uphill putt. He pushes it to the right, and that’ll be a par. At -9, with only one hole to play, and too many good players around him on the leaderboard with opportunities in hand, his chance looks gone. But what an effort, nonetheless.
The final cry of Beeeeeeeeeeeef! of the week, as Andrew Johnston birdies 18 to sign for a 71. He ends his tournament at +1, one of the stars of the show despite his mediocre finish. Hey, you either have it, or you don’t. The kids in the gallery race to the front, hoping to grab a souvenir. You never saw this with Luke Donald. He whistles a ball and his hat into a sea of hopeful hands. Ryder Cup pick, please! Workaday pars meanwhile for Walker at 5 and Day at 6.
Back-to-back bogeys for William McGirt, the latest at 9. He stumbles towards the turn in 35. He’s now -6, and his race is run. It’s seven pars in row now for Brooks Koepka: he stays at -9, tucked in behind Walker and Stenson. But level with Brendan Grace, who nervously three-putts from relatively short distance on the par-three 16th, his first bogey for 28 holes. What a time to make it, and in such miserable, needless fashion too.
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Walker finds the middle of the par-three 4th green. He’s left with a 20-footer across the green, but doesn’t quite hit it. Four pars in a row, and he stays at -11. Meanwhile Day arrests his slide, wedging his second at 5 to eight feet and calmly rolling in the birdie putt. He’s back to -9. Stenson powers out from the thick grass down the left of 6 to find the heart of the green. A brilliant shot from where he was, he then hits a firm right-to-left slider that’s always heading into the cup. He walks after it with confidence before it drops, and moves to within a shot of Walker at -10. Meanwhile Jordan Spieth reaches the turn in 33 after sending his tee shot at 9 to three feet. He’s -5.
It’s been another fantastic major championship for young Tyrrell Hatton. Tied for 25th in this championship at Whistling Straits last year, then tied fifth at Troon a fortnight ago, his latest major appearance may well end with a top-ten place. Some record that’d be for a 24-year-old. He comes back in 33, birdies at 11, 17 and finally 18, for a fine round of 68. This chap has it. Meanwhile a 12-foot birdie effort hit to 11 feet: Brooks Koepka at 6, and he stays at -9. Branden Grace meanwhile pars 14 and 15, and he remains -10. He’ll be desperate for a strong finish to post a number that’ll give Jimmy Walker pause for thought.
A birdie chance for Stenson from 20 feet at the back of 5. He leaves it short and on the high side. Yet another par, and then he sends his normally trustworthy 3-wood into the rough down the left of 6. He’s yet to click into major-winning gear yet. Walker meanwhile sends his 50-foot birdie effort on 3 a couple of feet behind the cup. What a par save that was, after a ludicrous drive. He could have been in all sorts of trouble there.
Jimmy Walker takes his relief from the drinks cart, and manufactures a route out of the trees with a low cut that moves left to right and reaches the front portion of the green. Panic could easily have set in there, so that augurs well as the 37-year-old stargazer embarks on the round of his life. He’ll still need two good putts to save par, of course. And putting on the hard-to-read Baltusrol greens is easier said than done: it’s another dropped shot for William McGirt, another short putt missed, this time at 8. He’s back to where he started, at -8. Day meanwhile stems the bleeding at the par-three 4th with a garden-variety par.
-11: Walker (2)
-10: Grace (14)
-9: Koepka (5), Stenson (4)
-8: Day (4)
-7: McGirt (8), Matsuyama (6), Streb (2)
Walker pulls his drive at 3 into trees down the right. His ball nestles up against a booze concession, and behind some toilets, on muddy ground. He’ll get a drop, but there’s bound to be a little discussion before everyone’s happy. Good luck in calling this tournament! Apart from Day and Stenson - neither of whom are right on top of their games at this exact minute, Day unable to get up and down from the side of 3 and dropping back to -8 , while Stenson has started with four unspectacular pars - none of the contenders have a major to their name. And Day and Stenson have just the one each. So there’s going to be plenty of nerve-ends jangling around. This is going to be brilliant.
Jimmy Walker overcooks a right-to-left curler from 12 feet on 2.That would have given him a three-shot lead over the field. Par. And suddenly he’s only one in front! Branden Grace is determined to post something to give Walker et al something to think about. He sends his second at 13 to a couple of feet, and taps in for birdie. This is a brilliant effort from a player who started five back.
-11: Walker (2)
-10: Grace (13)
-9: Day (2), Stenson (3), Koepka (4)
-8: McGirt (6)
-7: Matsuyama (5), Streb (2)
Jason Day has started his fourth round driving like a maniac. After firing his opening tee shot into bother down the right, he’s now hoicked his drive at 3 into the trees on the left. He gets a very fortunate bounce out, though he’ll still be hitting his second into the green from thick rough. That causes him to push his ball into bother to the right of the green. He’ll do very well to get up and down from there to save par. Even if he makes it, he’s the only player of the leading bunch to be over par for his round so far. You have to go all the way down to Gregory Bourdy and Billy Hurley III at -3 for the next players over par. Meanwhile a good up and down by Martin Kaymer from the back of 3. That consolidates his birdie at 2 and he remains at -5. Too far behind you’d have thought, but on the final day of a major, anything’s possible.
