PGA Championship leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/competition/2017/pga-championship/leaderboard.html
First hi everybody after a very busy week for yours truly that precluded me from my normal post here, however I have been keeping up to speed with the PGA Championship at a very, very tough Quail Hollow, so tough that only 15 players are under par heading into today's final round.
Main story : One of them is Graham DeLaet who unlike many, went on an absolute career tear with a display of ball striking that had everyone watching in awe.
Despite at double bogey 6 on the 11th, he played the back nine in 32 shots, how?
Par 3 13th he nearly holed his 240 yard tee shot, tapped in for 2. Par 4 14th he drove the green, hit the flagstick and made the 5 footer for eagle 2. Par 5 15th on in two he makes a huge putt from across the green for another eagle 3. Par 4 16th he makes birdie 3 on one of the toughest holes all day. He was -6 through those 4 holes !
Graham parred in for a -3 68 and starts today at -2 T7 5 shots off the lead.
The leader : Many of the field had a tough time closing out their rounds as the vaunted green mile at Quail Hollow took it's toll and Kevin Kisner, the leader was no different. However after sailing along at -10, he dropped 3 shots in closing, shot 72 -7 206 for a one shot lead.
Hot players : Both Hideki Matsuyama (73) and Chris Stroud (71) won last week, They are T2 at -6. Stroud won for the first time in 294 PGA Tour starts, Matsuyama won the WGC with a closing 61, and is looking to become the first Japanese player to win a major.
Bad finishes: Jason Day was among the leaders until he made a daft mistake on 18. He pulled his drive behind a tree and decided not to chip out safely instead tried hooking it around the tree. His ball went into the bushes, penalty drop, took a snowman ( quadruple-bogey 8) for a 77.
Rickie Fowler took a three-putt bogey on the 16th hole, took a double bogey at 17, and another three-putt bogey on the last hole and he is at -1.
Out for a while : Rory McIlroy 72 72 73 +4 says he hasn't fully recovered from complications following his fractured rib which stop him from practicing as much as he should, and he will play today then reassess the rest of the year. In other words, I'm off to get fully fit, see you at the Masters.
Other contenders: Louis Oosthuizen (71) T4 -5 208, along with Justin Thomas (69). Louis has hurt his forearm however after hitting a tree route, so watch for that.
Big names : Dustin Johnson T47 +4, Jordan Spieth T37, Henrik Stenson T18 +1
Weather : It has been very hot all week at Quail Hollow and thundershowers and rain are due to blow through around noon today then again around 5pm. The leaders Kisner and Stroud are due off at 2.45pm.
The winner : Matsuyama must be considered the favourite, which would be a huge story in golf crazy Japan, but I'll be watching to see how well Graham DeLaet can do. The winner will need to start the day at -2 or better to have a chance on this very tough, long course, made even more difficult by the long rough that the PGA insists on every year.
Bryan Angus
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