Ten contestants, including co-leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb, did not tee off and faced the possibility of going 36 holes Sunday.
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Thunderstorms halted Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship before the leaders could tee off, but not before early results sparked talk of a major record-low 62 at rain-softened Baltusrol.
Day was ill and tired for his lone practice round on Wednesday but two rest days and time have helped him feel better, noting it’s not like the broken leg Tiger Woods coped with in winning the 2008 US Open.
Branden Grace, Williams McGirt, Brooks Koepka and British Open champion Henrik Stenson were all at 9 under when the leaders teed off. Streb was at 7 under. He shot a 2-under 68 Saturday to get back into red figures.
The Bengaluru golfer underwent a tough year as far as his performance at the majors is concerned. He ranked third through two rounds in strokes gained off the tee, but just 152nd out of 156 players in strokes gained putting. Under this plan, with nine-minute intervals between start times, the final twosome would go off around 3:25 p.m.
Rory McIlroy has admitted that his “pathetic” putting let him down after missing the cut at the US PGA Championship.
U.S. co-leaders Robert Streb, who matched the low round in major history with a seven-under par 63 on Friday, and Jimmy Walker were on nine-under 131 after 36 holes.
“Yeah, well, 20-under won the last major”.
And Rose was celebrating his 36th birthday by playing the first 12 holes of his third round in one under par, after making the cut on the mark of two over on Friday.
“Kind of got off to a slow start”.
The third round will resume at 6:00 a.m.
The PGA of America, which runs the last of the season’s four major championships, faced questions about whether it should have rearranged tee times Saturday to put players in threesomes and start them off on both the first and 10th tees – as the PGA Tour does in threatening conditions. Walker and Streb were scheduled to begin their final rounds at 3:16 p.m.
The fourth round of the PGA Championship will be played with the lift, clean and place rule in effect.
The rain will be added to what fell Saturday afternoon and what was anticipated to fall in the overnight hours leading into Sunday morning.
It is extremely rare for this rule to be enacted in a major championship.
The 23-year-old Dallas native was sharp early with five birdies opposite one bogey on his first nine holes but cooled off with a bogey and eight pars to close.
Top-ranked Jason Day shot a 65 and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina had a 67 and were two shots back, tied for third at 133.
If there are no further delays – a big if, given the forecast – then a victor could still be crowned Sunday evening.
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Walker and Streb will seek to make a year of four first-time major winners, following England’s Danny Willett at the Masters, U.S. Open victor Dustin Johnson and Stenson at the British Open.