Many thanks to Niall there. And upon my return I’m immediately bringing bad tidings of poor William McGirt, who pulled a rushed two-foot tiddler at 6 and has undone some of that good early work. He’s back to -8, though after those birdies at 1 and 4 still in credit for the day. The 2012 US Open champ Webb Simpson reached the turn in 34; he’s an inch away from draining a 25-footer on 10 to go into red figures for his round. He remains at -6. A birdie for Jordan Spieth at 6 to cancel out the dropped shot at 3; he’s back to -4. And on 4, Brooks Koepka fires his tee shot straight at the flag, but his eight foot birdie putt slides a couple of millimetres by on the right. He remains at -9 after four pars.
Adam Scott began with two birdies in the first three, but slipped back with two bogeys – but now, on the eighth, he sinks his approach shot to take an eagle. He does a little jig, he’s so pleased with himself. Scott is back to -6, and suddenly right in the mix again. Walker overcooks a birdie chance, but saves par at the first. The weather is clearing up nicely too. This could be a lively few hours, so without further ado, I’ll return you to Mr Scott Murray...
Leaderboard:
-11: Walker (1)
-9: Day (1), Grace (11), McGirt (5), Koepka (2), Stenson (2)
-7: Matsuyama (3), Streb (1)
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Grace’s approach play is giving him plenty of half-chances at birdies, and he keeps getting there or thereabouts – at the 12th, he misses left from the far side of the green. The good news for the South African is that he’s into a share of second, after Day’s dropped shot, and Stenson missing a tricky birdie attempt on the 2nd. Walker leads by two, and he’s not played his second shot yet...
If you’d bet on which one of Walker and Day would muff their opening tee shot, well, you’d have been wrong, because Walker’s tee shot is firm and true, straight down the fairway. Streb can’t follow suit, pinging his tee shot left and close to a bunker. At the second, Koepka misses a right-to-left birdie chance, while Day putts from beyond the front of the green. It bends and dips, and rolls a foot left of the cup. A fine effort, but his long run without a bogey – since the 7th in the second round – is over.
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Here comes the overnight leader, and top of the tree after every round so far – it’s Jimmy Walker. He tees off alongside Robert Streb, who’s on -7, four shots back. Will avoiding Jason Day help or hinder Walker? We’ll find out.
Speaking of Day, his second shot crosses the fairway into further rough, and his third lands some way short of the green. He’ll need something special to avoid a bogey here; Stenson has managed to do so, care of an expert putt from eight feet.
Grace can’t steer the birdie chance in, his downhill putt always rolling left. At the first, Stenson chips neatly to within ten feet – there are signs that the later starters are benefitting from prior knowledge of the slow greens. Further up the hill, Jason Day is under way, alongside Emiliano Grillo. The world No1’s tee shot skews towards the rough, and it will take an exemplary second shot to recover from that shaky start.
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Grace finds the heart of the green with his second shot at the 10th, and will have a chance to join Day on -10. His position after the first three rounds: T36th, T22nd, T8th. He’s certainly moving in the right direction. The same could be said of William McGirt, who sinks a far tougher birdie putt than the two he missed, and he joins Grace, for now at least, on -9.
By the way, if the weather holds, the final shots could be made in four-and-a-half hours: around 7.30pm local time, 12.30am BST. Get comfy...
Hatton has to wait a while to take his second shot on the 13th, as ground staff wring water from the fairway. It does him no favours, his attempt to find the green wafting into a bunker just to the left. McGirt has a presentable birdie chance at the 3rd, but sees it slide right of the cup.
Next on the first tee: a supreme Ryder Cup pairing of Stenson and Martin Kaymer, a little way back at -4. Stenson, seeking back-to-back majors, finds a perfect spot on the fairway with his trusty three wood.
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Lovely pitch up onto the green from Matsuyama, the ball spinning back off the soggy surface and settling inches from the pin. On the ninth, Grace has a speculative shot at birdie, and nudges it close enough to guarantee par, and a front nine taken at three-under-par. He’s very much in this.
Walker and Day are side-by-side on the driving range, sizing each other up, and both kitted out all in black. Stenson has moved to the putting green, where he misses a couple of efforts. He’ll do it on the night.
Grace drops in his par putt at the 8th to hold steady at nine-under, while further up the course, England has a new leader: Tyrell Hatton, who has moved clear of Justin Rose and up to -5, a share of 11th place, with some solid putting on the back nine. Spieth leaves another birdie putt short on the second, and that’s a couple of half-chances not taken early on by last year’s runner-up.
A couple of legit contenders teeing off their final rounds now: Hideki Matsuyama on -7 and Brooks Koepka, tied with Grace and Stenson on -9.
Kevin Kisner has a shot at an eagle on the 18th, but he’s just the latest player to suffer from slow greens, as his expertly weighted 30-footer comes up two feet short. He still takes birdie to finish the tounament four under par. McGirt has a similarly long-range birdie putt on the second, which breaks right-to-left, a little too far, as he misses the chance to take a share of third place.
The rain is really coming down now, particularly on the driving range, where Jason Day and Henrik Stenson are lodged under umbrellas. No weather warnings yet, so fingers crossed.
Thank you Scott, and hello, everyone. Let’s press on. Jordan Spieth is out on the first tee, starting the day at -4. He has a tricky uphill putt for birdie, but rolls an impressive effort a foot short. Scott (Adam, that is) puts too much juice on a wobbly par putt, and he’s at -5 again, quick as you like.
William McGirt is just three shots off the lead, and much like Jimmy Walker, spent many years in the golfing wilderness before making late progress up the rankings. He once played on the Hooters Tour, surely not a place for golfers going places...
