Jordan Spieth walks off the course during a weather delay in the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Saturday, July 30, 2016.
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More than an inch of rain fell at Baltusrol overnight, and it kept right on falling as the second round began in the PGA Championship.
“It’s certainly a hard decision”, PGA of America chief championships officer Kerry Haigh said.
Mickelson finished with four birdies to counteract two bogeys, and his birdie on No. 3 was particularly notable after he approached the green from behind a tree and managed to put it right on and convert the ensuing putt.
Haigh said that the weather Sunday morning will determine whether they re-pair for the final round.
Five-time major victor Phil Mickelson predicted the all-time major low-round record of 63, achieved 30 times by 28 different golfers, will fall this weekend at Baltusrol.
The third round will resume at 7 a.m. The final round is scheduled to begin at 8:40.
Elsewhere, Russell Knox is the only other player in the top 20 of the leaderboard who even finished his round on Saturday. It’s a major championship and we want it to be run and performed as a major championship. He responded there wasn’t much discussion about using that method. The forecast is bad, with more than a 70-percent chance of rain for most of the day.
Westwood was one under par at the halfway stage and eight shots behind joint leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb, who had both equalled the lowest halfway total in US PGA history of 131.
“I’m guessing we’re going to be here ’till at least Monday, hopefully not Tuesday”.
“There is a low 60s round”. As a matter of fact, Mickelson shot 5-over on the first hole of every round but has been 6-under the rest of the weekend.
The good news? For those playing next week, it’s only a three-hour drive to Cromwell for the Travelers Championship. Desperate to beat the clock and avoid a second straight Monday finish at Baltusrol, the pairings stayed the same for the final round.
Of the players who completed their third round on Saturday, Kevin Kisner held the clubhouse lead at 5-under 205 after a round of 65 that included seven birdies and two bogeys. There likely won’t be a repeat performance on his end. Per tour rules, he is not allowed to take another stroke.
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None of which would normally be a problem for a player in Kisner’s position as he would simply wait till the third round was complete and see where he stood. They are soft, so you can get the ball very close. Then again, the course has become so soft that Phil Mickelson, the 2005 champion here, predicted that someone could set the all-time major scoring record of 62. He widened the lead to three with a birdie putt that curled around the lip and in at the 17th. It was Day, the defending champion and world’s No. 1 player, down to his last chance and delivering with a 2-iron that landed in front of the pin and stopped 15 feet away for eagle.
