Mickelson said he believed the first 62 in major championship history would be recorded this weekend.
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Walker followed an opening 65 that had him in the lead alone after the first round with a 66 to be at 9 under with Streb.
They never struck a shot.
And with play suspended at 2:15 p.m., we’ll have to wait for Sunday for the conclusion of a third round that offered players a good chance to score on Baltusrol’s rain-softened lower course, where several of the 37 players who finished posted scores in the mid-60s.
The weather created a tricky scenario for the rest of the tournament.
The third round will resume at 6:00 a.m.
Holding a major in NY metropolitan area in the summer is to play weather roulette. For the first time in 25 tournaments, the U.S. Open champion had the weekend off. I think you better attack it every time you get a chance on the PGA Tour, he said after his round on Saturday.
Mickelson looked stunned as he trudged to the second tee but settled down and had only one further blemish, a bogey at the 16th, before closing with a birdie at the par-five 18th to make the cut with nothing to spare. A lot of birdie holes, and a lot of golf left to be played.
Irish three-time major champion Padraig Harrington fired a bogey-free 65 and Italy’s Francesco Molinari closed with six birdies in a row to finish a round of 68.
“That will be an interesting dynamic for sure … add to the excitement, actually”, Haigh said.
No. 1 ranked Jason Day and Emiliano Grillo are tied for third at minus-7, two shots behind Streb and Walker.
“I just struggled with my expectations a little bit”, Streb said. “It should yield a few more birdies”.
Of possibly seeing a 62, Mickelson reasoned that players could use the greens as dart boards, and with Baltusrol playing at a par of 70, eight birdies and no bogeys is required to reach the magic number.
Should he win, Day would become the first to successfully defend a major championship title since Tiger Woods at the 2007 PGA Championship and the sixth different player to successfully defend a PGA Championship title joining Gene Sarazen (1922-1923), Walter Hagen (1924-1927), Denny Shute (1936-1937) and Woods (1999-2000, 2006-2007).
British Open champion Henrik Stenson and Brooks Koepka were another shot back.
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“I’m having a hard time right now managing my expectations, because I know how well I’m playing and I’m so result oriented that I’m not playing very relaxed, free golf like I did at the British, like I did in the preparation here”, Mickelson said of a week where he has recorded seven birdies, but five bogeys and a triple bogey. “I would be surprised if it wasn’t”. Scotland’s Russell Knox raced to tap in on the 18th green just seconds before the horn was blown to stop play.