Two birdies in the first three holes for Adam Scott. He’s -6, and clearly giving it a whirl, just to see. A fast start too by William McGirt, who birdies 1 to move to -8. But the biggest statement so far is being made by Branden Grace, who on 7 sent an iron from the best part of 200 yards to three feet, and rolled home for his third birdie of the day. Suddenly, this is beginning to hot up - and the leading pack will be champing at the bit to make their response. They’ll be out soon, should the weather hold - and worryingly, there’s a bit of rain falling again. Rain is fine; lightning not so much. Stay away, please.
With that, I’m off to snaffle down a large bowl of Hamburger Helper, which knocks anything from Arby’s into a cocked stylised stetson. Niall McVeigh will guide you through the next hour of wonder. See you soon!
Francesco Molinari finished this tournament strongly. A third-round 68, which culminated in six birdies on the bounce, has been followed by a bogey-free 67 for his final 18. He very nearly knocked in an eagle putt on the last, but a tap-in birdie sufficed. He ends the week at -4. His playing partner Rich Beem will be pretty happy with his week’s work, too. The 2002 winner, now a commentator on Sky and only occasional veteran player, shot a wonderful opening-day 69. He ends with a 71, having birdied 16 and 18. He’s +4, but he’ll always have Hazeltine.
The weather is our friend right now. The skies are clear, and there’s barely a breath of wind in the air. So no storm blowing this way. At the moment, anyway; let’s not tempt fate. But should the weather hold, the leading players will be out soon. Here’s a reminder of the tee times for the final groups:
2.31pm local (7.31pm BST): Rickie Fowler (-3), Jamie Donaldson (-2)
2.40pm (7.40pm): Hideki Matsuyama (-7), Harris English (E)
2.49pm (7.49pm): Brooks Koepka (-9), Patrick Reed (-5)
2.58pm (7.58pm): Henrik Stenson (-9), Martin Kaymer (-4)
3.07pm (8.07pm): Jason Day (-10), Emiliano Grillo (-4)
3.16pm (8.16pm): Jimmy Walker (-11), Robert Streb (-7)
Branden Grace underhits a straight-ish birdie chance up 6. He’s made a couple of birdies already today; he’s been close to a couple more now. He’s -8, just three off the lead; the small margins, eh? Elsewhere, Adam Scott curls one in from the back of 2 for an early birdie that takes him to -5.
Padraig Harrington sends a short birdie putt sliding right of the hole at 18. A slightly disappointing end to an otherwise magnificent weekend for the 2008 champion, who adds a 68 to his third-round 65. Finishing his tournament at -6, he supersedes Justin Rose as clubhouse leader. It’s far from a certainty, but there’s a chance he’ll finish in the top ten at a major for the first time since the 2012 US Open.
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A ten-foot par putt horseshoes back at Tyrrell Hatton on 7. He’s back to -4 and wanders off the green properly fuming, a spectacular, bubbling seethe. No attempt to hide it. Any faint hopes of troubling the leaders have evaporated right there. Meanwhile trouble for Beef down 6, as he drives into oomska down the left, then hoicks a wedge from the thick stuff into a deep bunker guarding the green. He’s not getting up and down from that sand. Back to +1. But the gallery still pours on the love, ladle after ladle, like the richest gravy. And so here’s our old pal Hubert O’Hearn with a hymn to ham, a paean to pork, a mantra to meat: “The vastly enjoyable love train following Beef should prove a hard lesson to us all. We have been taught that the Attractive Modern Man should be fit as a bodybuilder, groomed as a show pony, and as nibbly persnickety vegan as a saffron-robed Buddhist. To which we present the counter-argument: Beef. By Gawd, I WILL have that pie ‘a la mode’!” Preach on, brother.
Another birdie for Branden Grace! He knocks his tee shot at 4 to eight feet, straight at the flag, and gently guides in the left-to-right slider. He’s -8! This could be the start of a significant move. Up on 17, Padraig Harrington, having traversed carefully down the middle of the long par-five, rolls a 15-foot birdie putt into the cup. He’s -6.
BREAKING NEWS: Steve Stricker misses a putt from two feet. Repeat: Steve Stricker misses a putt from two feet. A dropped shot on 5 under very strange circumstances, then, and he slides back to -3. Meanwhile back on 3, Branden Grace has a putt from the fringe at the back. He nearly makes the 20-footer, but it glides by the left of the cup and he stays at -7. You can see the frustration already: he needs everything to drop if he’s to have a serious chance. And up on 18, the 2005 PGA champion here at Baltusrol, Phil Mickelson, signs off with a birdie. He shot a pair of 68s this weekend and ends at -3, a marvellous performance seeing he had to graft to make the halfway cut. But a second PGA win, and a sixth major, eludes him. Time’s running out for the 46-year-old Lefty, though of course it’s the US Open everyone really wants him to win. Will dreams come true at Erin Hills? C’mon, golfing gods, do the right thing next year, won’t you. Though if you could concentrate on keeping the thunder and lightning away from Baltursol first, that’d be just grand.
The highest-placed player out on the course is now Branden Grace. Everybody’s trendy Open pick has come good two weeks later, and in some style today. Earlier this morning he birdied 13, 14, 17 and 18, and now he’s curled in a 20-footer with huge right-to-left break on 2. He fist-pumps the air in celebration, knowing that if he gets going, he could ask the leading bunch a few questions when they come out in an hour or two. He’s -7. Four off the lead. He needs a super-fast one.
Beeeeeeeef! After a slow start, he’s got the crowd going again. And then some. From the apron at the back of 3, he curls in a 25-footer for birdie, and regains the shot he meekly dropped at the opening hole. He waves his arms in the air to milk the inevitable applause. He’s back to level par for the tournament. And then a 5-iron is slammed 12 feet to the left of the pin at the par-three 4th. He can’t quite make the birdie putt, but the gallery goes ballistic anyway. You only usually hear “GETINTHEHOLE”s like that when Phil Mickelson is playing. Beef’s made it big Stateside all right. Like Arby’s. Meanwhile his compatriot Tyrrell Hatton has opened up in rather more reserved style, with five straight pars to remain at -5.
