Thunderstorms have forced the suspension of play during the third round of the US PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club before world No.1 and defending champion Jason Day was able to start.
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Play is scheduled to resume at 7am Sunday (7am, Monday, Singapore time) with 49 of 86 players who made the cut yet to complete their third rounds. The final round is slated to begin at 8:40 a.m., keeping the same pairings as Round 3 and going off the first tee.
Play in the third round Saturday was suspended at 2:15 p.m. after lightning was detected to be approaching the course in northern New Jersey. Walker at least had time to rest in his travel bus – he’s a frequent neighbor of Day on the PGA Tour – and get right back out into the final round.
Storms are also forecast throughout Sunday bringing in the distinct possibility of a Monday finish, which also happened in 2005 at Baltusrol.
Streb birdied his last hole, after missing a birdie putt on the hole before, to card a seven-under 63 on Friday to move into a tie for the halfway lead.
“I think somebody is going to break that major record of 63”, Mickelson said after firing a third-round 68.
Padraig Harrington also took advantage of early conditions on Saturday with a five-under 65, which earned him a spot in the top 10.
The 2016 PGA Championship concludes on Sunday with extended final round action due to rain, and there are plenty of ways to watch it online. I think that theres that 61 or 62 out there that I was probably trying to chase a little too hard..
Walker’s win booked a second consecutive appearance in the Ryder Cup and completed a clean sweep of 2016 majors by first-time winners after Danny Willett (Masters), Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson (Open Championship).
After a 1-over 71 on Thursday, the PGA victor when the tournament last was held at Baltusrol in 2005 hit his drive so far left on No. 1 that its first bounce was on Shunpike Road. You can make a lot of putts. Players were upset about stops, starts and preparations around a first-round rain delay at the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June. Most annoyed should be Marc Leishman, who marked his 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole just as the horn sounded.
Walker, who led after an opening 65 and shared the halfway lead with compatriot Robert Streb, said at the presentation ceremony: “I was thinking if I could birdie 17 that would put it out”.
Day, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play, came out to the 18th green with his son to watch the finish and quickly found Walker.
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“It’s a major championship and we certainly try, and look at starting from one tee whenever we can”, he said. “The challenge of the greens are about how much contour is on them and the ball is running away from the hill”. That will mean that some players will be playing the third round while others will be playing the fourth.
