Sunday, August 13, 2017

Kisner remains on top after late drama in USA
PGA Championship at Quail Hollow

 GettyImages-830889470

                              Kevin Kisner  in action. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images

Day Three Report
Kevin Kisner holds a one-shot lead heading into the final day of the US PGA Championship following a dramatic finish to third round at Quail Hollow Club, where the famously challenging final three holes claimed numerous victims.
Kisner himself emerged from the so-called ‘Green Mile’ with three dropped shots after a double-bogey at the 16th and a bogey at the last to sign for a one over 72 and a seven under total, while his American compatriot Chris Stroud finished with back-to-back bogeys for a 71 to share second place with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.
Matsuyama, winner of last week’s WGC-Bridgestone-Invitational, emerged unscathed from the brutal final three holes to finish with a 73 and keep his hopes of a first Major title alive, while Justin Thomas (69) of the USA and South African Louis Oosthuizen (71) are a shot further back on five under.
The most dramatic collapse came courtesy of Jason Day’s quadruple-bogey eight after attempting a miracle shot from behind a tree, ultimately in vain, as the Australian – playing in the final group - saw his hopes of a second US PGA Championship title fade in one disastrous hole.
Italian Francesco Molinari endured a tough start to his third round at the North Carolina venue as he started double bogey-bogey-bogey but he battled to a three over 74 and remains within touching distance, five strokes off the pace on two under.
Player quotes
Kevin Kisner
I'm happy I'm in the position I'm in. I had a chance to run away from guys and take people out of the tournament that were four, five or six back, and I didn't do it. Now I'm in a dogfight tomorrow and I have to be prepared for that.
“I've been happy with the driver all week. I drove it really well, and then today I hit a lot of great putts that just burned edges and I thought the greens were more difficult to hold putts. Nobody in our group made hardly anything. Obviously not many in the field did, with the scores, and hopefully tomorrow, they will all start falling.
I'm pretty good at keeping it all in, and you know, the golf course here is so hard - if you get annoyed, you're just going to throw away more shots. There's no real reason to show that emotion. I'll show plenty of emotion if I win tomorrow, don't worry.”
Chris Stroud
“The number one thing for me was, I didn't really hit a lot of great shots but I didn't really hit a lot of really bad shots. My bad shots were in play, especially off the tee. I hit a few loose drives, but it was always playable and I made a lot of great up-and-downs, especially early.

“And then I hit a few nice shots in the middle of the round. I didn't really make many putts, but I made some nice saves today. The golf course played very difficult, and obviously the last two holes -- I bogeyed the last two. I didn't hit a good putt on 17, I kind of pulled that and it almost went in. On 18, I hit the best putt of the day and it didn't go in.

“I've made a fair share of putts this week. I'm not upset about it. I'm just happy to have a chance to win tomorrow and see what happens.”
Hideki Matsuyama
“I'm disappointed the way I played today. However, I'm happy to just to be one stroke back and still have a chance and looking forward to tomorrow.
“Probably the pressure had something to do with it, being in the last group of a major tournament. But all week I haven't been spot on all week. And the worries that I had about my swing showed up today in the way I played.”
Louis Oosthuizen
“I looked up just before I hit it and I told my caddie, I’ll show you a little trick shot here. I saw something in front of the ball but I didn’t think it was a root – I thought it was something loose. I banged the eight iron against it pretty bad and immediately my forearm got a shock.
“Then in the next five minutes it started to cramp up and it got really tight. Luckily on six we had a bit of a wait and my physio could release it a bit. I felt it a little bit on the 14th tee again on a different spot but I was never hurt so it was fine. I was just scared it was going to tighten up really badly but it should be fine.”
Francesco Molinari
“It was just the start that was so disappointing. I hit a bad tee shot on the first, should have gotten away with a bogey but three-putted from the back. The second was unlucky because I got it on the middle of the fairway and the sedond shot just came out straight left.
“Then there was another pulled tee-shot on the third and a terrible lie so it wasn’t the start I was looking for. I managed to hang on though and the reaction after that was good.
"I didn’t have my A-game today but I fought hard, made birdies where I could and all in all, there’s a bitter taste but I’m happy with the way I fought after the start.
“We saw on the second day you can shoot 66 or 67 around here, it’s not easy at all but if I hit the ball like I did on the second day off the tee – hitting the fairway most of the time – I’ll have a fair amount of chances.
“Hopefully it will be a little less hot than today because it was roasting out there and hopefully quicker too because it’s a long time to be out there in these temperatures. Physically it was hard too.
“This is what we train for, to be in a position like this in a Major. Obviously after yesterday I would have hoped to be a bit closer but I’m still going in top ten and that’s good and if I can’t challenge for the title I should try to finish as high as I possibly can anyway.”
Scores
par 213 (3x71)
206 Kevin Kisner 67 67 72
207 Chris Stroud 68 68 71, Hideki Matsuyama 70 64 73.
208 Justin Thomas L73 66 69, Louis Oosthuizen 70 67 71
210 Grayson Murray 68 73 69
211 Graham DeLaet 70 76 68, Patrick Reed 69 73 69, Gary Woodland 68 74 69, Scott Brown 73 68 70, Francesco Molinari 73 64 74.
212 Chez Reavie 72 70 70, Sung Kang 70 71 71, Ryan Fox 75 66 71, Rickie Fowler 69 70 74.
213 Paul Casey 69 70 74, Jason Day 70 66 77. 
214 J B Holmes 74 73 67, Satoshi Kodaira 71 76 67, Henrik Stenson 74 70 70, Robert Streb 74 70 70, Chris Wood 72 72 70, James Hahn 73 70 71, Tony Finau 69 74 71, Byeong Hun An 71 69 74. 
215 Billy Horschel  76 70 69, Pat Perez 70 76 69, Richard Sterne 73 72 70, Jordan Smith 70 75 70, Matt Kuchar 71 74 70, Zach Johnson 71 73 71, Brian Harman 69 75 71, Patrick Cantlay , Ryan Moore 71 71 73, Brooks Koepka 68 73 74, D A Points 68 73 74 
216 Kevin Chappell 72 75 69, Sean O'Hair 71 75 70, Thorbjørn Olesen 67 78 71, David Lingmerth 72 73 71, Jordan Spieth 72 73 71, Ian Poulter 74 71 71, Jon Rahm 70 75 71, Jim Herman 69 75 72, Charl Schwartzel 74 70 72, Bryson DeChambeau
217 Kelly Kraft; Marc Leishman; Jamie Lovemark; Steve Stricker; Lucas Glover; Jason Kokrak; Keegan Bradley; Dustin Johnson 70 74 73, Bill Haas; Rory McIlroy 72 72 73, Shane Lowry 74 69 74, Bud Cauley
218 Jason Dufner; Webb Simpson; Tommy Fleetwood; Alex Noren
219 Charley Hoffman
220 K.T. Kim; Hideto Tanihara; Lee Westwood; Daniel Summerhays
221 Cody Gribble; Adam Scott; Anirban Lahiri; Dylan Frittelli
223 Russell Henley
224 Vijay Singh; Omar Uresti
225 Charles Howell II

 
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