We have a new clubhouse leader. Justin Rose finishes birdie-birdie, and signs for a 68. That follows yesterday’s excellent 66, and he ends the week at -4. A very decent showing, though of course the 2013 US Open winner is desperate for that second major. Back on 12, Kevin Kisner shaves the side of the hole from 30 feet, another birdie effort that fails to drop. He stays at -5.
Beef - now sponsored by David Puddy’s favourite restaurant, Arby’s, though in an ideal world he’d be sporting the golf-glove-esque corporate identity of food-flavored dried-food product Hamburger Helper - bogeys the opening hole. A heavy-handed chip from the front of the green followed by a timid putt. Never one to dwell on mistakes, he wedges into the heart of 2 and very nearly sinks the 20-foot birdie effort. But not quite. He’s +1.
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A birdie for Joost Luiten at the last, and he signs for a brilliant 65. The Dutchman is the very early clubhouse leader at -3. Padraig Harrington lands his approach at 13 right by the flag, but spin is not his friend, and takes the ball back to a distance where he ends up leaving the birdie putt short. He stays at -5, and the 2008 champion looks utterly sickened. He’ll have been dreaming of an unlikely victory, breaking from the pack. But it’s not to be.
After a long slump, Jhonattan Vegas is in a good place right now. The winner of last week’s Canadian Open has enjoyed another good tournament - 68, 71 and 70 - and he’s opened up his final round with birdies at 1 and 6 and a third at 7, the last one a comical rake from 40 feet which was in danger of flying off the other side of the green, but hit the hole, spun into the air, and slam-dunked into the cup. He’s -4 overall. The 31-year-old Venezuelan looks to be on the comeback trail after injury.
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Kevin Kisner, hot yesterday on his way to a 65, can’t keep things going. He drops a stroke at 8, his first bogey in 19 holes. He’s not a million miles away from knocking in a 25-footer on the par-three 9th to bounce straight back, but it’s not to be his day. He’s -5, the highest placed player out on the course alongside Padraig Harrington, who has parred 11 and 12 after that bogey at 10, and Tyrrell Hatton, just out and about with a par down the 1st.
Players can really drag each other down sometimes. The 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk is going round with young Belgian prospect Thomas Pieters. Furyk bogeyed 1. Pieters dropped a shot at 2. Furyk shed one on 4, then another at 5, where Pieters raised the bar with a triple. Furyk bogeyed 7. Pieters 8. And now Furyk at 10. They’re both five over for their round, the worst performers out there. Poor Pieters currently props up the entire field at +11. He can take heart that the pre-tournament favourite Dustin Johnson was +9 at the halfway mark. Oh Dustin! How I miss Dustin. The weekend’s never the same without a slapstick blowout or two.
The rain continues to pour. Padraig Harrington can’t get up and down after leaving himself short at the front of 10. He drops back to -5. Kevin Kisner should be moving the other way, having set himself up for birdie at 7, but he doesn’t really commit to a fairly straight eight footer, and he remains at -6. And I probably should have kept quiet about Joost Luiten. He wheechs his tee shot at the par-three 16th into the bunker on the right, fails to get up and down, and bogeys the hole. No 63 for him today, then, unless something very dramatic happens on the closing par fives.
The hottest player out there right now: Joost Luiten. He was out in 31 strokes after birdies at 1, 4 and 5. He’s since birdied 10, 14 and now 15, a run offset only by bogey at 12. He’s five under for his round, and -3 overall. A couple of birdies over the last three holes, and he’ll become the latest member of the ever-expanding 63 Club. Seems there’s one round every corner these days. Still, good luck to him. “Personally, I love these ‘old school’ tee times,” begins Hubert O’Hearn. “It’s always great theatre when someone posts an early low score and then sits nervously in a club house, camera leering over one shoulder, watching the telecast and trying not to perform a happy dance when someone horks up a bogey. And! We do have that par 3,5,5 final three holes. Damn it, if we have to wait this long - we DEMAND a classic finish!!!” But maybe not a three-hole play-off followed by sudden death, huh.
It’s still pelting down at Baltusrol, and the threat of electrical storms later on hasn’t gone away. Yet the players are keeping their peckers up. Jason Day has just been interviewed on the Sky television service, and while he’s well aware play might be suspended, and a Monday finish is a possibility, he speaks in a chirpy manner which suggests everyone in the locker room harbours hope of getting the job done tonight. “I’m looking forward to getting in the fourth round. Fingers crossed. It’d be really nice to finish today. Though I’d come back tomorrow if I had to!”
This warped state of affairs doesn’t just send players no longer in contention out late. It also means some folk with an outside chance are already out there competing. Kevin Kisner, who shot 65 yesterday, parred the opening four holes, and has just sent his second at 5 to eight feet for his first birdie of the day. He’s -6, and just five off the lead. Meanwhile up on 7, Padraig Harrington, after those two early birdies, finds himself in an awful pickle, plugged up against the face of a bunker. He opens the face of his sand wedge as wide as it’ll go, lashes hard below the ball, and sends it looping miles into the air, over the lip and onto the green, then trundling towards the hole. It threatens to drop, but stops a couple of feet past. That’s one of the shots of the week, and he saves his par to stay at -6. So now the third round has been completed, let’s post the first fourth-round leaderboard of this report!
