STAGE SET FOR EXCITING SUNDAY FINISH TO MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP

 RORY McILROY STILL LEADS BUT JUST

AHEAD OF THE PACK AT US PGA

• • FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
    By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM  
• Rory McIlroy leads at Valhalla but Sunday promises to not be a walk in the park. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky -- Bernd Wiesberger quickly did the maths.
Just over 8 million people, roughly the population of New York City, live in Austria, where he was born, and about 100,000 of those play golf. So Wiesberger figures there will be about 90,000 people pulling for him on Sunday when he plays with Rory McIlroy in the final pairing of the final round of the 96th US PGA Championship.
The interest level worldwide, though, is sure to be a lot higher, given the calibre of the leaderboard and the closeness of the competition. 
McIlroy, who is bidding to win his second straight major, only tops Wiesberger by one at 13 under, and another 16 players will begin the final 18 holes at Valhalla within six strokes of the lead.
That cast includes Rickie Fowler, who tied for second at the last two majors and fifth at the Masters, and his good buddy, Phil Mickelson, a five-time major champion, playing with the colorful millennial in the penultimate group. Fowler is alone at 11 under while Mickelson another stroke back, tied with one more of the game's rising stars in Australia's Jason Day.
It's a far cry from the last two times the game's best players convened to determine a major champion. McIlroy took at six-stroke lead into the final round at Royal Liverpool and Martin Kaymer was five ahead at Pinehurst No. 2 in the U.S. Open in June..

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"I would say that leaderboard is the most jam-packed it's been, maybe since the start of the final round at the Masters," Fowler said. "This one's out there for the taking, for sure.
"Anyone can go out and post a number tomorrow. With the way the golf course is playing, it's not out of the question that someone can go shoot 8 or 9 under; being five, six, seven shots back, post early and you never know what can happen.
"It's wide open and someone is going to have to play some good, solid golf tomorrow to win."
You can be certain McIlroy will. Even on Saturday, the world No. 1 managed to shoot his second straight 67 without "really having some of my best stuff," and he responded to Wiesberger's brief challenge on the back nine with three birdies in his last four holes.
Valhalla, which is hosting the PGA this week for the third time since 1996, will certainly have a say in Sunday's outcome. But not necessarily in the way many majors are decided with the course yielding birdies grudgingly and distributing bogeys, doubles and others with apparent delight.
The Jack Nicklaus design may have a sub-air system under the lush Kentucky bluegrass but the fact remains that the course has absorbed several heavy downpours over the last 48 hours and it's soft. The cumulative scoring average is less than a stroke above par, and you can bet the contenders will be in full attack mode on Sunday when there is a 60 percent chance of rain.
"You don't get that opportunity every time you play a major," said former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who is tied at 9 under. "It should be fun."
But no matter what McIlroy's lead is -- or even if he's trailing, as he was by three last week when he overtook Sergio Garcia to win the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational -- the 25-year-old is supremely confident right now. He's already won three legs of the career Grand Slam by a combined total of 18 strokes.
"The guys got pretty close to me at The Open Championship," McIlroy said. "They got close to me again today, and I was able to respond like I did on the back nine.
"It's not the biggest lead I've ever had, but I'm still in control of this golf tournament and it's a great position to be in going into tomorrow."
 THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD
  Final round tee off local time listed

