“I thought I’d make the cut when I birdied the fourth, at least got my first birdie of the week, and kept going from there”. But the five-time major victor did return with a bold prediction about what might be to come. The five-time major champion said after his round that Baltusrol was ripe for the picking and expected some history to be made here.
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But much of the field never got a chance to make a run at immortality in the third round.
It gave Streb a share of the lead with Jimmy Walker (66), and they tied the 36-hole record at the PGA Championship at 131.
The weather created a tricky scenario for the rest of the tournament.
They will resume the third round bright and early at 7 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Day talks to his caddie Colin Swatton on the first hole during the continuation of the weather-delayed third round.
The PGA said players would stay in the same pairings and go off in the same order for the final round, starting as early as 8:40 a.m. It wasn’t raining yet, but play had been suspended for unsafe weather in the area. The 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black on Long Island also was forced to Monday by rain. No major championship has ever allowed players to lift, clean and place their golf balls because of mud.
Yet another journalist asked why the PGA didn’t emulate the R&A at the 2014 British Open at Hoylake, when a two-tee start got players around the course just in the nick of time.
Among those who will have to play only one round each are Kevin Kisner and Padraig Harrington, who each finished Saturday with a 5-under-par 65 and moved to 5-under and 4-under for the tournament, respectively.
Kerry Haigh, the association’s managing director of championships, said that the threesome possibility was discussed, “but not significantly”.
“If you get off to a bad start, you’re thinking about it”, he said.
Rain was a major factor at Baltrusol Golf Club in New Jersey on Friday. “It should yield a few more birdies”. Phil Mickelson won it with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole.
The Australian bounced back from a double-bogey on the seventh to shoot seven birdies in eight holes and end his second round on eight-under, where he is joined by Argentinian youngster Emiliano Grillo. He also missed the cut at the US Open but shared fifth two weeks ago at the British Open and 10th at the Masters, the lone major title he needs to complete a career Grand Slam. Eventual victor Henrik Stenson shot 63 in the final round at Royal Troon.
“I think that major record of 63 will be broken [Saturday] or [Sunday]”, said Mickelson, who shot a 2-under 68 himself, sitting at 1-under after three rounds. “I would be surprised it wasn’t”.
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Spieth made three birdies in his opening four holes, along with a careless three-putt from just off the 12th green, to work his way up the leaderboard at Baltusrol. It’s going to stop right there.