-11: Walker
-10: Day
-9: Koepka, Stenson
-7: Streb, McGirt, Matsuyama
-6: Harrington (7), Kisner (5), Grace, Simpson, Summerhays
-5: Hatton, Reed
Weather permitting, here are the tee times for the final fourth-round groups. The PGA can’t redraw, with the fourth round having already started, so they’re going out in their third-round order. Which leaves the business end of the tournament looking slightly lop-sided - some of these lads are out of contention now - but golf used to be like this way back in the day, so let’s embrace the experience with gusto!
2.31pm local (7.31pm BST): Rickie Fowler (-3), Jamie Donaldson (-2)
2.40pm (7.40pm): Hideki Matsuyama (-7), Harris English (E)
2.49pm (7.49pm): Brooks Koepka (-9), Patrick Reed (-5)
2.58pm (7.58pm): Henrik Stenson (-9), Martin Kaymer (-4)
3.07pm (8.07pm): Jason Day (-10), Emiliano Grillo (-4)
3.16pm (8.16pm): Jimmy Walker (-11), Robert Streb (-7)
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On 6, Harrington is faced with a monster two-putts for his par. He has to give the first one a proper clatter on greens that are slowing up in this rain. But he judges it magnificently, lagging up from 55 feet to 18 inches, and makes his escape. He stays at -6. Up on 18, Robert Streb dumps his approach into the bunker. He splashes out to six feet, then suffers an elongated rush of blood to the noggin, three putting for a dismal bogey. That’s a 72 that drops him back to -7. He looks genuinely distraught, though he’s not crying, it’s just been raining on his face. Jimmy Walker meanwhile finds the heart of the green, takes a careful two putts from 30 feet, and he’s come back home in 32 strokes. That’s a brilliant 68, given he’d reached the turn two over for his round. He finishes the third round one clear of the defending champion Jason Day. After the third round, then, the top of the leaderboard looks like this ...
-11: Walker
-10: Day
-9: Koepka, Stenson
-7: Streb, McGirt, Matsuyama
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Jason Day gets up and down from a bunker at 18. A birdie, and he joins Jimmy Walker in the lead at -10. A blemish-free 67. A birdie for his partner Emiliano Grillo, too, and the young man can afford a wry smile after a difficult day: he’s shot 73 and has dropped back into the pack at -4. But he’ll still be going out in the penultimate group: the PGA, required to start the fourth round while the third was still going on, couldn’t redraw the pairings. It’ll all be good experience for a very promising talent.
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The rain is coming down in stair rods right now. Jimmy Walker watches his birdie putt slide off to the left just at the death. That’s two good birdie chances spurned in succession, but he remains one in the lead at -10. His partner Robert Streb meanwhile makes an absurd birdie. He drove into rough down the right, hoicked his second onto a spectator path, then whipped his third pin high to 18 feet and knocked in the putt. He’s -8, and back in the hunt again after a long run of garden-variety par golf. Meanwhile some hot early action in the fourth round: Padraig Harrington, having birdied 3, screeches his second into 5 to four feet, and pops the putt away to move to -6. The 44-year-old three-time major winner is just four off the lead! The common perception is that Padraig’s major career pretty much fell off a cliff after that burst of intense activity in 2007 and 2008, but he wasn’t far away from the 2012 US Open at Olympic, and was in the mix during the final round in the Open at St Andrews last year. He couldn’t, could he? God speed, Padraig Harrington!
Martin Kaymer can’t get up and down from sand on 18. A sorry end to his round. The bogey takes him back to -4 overall, and he signs for a 71. Back on 17, Jason Day gets up and down from the fringe for par, after a fairly average approach from a good spot in the fairway. He remains at -9. And coming behind, the leader Jimmy Walker has played the hole in careful, fuss-free fashion, straight down the middle of it. He’s on the green in regulation three, facing an uphill 15-foot putt that’d give him a two-shot lead.
Henrik Stenson creams his second at 18 into the heart of the green. He’ll have a great look at eagle from 20 feet. His playing partner Martin Kaymer is in a spot of trouble, though; playing three wide right of the green, he fluffs a chip from thick rough into a bunker. He really needs to get up and down to retain some semblance of momentum. Stenson doesn’t quite hit his eagle putt, but he taps in for birdie and a 67. He’s -9, and tied for the third-round clubhouse lead with Brooks Koepka.
Thanks to Nick. Now then, this PGA could get gloriously silly. In the last few minutes, we’ve had ... Brooks Koepka posting a new clubhouse lead with that 66, finishing his second round at -9; Jimmy Walker caressing a glorious tee shot at 16 to seven feet then missing the birdie putt to stay at -10; Jason Day blootering his drive into the trees down the right of 17 only to power out with a long iron, back in prime position on the long par five; and the 2008 champion Padraig Harrington, out playing his fourth round, continuing where he left off yesterday with birdie at 3 to move to -5. It’s highly enjoyable, this. Here’s where we are, with the third round drawing to a close:
-10: Walker (16)
-9: Koepka (F), Day (16)
-8: Stenson (17)
-7: McGirt (F), Matsuyama (F), Streb (16)
And with that, Scott Murray has taken the cool flannel off his forehead and is back to guide you through the wind and rain. Enjoy.
Koepka is home, recording a birdie at 18 to take him just a shot from Walker and the outright lead. Lovely round of 66 and he might be on his own in second as Day sticks his tee shot into the trees.