os	Name	1	2	3	4	Today	Thru	Total	Strokes
1	Rory McIlroy	66	67	67	2:55 pm	-4	F	-13	200
2	Bernd Wiesberger	68	68	65	2:55 pm	-6	F	-12	201
3	Rickie Fowler	69	66	67	2:45 pm	-4	F	-11	202
T4	Phil Mickelson	69	67	67	2:45 pm	-4	F	-10	203
T4	Jason Day	69	65	69	2:35 pm	-2	F	-10	203
T6	Louis Oosthuizen	70	67	67	2:35 pm	-4	F	-9	204
T6	Henrik Stenson	66	71	67	2:25 pm	-4	F	-9	204
T6	Mikko Ilonen	67	68	69	2:25 pm	-2	F	-9	204
T6	Ryan Palmer	65	70	69	2:15 pm	-2	F	-9	204
T10	Jamie Donaldson	69	70	66	2:15 pm	-5	F	-8	205
T10	Graham DeLaet	69	68	68	2:05 pm	-3	F	-8	205
T10	Steve Stricker	69	68	68	2:05 pm	-3	F	-8	205
T13	Hunter Mahan	70	71	65	1:55 pm	-6	F	-7	206
T13	Adam Scott	71	69	66	1:55 pm	-5	F	-7	206
T13	Kevin Chappell	65	74	67	1:45 pm	-4	F	-7	206
T13	Lee Westwood	65	72	69	1:45 pm	-2	F	-7	206
T13	Joost Luiten	68	69	69	1:25 pm	-2	F	-7	206
T13	Jim Furyk	66	68	72	1:25 pm	+1	F	-7	206
T19	Brandt Snedeker	73	68	66	1:15 pm	-5	F	-6	207
T19	Danny Willett	68	73	66	1:15 pm	-5	F	-6	207
T19	Bill Haas	71	68	68	1:05 pm	-3	F	-6	207
T19	Victor Dubuisson	69	68	70	1:05 pm	-1	F	-6	207
T23	Marc Warren	71	71	66	12:55 pm	-5	F	-5	208
T23	Brooks Koepka	71	71	66	12:55 pm	-5	F	-5	208
T23	Sergio Garcia	70	72	66	12:45 pm	-5	F	-5	208
T23	Ryan Moore	73	68	67	12:45 pm	-4	F	-5	208
T23	Jimmy Walker	69	71	68	12:35 pm	-3	F	-5	208
T23	Ernie Els	70	70	68	12:35 pm	-3	F	-5	208
T23	Alexander Levy	69	71	68	12:25 pm	-3	F	-5	208
T23	Billy Horschel	71	68	69	12:25 pm	-2	F	-5	208
T23	Nick Watney	69	69	70	12:15 pm	-1	F	-5	208
T32	Justin Rose	70	72	67	12:15 pm	-4	F	-4	209
T32	Jonas Blixt	71	70	68	11:55 am	-3	F	-4	209
T32	Brian Harman	71	69	69	11:55 am	-2	F	-4	209
T32	Charl Schwartzel	72	68	69	11:45 am	-2	F	-4	209
T32	J.B. Holmes	68	72	69	11:45 am	-2	F	-4	209
T32	Chris Wood	66	73	70	11:35 am	-1	F	-4	209
T38	Daniel Summerhays	70	72	68	11:35 am	-3	F	-3	210
T38	Luke Donald	70	72	68	11:25 am	-3	F	-3	210
T38	Kenny Perry	72	69	69	11:25 am	-2	F	-3	210
T38	Edoardo Molinari	66	73	71	11:15 am	E	F	-3	210
T42	Branden Grace	73	70	68	11:15 am	-3	F	-2	211
T42	Patrick Reed	70	71	70	11:05 am	-1	F	-2	211
T42	Jerry Kelly	67	74	70	11:05 am	-1	F	-2	211
T42	Scott Brown	71	70	70	10:55 am	-1	F	-2	211
T42	Geoff Ogilvy	69	71	71	10:55 am	E	F	-2	211
T42	Cameron Tringale	69	71	71	10:45 am	E	F	-2	211
T42	Matt Jones	68	71	72	10:45 am	+1	F	-2	211
T42	Richard Sterne	70	69	72	10:25 am	+1	F	-2	211
T50	Zach Johnson	70	72	70	10:25 am	-1	F	-1	212
T50	Thorbjorn Olesen	71	71	70	10:15 am	-1	F	-1	212
T50	Ian Poulter	68	73	71	10:15 am	E	F	-1	212
T50	Fabrizio Zanotti	71	70	71	10:05 am	E	F	-1	212
T50	Brendon de Jonge	70	70	72	10:05 am	+1	F	-1	212
T50	Vijay Singh	71	68	73	9:55 am	+2	F	-1	212
T56	Hideki Matsuyama	71	72	70	9:55 am	-1	F	E	213
T56	Pat Perez	71	71	71	9:45 am	E	F	E	213
T56	Jason Bohn	71	71	71	9:45 am	E	F	E	213
T56	Koumei Oda	74	68	71	9:35 am	E	F	E	213
T56	Francesco Molinari	71	71	71	9:35 am	E	F	E	213
T56	Kevin Stadler	71	70	72	9:25 am	+1	F	E	213
T56	Gonzalo Fernandez-Casta	71	70	72	9:25 am	+1	F	E	213
T63	Graeme McDowell	73	70	71	9:15 am	E	F	+1	214
T63	Marc Leishman	71	71	72	9:15 am	+1	F	+1	214
T63	Colin Montgomerie	70	72	72	9:05 am	+1	F	+1	214
T63	Brendan Steele	71	70	73	9:05 am	+2	F	+1	214
T63	Fredrik Jacobson	72	69	73	8:55 am	+2	F	+1	214
T63	Rafael Cabrera-Bello	69	71	74	8:55 am	+3	F	+1	214
T63	Robert Karlsson	71	69	74	8:45 am	+3	F	+1	214
T70	Shawn Stefani	68	75	72	8:45 am	+1	F	+2	215
T70	Bubba Watson	70	72	73	8:35 am	+2	F	+2	215
T72	Chris Stroud	70	73	73	8:35 am	+2	F	+3	216
T72	Shane Lowry	68	74	74	8:25 am	+3	F	+3	216
74	Brendon Todd	70	73	75	8:25 am

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