A long day of golf came to an end at the PGA Championship yesterday, with two of the sports promising stars have fans setup for a great Sunday finish.
Whatever happens tomorrow, history will be made, and hopefully a turning point in the game of golf will become reality that’s not been seen in almost 20 years.
Jason Day and Jordan Spieth finished their second and third rounds in impressive fashion to catapult their names to the top of the leaderboard, setting up a Sunday showdown that makes for must-see tv.
First, it was Spieth’s time to shine on ‘moving day’. After being his group had finished their second round on Saturday morning, the Texan found himself a couple of shots off the lead and within striking distance.
It was a perfect day to score low. After the rains and wind picked up on Friday, the course was spared any damage. Only a few temporary hospitality tents were blown over.
But, if scores were to be had, today was the day. The top six players heading into the final round all shot in the 60’s to put themselves within contention for the season’s final major.
Of them, Spieth made a charge and is playing shotgun tomorrow. After making starting his third round with one birdie, his round started to resemble his first, parring his next nine holes. That’s when things got interesting.
On the 11th hole, he made his second birdie. After, it was classic Spieth. He followed up with back to back birdies on the 12th and 13th holes.
Jordan Spieth is walking in birdies again.
He's two back after going 5-under in his last 7 holes. #QuickHits http://t.co/4cv2vxbxHu
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2015
Following back to back pars, he made three birdies in a row on holes 16, 17, and 18. Spieth shot 30 on the back nine, giving me a bogey-free 65, moving his leapfrogging to second place, one shot behind the lead.
.@JordanSpieth's back nine… pic.twitter.com/an46vh0zJV
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) August 15, 2015
However, the leader of the third round looking to break through was the Australian Jason Day.
After his unfortunate events earlier in the year at the U.S. Open, he has been a factor in every tournament he has been a part of, especially this year’s Majors.
His rounded ended with a 66, and his scorecard was anything but boring. Being paired with fellow countryman Matt Jones with the final tee time, Day started and finished his round in dramatic fashion.
He was even through his first four holes, shooting alternating birdies and bogeys. It was until the fifth hole that Day got into red numbers for first nine holes. He finished with two birdies and made the turn at -11 for the tournament.
And just like Spieth, his back nine got interesting, very interesting.
Day made birdie at the 10th, and then this eagle putt to get him to -5:
Moving Day indeed.
The Aussie is -4 in his last 3 holes and the outright leader of the PGA Championship. #QuickHits http://t.co/RUtQHhUYzQ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2015
He would follow that up with birdies at 13 and 14, putting him at -16 for the championship. And then, the par-four 15th happened. After hitting his second shot to the back rough of the green, he was left with a nasty lie. He got his ball out, but it must have affected him enough to lose his focus, making double-bogey heading to the 16th hole.
After parring the next hole, Day had a birdie opportunity to push his lead to two. He played the left-to-right breaker perfectly as it sank tot he bottom of the cup. His reaction after sinking that putt summed up every person’s feelings about him breaking through for his possible first major.
Are you not entertained? #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/3xUYfugptg
— PGA.COM (@PGA_com) August 16, 2015
The person or persons running the PGA twitter (@PGA.com) this week has been money with the tweets. This was the result of tomorrow’s final round pairing of Spieth and Day:
This final paring. Jason Day. Jordan Spieth. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/kZjbwjXFRN
— PGA.COM (@PGA_com) August 16, 2015
Despite the fireworks from these two players the round of the day belonged to South Africa’s Brendan Grace. His bogey-free 64 was good enough to push him into the second to last pairing with Justin Rose.
Grace’s scorecard read eight birdies, including this hole-out from the bunker on his last hole of the day:
Good grief, Grace!
The South African ties the lead with this miraculous bunker hole-out at the 18th. #QuickHits http://t.co/Cj8BaewIbZ
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 15, 2015
He sits two shots behind Day, and will be setting the pace with Rose, who shot 68 to put him in a tie with Grace for third place.
Oh, by the way, Martin Kaymer, the defending champion the last time the PGA championship was played at Whistling Straits in 2010, is just four shots off the lead. Oddly, that is the same amount of strokes Kaymer was faced with when he won.
But the stage is set for Day and Spieth. Whose history will be written?
Sunday's final group at the PGA Championship … ?⛳️
- Jason Day
- Jordan Spieth
(We're excited too.) pic.twitter.com/vL00gwUq60
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2015