Day’s tee shot on 16 is an absolute peach, putting him within about eight feet of the hole and with a chance of a birdie, but his putt misses agonisingly. And that turns out to cost him the outright lead, as Walker birdies the 15th to be the first man into double-digits, -10 and in the No.1 spot.
Some good weather news, mind: it seems not to be raining quite so much, and there’s not a lot of wind which might suggest we could get away without another delay. Still, it is scheduled to be stormy at about 1pm local time.
Hideki Matsuyama is still very much in contention, and he ends his third round with a birdie to put him on -7, just two shots off the lead.
Day hammers his tee shot long and true on 15, and looks pretty good for a birdie and thus the outright lead...but his approach shot to the green isn’t quite so good and he eventually has to settle for a par. Still, he remains in joint first place with Walker on -9.
Stenson turns away from his tee shot on 16 as soon as he hits it, and his pessimism turns out to be well-placed, as it plops into the bunker just to the left of the green. However, he clips a delicate one to about five feet from the hole, and is left with a relatively simple effort to grab the par three, remaining on -8. On the same hole Kaymer puts too much on a long putt and it slides about six feet past the cup.
Spieth has a go for a birdie on 18, putting uphill from just off the green...but he hates the putt as soon as he makes contact, sliding right past the hole. He sticks the second effort in for par, and he’s on -4, five off the lead. It’ll need a ferocious final round for him to get back into contention for the lead in his final round, whenever the hell that might be. Meanwhile Stenson misses a birdie putt by quite a way on 15, put similarly pops the par in to remain a shot off the lead.
Lllllllllovely stuff from Stenson on the 14th, yammering the tee shot straight down the fairway, plonking his second within ten feet of the flag and sinking the putt with little bother. That takes him to -8, now level second with Brooks Koepka.
-9: Walker (12), Day (13)
-8: Stenson (14), Koepka (15)
-7: McGirt (F), Streb (12)
McGirt finishes his round - the third, in case you’re confused by it all - on 66, leaving him -7 and second behind Walker and Day overall. Effort.
Meanwhile the rain is starting to hoy it down now, with rumours of ‘electrical activity’ in a couple of hours. We’re already not going to get a finish today, but should the sky start crackling then we might be here for weeks.
Jimmy Walker sinks a belter on 12 to make it back-to-back birdies and take a share of the lead with Day! They’re both on -9. Kaymer rattles home a beauty on 13, but he’s a ways back on -5.
Jason Day’s tee shot at the par-three 12th finds the heart of the green. The safe play. He’s got a 25-foot look at birdie, and it shaves the right of the cup, but that’s a par and he remains at -9.
With that, I’m off for a brief lie-down in a dark corner of the clubhouse. I’ll leave you with Nick Miller, who’ll look after you real nice. See you soon.
So sure enough, Spieth swings smoothly, almost lazily, along a huge arc to Mickelson a lob onto the 16th green. He’s one turn from holing out! He taps in for a ludicrous par save that nearly became an incredibly daft birdie. The second-placed William McGirt is in the group ahead. He got up and down from a bunker at 16 to save his par, and now at the long 17th he’s a few joules of energy short of draining a 60-footer across the green for birdie. He stays at -8, a shot behind Jason Day.
Jordan Spieth is battling hard, as is his way. A birdie at 10 followed by five pars. He’s never in total control, but he’s managing to keep things ticking over. The latest was an up and down from the front of 15, a long, scampering chip to ten feet and a hard-as-nails putt, and he’s -4. By no means out of this. Ah hold on, perhaps I spoke too soon. He pushes his tee shot at the par-three 16th, and his ball slams into thick rough behind two bunkers. And he’s short sided. If he gets up and down from there, it’ll be his best escape of the week.
Henrik Stenson sticks his second at 11 to four feet. He knocks in the birdie putt, but only just, nearly pulling it to the left. The cup did him a favour and snaffled the ball greedily. You’ve seen those staying up, and the new Open champion’s relieved face tells the story. He’s -7 again. Meanwhile his playing partner Martin Kaymer has endured a miserable day so far - he reached the turn in two-over 36 - but he drains a monster from the back of the green and bounces back to -4. He celebrates in the style of a man who knows he has to get going quickly, else this championship will run away from him.
Day pops in his putt and saves his par! That’s a mighty scramble after a very poor drive had him in a spot of trouble, and he retains the lead at -9. His playing partner, young Emiliano Grillo, can’t save his par with a 30-footer, and drops to -6. A year too soon for the 23-year-old Argentinian? And birdie for Brooks Koepka on 12; he joins the party at -7.
-9: Day (10)
-8: McGirt (15)
-7: Koepka (12), Walker (9), Streb (9)
-6: Grace (F), Simpson (F), Matsuyama (13), Stenson (10), Grillo (10)
Or is it?! Day drives into the rough down the left of 10, and his second comes up well short of the green. He’ll have an up and down from distance if he wants to retain his two-shot lead. He wedges to four feet, giving himself a chance to escape with par. Though that’s where Henrik Stenson missed from a few minutes ago. Meanwhile it’s three birdies in four holes for William McGirt, the Jason Dufner de nos jours. He plonks his approach at 15 to five feet, and rolls home the birdie effort to move to -8. There’s just one in it at the top! Day will have to hole that putt if he wants to keep hold of the sole leadership!
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Day knocks in his birdie effort on 9, and he’s the sole leader of this championship at -9! Robert Streb and Jimmy Walker, co-leaders a minute ago, suddenly find themselves two off the pace. Streb drove into a bit of trouble down the right of 8, could only find the front of the big green, came up well short with his first putt, and that results in a bogey that drops him to -7. Walker meanwhile should par, but he pushes his short putt, it horseshoes out, and it’s just not happening for him today. And Stenson pulls a four-footer on 10, a careless miss. It’s looking very good for the defending champion, all of a sudden!
