The native of Italy birdied the final six holes in a 2-under 68 in the third round of the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club.
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Anirban Lahiri failed to recreate his performance of 2015 and exited midway through the 98th PGA Championships as he carded a second successive three-over 73 at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Baltusrol (USA).
Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb are now the men to catch.
The third round of the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club has been called for the day after almost four hours of play being suspended by risky weather including a lot of heavy rain. Day went on a tear with seven birdies over his next eight holes. The two of them were tied historically with seven golfers who previously had shot 131 through the first two rounds of a PGA, most recently 2013 champion Jason Dufner.
QUOTEWORTY: “I think in the history of the PGA Championship, that’s the worst start of any player’s round”.
Streb made a 21-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole to join history. “I’d have to look it up”, Mickelson said. I hope the cortisone shot is on ice for Sunday if he’s in one of the final few pairings. But it was a great round. “Happy to be part of the 63 club”.
Two-time major victor Martin Kaymer was one shot behind, and British Open champion Henrik Stenson was two shots back.
Now he’s in contention for a second consecutive major. He made five birdies in a 7-hole stretch on the back nine, but didn’t do as well on the front and had to take a 67. But Stenson had a crucial eagle on the par-5 18th.
After his win at Royal Troon, Stenson is enjoying plenty of support from the Baltusrol crowd.
“I’ve never been in this situation, and I’m not afraid of it”, Grillo said. I hit the right shots at the right time and any of the (bad) shots I did hit didn’t do me any harm.
Not everyone had such a good day, though.
Rory McIlroy, who went 4-over in the first round, couldn’t make up enough ground as he struggled on the greens Friday. After faltering on his second nine, he missed the cut.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, recovered from a awful start for the second consecutive day. His opening tee shot actually left the course, hitting Shunpike Road and bouncing into a driveway across the street.
The American posted four birdies and a bogey as he teed off from the back nine in the second round, and played a tremendous nine holes to finish the round shooting four birdies – which really could have been five had he managed to sink his birdie opportunity at the eighth. He couldn’t make a thing, not that it’s any different than what he’s been doing all year.
UPDATE: No dice. Tournament officials announced about 6 p.m. ET that play would not resume.
“It was a bit of a mess there”, Day said.
“I was able to fight back and be patient from there on out, start to make a birdie here or there”, he said. Those are areas of the game McIlroy typically doesn’t dominate, but a short game performance like the one he turned in this week will keep him shy of the cutline just about anywhere.
That Day has played so well on a course he knew little about before arriving this week – and then playing only one practice round – is remarkable.
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“It’s hard to explain it”, Day said. His actual play didn’t get talked about a ton because of the weird drop he took, but Spieth is just six back and has hit it beautifully this week. Still, he admitted his sickness is nothing to complain about. Day agreed that his presence on the leaderboard could put some heat on the guys he’s chasing.
