Baltusrol Golf Club was surrounded in all directions by thunderclouds and stormy weather.
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The last time the PGA was held at Baltusrol, in 2005, weather pushed the finish to Monday when Phil Mickelson birdied the 18th to claim victory.
In a press conference, the PGA of America’s Kerry Haigh, who leads the championship, was peppered with questions about the PGA’s handling of the weather situation.
Spieth, who shot 70 in the opening round, started and ended his first nine holes with two birdies.
Haigh responded that the Saturday forecast wasn’t much different from the previous days, and they were caught off guard by the intensity and length of the storm.
Rather than start early in threesomes off split tees, the PGA followed tradition and sent out the final group of Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb at 2:55 p.m., hoping to deliver a 7 p.m. finish for TV partner CBS. That means that those that went out first yesterday will go out first in today’s final round.
Players were to be texted Saturday evening for their fourth-round tee time. More thunderstorms are forecast and if there are more delays it seems nearly guaranteed that one golfing rarity will be avoided. “(Sunday) doesn’t look good, but hopefully we can get it done”.
“Everything is underwater”, Streb said, “regardless of whether the lightning stopped”.
“I think somebody is going to break that major record of 63”, Mickelson said after firing a third-round 68.
Double major victor Martin Kaymer of Germany: “An ideal case, we’re going to play 36 holes tomorrow, which I don’t mind”.
That ambitious plan would rely on no further weather stoppages.
The weather is not supposed to be as bad Sunday, but thunderstorms are in the forecast and the percentage increases in the afternoon, according to The Weather Channel. Playing the front nine after a 1-under 35 on the back at Baltusrol Golf Club, Woodland had a triple-bogey 7 on No. 1. They came back and finished Monday morning. At the British Open in Troon two weeks ago, observers pointed out that golfers who were not on the same side of the draw as champion Henrik Stenson and runnerup Phil Mickelson really had no chance because of wind and rain.
“There is a low 60s round”, Mickelson said when he finished. There likely won’t be a repeat performance on his end.
Severe storms halted the third round, meaning 10 players returned to Baltusrol having not even started the third round. Scotland’s Russell Knox raced to tap in on the 18th green just seconds before the horn was blown to stop play.
“I had a super-hard long putt from 65 feet and to get it that close was nice”.
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Harrington was the lone Irish player to make the cut in the final major of the year after world number four Rory McIlroy, US Open runner-up Shane Lowry, former US Open champion Graeme McDowell and 2011 Open victor Darren Clarke all missed the halfway cut on Friday night.