-9: Day (9)
-7: McGirt (14), Grillo (9), Walker (8), Streb (8)
-6: Stenson (10)
It is lashing down at Baltusrol. And the clouds are ominously dark. But let’s not brood yet. On the par-three 9th, the co-leader Jason Day makes a bid for solo stardom by drawing his 6-iron to three feet. He’ll have that to go to -9. While up on 18, the 2012 US Open champion Webb Simpson bashes his second, a fairway wood, into the heart of the green. He’ll have two putts from 50 feet for a 65.
Branden Grace did indeed make his birdie on 18: that’s his 66, and the clubhouse lead. Meanwhile another birdie for William McGirt, this time at 13, and he joins the group at -7. The rain is beginning to come down quite heavily. Not a problem, providing there’s no thunder warning. Let’s hope the electrical stuff stays away, because this is an increasingly endearing tournament. Look at the pile-up on this leaderboard!
-8: Day (7), Walker (6), Streb (6)
-7: McGirt (13), Stenson (8), Grillo (7)
-6: Grace (F), Simpson (17), Matsuyama (10), Koepka (9)
Jimmy Walker grabs a share of the lead straight back with birdie at 6. He’s back at the top of the tree alongside Jason Day and Robert Streb. It’s been all pars through the first seven holes for Emiliano Grillo. Webb Simpson has birdied 16 and 17 to rise to -6. And he’s joined there by Hideki Matsuyama, with birdies at 9 and 10.
It’s all change at the top, as Jason Day drains a monster up the par-four 6th for birdie! He moves to -8, and he’s the new co-leader with Robert Streb. Jimmy Walker, however, falls from grace after failing to get up and down from the fringe at the front of 5. It’s his second bogey in three holes, and he’s down to -7. Meanwhile William McGirt birdies 12 to reach the upper echelons of the leaderboard. This is a very, very fascinating tournament now. Albeit one which is highly unlikely to be concluded this evening: there’s more bad weather on its way into Baltusrol. Bah.
-8: Day (6), Streb (5)
-7: Stenson (7), Grillo (6), Walker (5)
-6: McGirt (12), Koepka (8)
Branden Grace was the fashionable pick ahead of the Open Championship. Fair enough, seeing he really should have won the 2015 US Open, finished behind only Jason Day and Jordan Spieth at last year’s PGA, then made the top five at Oakmont. A form horse. But he disappointed bitterly at Troon. He’s delivering on all that good faith here, though. Golf’s latest brilliant South African came flying out of the traps this morning, with birdies at 13, 14 and 17. He’s now on the par-five 18th green in two big booms; a couple of putts, and he’ll be signing for a 66. As things stand, he’s -5 overall right now. A birdie will make him the new clubhouse leader.
Jordan Spieth just isn’t quite on top of his game. His second-round 67 was excellent by most standards; merely very good by his own. His opening 70 was arguably better, a card pieced together with great determination in spite of a lot of loose play. But the birdie sequence he needs to make a third-round run up the leaderboard just isn’t happening. He’s reached the turn in level-par 34, bogey at 5 and birdie at 6 the only interruption to a stream of pars. See also fellow street-fighting genius Zach Johnson, who can’t quite build up the momentum he requires: a couple of bogeys, at 3 and 10, a couple of birdies, at 9 and 11. The pair are far from out of it, at -3, but require something quickly.
Steve Stricker - who at 49 would become the oldest winner of a major were he to prevail here, beating 48-year-old Julius Boros’s long-standing record set at the 1968 PGA - birdies 18 to finish with a 67. He’s -4. Four off the lead! Probably still too far back, if a couple of the leaders put something together this morning, but it’s not beyond the realms, and few would begrudge him. The highlight of that round was a brilliant chip in from sand at the 7th yesterday, a delicate splash from 35 feet. Strange how he’s never won a major. Thirteen top-ten finishes! Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Po’ Sergio!
Martin Kaymer drives into rough down the left of the long par-four 3rd, and is always chasing his par. A dropped shot, and he’s back to -4. Playing the hole soon after, the co-leaders Robert Streb and Jimmy Walker. Streb plonks his second into sand to the right of the green, then fails to get anywhere near the hole with his splash out. That’s only his second bogey of the week so far, and he drops back to -8. He’s still co-leader, though, because Walker makes a mess of things from the same bunker. He gets far closer with his escape from the trap, but misses from seven feet. All of a sudden, it’s pretty tight at the top!
-8: Walker (3), Streb (3)
-7: Stenson (5), Grillo (4), Day (4)
-6: Koepka (6)
-5: Kisner (F), Hatton (F), McGirt (9), Donaldson (7)
The precociously assured Tyrrell Hatton birdies 18, signs for a marvellous 66, and joins Kevin Kisner at -5 in the clubhouse lead. Another birdie for Adam Scott, meanwhile, who has clearly decided to make a break for it. He’s -5, and an impressive run along the closing stretch will set him up nicely for the final round, providing the leaders don’t make a charge of their own.
This observation is right up there with Sky Is Blue and Grass Is Green, but some of Henrik Stenson’s approach play during the last fortnight has been out of this world. On the long par-four 3rd, he arrows an iron from the best part of 200 yards to three feet. In plops the birdie putt, and he’s -7, two off the lead. And now he’s given himself a ten-foot look at another birdie on the signature par-three 4th, going balls out for a pin tucked away in the back-left corner behind the lake. I wonder if this will turn into a shootout between Stenson and Day this time? Wouldn’t say no. You wait 39 years for a one-on-one duel, then two come along at once...
