Streb had tied a major championship record Friday with a 63.
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Third-round play will resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, weather permitting. That means Robert Streb and Jimmy Walker will have a 3:25 p.m. tee time, whether they’re still leading or not.
There was frustration for the spectators in attendance at Baltusrol, with round three of the US PGA Championship truncated by storms.
And, oh by the way, the forecast calls for more rain on Sunday.
Jason Day, who is tied for third and two strokes behind the leaders, said he was pleased that he wasn’t rushed out to get a few holes completed. Only 18 groups were about to finish up on Saturday before play was suspended. The course was pounded with rain and players eventually were sent home.
To save time, the groups will not be rearranged based on score before the final round.
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.
The three players in front played their entire third round in the morning as the tournament played catch up after heavy rains forced a suspension of the third round on Saturday.
With rain scheduled to continue into Sunday, the possibility loomed that the competition would have to be carried into Monday. Otherwise British Open victor Henrik Stenson is the biggest name near the top.
The US PGA Championship is in danger of stretching into a fifth day, at least, after thunderstorms prevented the leaders from even beginning their third rounds on Saturday. Moving up tee times would have made sure the leaders played enough golf to allow for a re-pairing of players after Round 3 and better chance of a Sunday finish.
The players, when their ball lies on a closely mown area “through the green”, may mark the ball, clean it and replace it within one club length no nearer the hole or in a hazard. The twosomes from the third round were to stay paired for the fourth, with the final round set to begin at 8:40 a.m. How they deal with the conditions following Saturday’s weather will go a long way toward impacting the ultimate victor, but Day and Streb had plenty of momentum after their showings on Friday.
Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship at Baltusrol in 2005, shot a two-under 68 to move to 1 under for the tournament and after his round noted how the rain softened the course, setting up the potential for low scores the rest of the way.
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At best, Sunday has the makings of a long slog.
