Brooks Koepka in control on ill-tempered day at Oak Hill
It’s difficult to keep up with all the action at Oak Hill – so we’ll keep you up to speed with what you may have missed in our daily PGA Championship Report.
What happened on Day 3?
What a leaderboard we have going into the final round of the 105th PGA Championship.
Brooks Koepka’s round-of-the-day 66 means the LIV golfer moves to 6-under-par and will take a one-shot lead over Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners into the final 18.
Bryson DeChambeau is also repping LIV at the top of the leaderboard at 4-under, while Justin Rose – looking to become the first English PGA champion since Jim Barnes – and Scottie Scheffler are one further back.
Rory McIlroy’s second successive 69 means just seven players are in red numbers through 54 holes.
Here are the main talking points…
Angry Pro Golfers
No one likes playing in the rain, but some of the world’s biggest names really struggled to hide their emotion during the third round.
We had Jordan Spieth really letting us know how he felt about this particular iron shot…
(There’s bad language in that one.)
We had Jon Rahm shanking a chip then taking out his frustration on a greenside microphone…
And then Lucas Herbert did this…
While Talor Moore gave us a classic club toss…
3/10 for the technique.
Maybe they were angry because they showed up for a PGA Championship and got a US Open.
Still, the rain did bring us the wonderful sight of a handful of players wearing their caps backwards…
Dammit people this is golf!
Of course there was rules drama
Well, not a drama as such, but Lee Hodges did this…
…then was hit with a one-shot penalty because he took too long to get to it.
If you’re wondering about the details of the ruling – here’s our main man Steve Carroll to talk us through it.
Fluke of the Day
Scottie Scheffler, presented without comment…
The Dropped Hint of the Day
Bryson DeChambeau used the rain showers to make it very clear where he wants to be on the last weekend of September…
Block Watch
He might not go on to lift the Wanamaker, but Michael Block is winning fans around the world with his carefree approach to Oak Hill.
Block, the teaching pro from California who charges $150 a lesson, was the only PGA club professional to make the cut at this year’s PGA Championship and ended the day even-par playing alongside Justin Rose.
He went into the week ranked 3,580th in the world. He can expect that to go up.
Block will also have the pleasure of teeing up with two-time PGA champion Rory McIlroy on Sunday.
Shot of the Day
There were a few contenders, including this finish from Padraig Harrington…
And this delicious touch from Hideki Matsuyama…
But I’m partial to a flop shot, so I’m going to give it Justin Suh for this audacious attempt…
Stat of the Day
Phil Mickelson has played in 119 major championships and this week is his 100th made cut. That, however you look at it, is phenomenal.
Of course he took the news in typically jovial fashion…
Right, enjoy the final round. Same again Sunday?
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