Tyrrell Hatton keeps on keepin’ on. A birdie at 17 now, and the up-and-coming Englishman rises to -4. He’s joined on that mark by a compatriot of slightly longer tooth, Paul Casey: he’s added to his opening-hole birdie from yesterday another at 14. Also at -4: the 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, who has reached the turn in 33 and needs a strong back nine if he’s to retain any serious hope of winning.
Opening pars for the leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb. The former is forced to get up and down from the apron at the front, while major-championship golf’s newest Mr 63 nearly drains a 50-footer for a spectacular birdie. But they stay at -9. Grillo and Day, their nearest challengers, par 2 to stay two adrift. And a brisk start by Jamie Donaldson, whose record in the big ones is surprisingly poor, a tie for seventh at Kiawah Island in 2012 very much an outlier. He’s birdied 5, knocking in a 25-footer, to move to -5.
-9: Walker (1), Streb (1)
-7: Grillo (2), Day (2)
-6: Koepka (4), Stenson (2)
-5: Kisner (F), McGirt (7), Donaldson (5), Matsuyama (4), Reed (4), Kaymer (2)
William McGirt has clearly developed a taste for the big time. After a belated maiden Tour triumph the other month at the age of 36, at the Memorial, plus a top-ten finish at the WGC-Bridgestone, he’s making a concerted bid here this week. Birdies at 2 and now 5, and he’s moved to -5 overall, level with the third-round clubhouse leader Kevin Kisner. Meanwhile the European major-winning pairing of Henrik Stenson and Martin Kaymer have started with a couple of pars; they remain at -6 and -5 respectively.
Reed rights some wrongs by carding a bounce-back birdie at 2. His playing partner Brooks Koepka also picks up a stroke at the hole, to move into a tie for fifth place at -6. The penultimate pairing of Emiliano Grillo and the world number one Jason Day finally get to tee it up, and par the opening hole. And Hideki Matsuyama birdies 2 to move to -5. Baltusrol is playing long, but it’s playing soft, and there are shots out there.
Opening bogey for Patrick Reed. He drops to -4 overall, and will be desperately hoping he doesn’t experience the same sort of slow start suffered on Thursday: he was four over par through the first six. Given he’s currently just five off the lead, how he must wish he could have that time again. But he’s still well within range. Incidentally, it’s probably worth pointing out that the host broadcaster won’t be transmitting moving pictures in technicolor until 9am local time. Sleeping like babies, they are, getting some much-needed shut Eye. I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing them a delightful leisurely breakfast.
Tyrrell Hatton’s brilliant closing-day 68 at the Open was lost amid all the understandable hoo-hah surrounding the era-defining duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson. The young English prospect has taken that good form across from Ayrshire to New Jersey. He carded a very decent first couple of rounds, 71 and 68, and he’s been going very well in his third, too. Birdies at 8, 9, 12 and 13, offset only by a minor meltdown around the 10th green which led to double bogey, and he’s in a very promising position at -3 overall. He finished in a tie for 25th in this tournament last year, too; another high finish is well within his grasp.
Here we go then! Day three. And the sun is shining early doors at Baltusrol. Long may that continue. So let’s start exactly where we left off yesterday evening, with poor Marc Leishman. He was just finishing his round with Russell Knox as the officials prepared to sound the klaxon for dangerous weather. Knox managed to lag up his 50-footer and tap in for his par and a 67. Leishman prepared to tidy up from six feet, when the horn went. If he’d putted out, last year’s Open runner-up would have incurred a penalty stroke. So he waited, and waited, and waited, and went home, and slept, and woke up, and came back, and now he’s happily made the putt. Par, and that’s a 67 for him, too. The pair sit nicely at -3. It would have been awful had he missed that. A pleasant start to the day.
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Good morning America! An earlier Sunday start than expected, then, on account of all that rain, and the threat of lethal lightning, yesterday. We could have more of the same bad weather today, of course - there’s a fair chance the 98th PGA Championship will stretch into Monday, or even Tuesday - so nothing is set in stone. But for now, the plan is this: get the third round completed ASAP, with play starting at 7am local time (12 midday BST); then begin sending out players for the fourth and final round, using the same pairings as the third, at 8.40am (1.40pm BST). We’ll also be juggling, spinning plates, and attempting to walk while chewing gum. God speed, everyone.
So forgive the absence of a weighty preamble: it’s going to be a long day, one way or the other. Still, a little admin before we get going. Yesterday’s play: it might have been frustrating, but it was a good one for Kevin Kisner and Padraig Harrington, who both shot third-round 65s before the gloom descended. Today’s weather: a high chance of another dangerous squall; we just have to hope it somehow bodyswerves Baltusrol. Don’t cross delicate fingers too tightly, though. And the tee times for the players still to hit a third-round shot? Let’s not get hung up on minutiae, but weather permitting, they’ll all be on the course by 7.40am local time.
We’ll get going here the minute the players do. Meanwhile, a quick reminder of how the leaderboard looks after two-and-a-bit days.
-9: Walker, Streb
-7: Grillo, Day
-6: Stenson
-5: Kisner (F), Kaymer, Reed, Koepka
-4: Harrington (F), Simpson (6), McGirt (2), Summerhays (2), Matsuyama, English, Fowler, Donaldson
-3: Lieshman (17), Knox (F), Hatton (13), Casey (10), Curran (8), Senden (6), Scott (4), Bourdy (4), Hurley III (4), Spieth (1)
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