PGA Championship: Matt Jones leads, Tiger Woods misses cut

To his credit, Day faced his first test late on Saturday. I need to make this to have a chance within four of the lead.

Warming up in calm weather, and watching a bunch of low scores go up on the board, the Masters and U.S. Open champion said he knows it’s a day to be aggressive.

He played three of the last four holes out of the rough, and worse, and made two bogeys and a double.

But with just one more birdie on the front nine, the chasing pack was soon looming large in Jones’ rear-view mirror.

Day is in the driver’s seat to win his first major championship, but the likes of Spieth, Rose and Kaymer won’t let him have it easily.

“As I read my putt from behind the hole at 18, I didn’t really plan on looking at (the scoreboard), but it was right in the through line and I saw Jason was at 16-under”, Spieth said.

Day was at 15-under 201.

Day was part of Spieth’s march to the U.S. Open championship at Chambers Bay, and it was Spieth who came over to help when Day went down on the 18th fairway because of what was later diagnosed as a viral ear infection.

When he was forced to play from the carpet of a hospitality suite after a wayward tee-shot on nine, clearing tables, bar stools and spectators out of the way to take his second stroke, it looked as if his lack of experience at the sharp end of major tournaments was beginning to tell.

Justin Rose bogeyed the last to end the day on 12 under, alongside South Africa’s Branden Grace, who shot a 64.

Still in the mix was Martin Kaymer, who had a 65 and was four shots behind.

Day and Spieth will start the final round together at 1:45 p.m.

“Just trying to get my name on the Wanamaker Trophy”, Spieth said.

Though he is reluctant to talk about the historical significance of this season, Spieth admitted that his near miss at the British Open – thus denying him a shot at golf’s Grand Slam – burned a little.

“When I think of this being the last major of the year, it’s a little bit of a sad feeling because I really, thoroughly enjoy playing in majors“, Spieth said.

You want wild? Try hitting it from some of the places Phil Mickelson visited en route to a nine-birdie round of 66. Jack Nicklaus won two Majors at 40 but the year had not been preceded by anything like the elongated struggles that now define Woods.

The 22-year-old was at it again late Saturday afternoon, getting the message across the way he knows best.

Looking determined as ever, in control of his swing and putting beautifully, Day was 6 under over a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round. That included an eagle on the 11th hole, where he hit his drive with such force that he hit pitching wedge to 15 feet. The first shot didn’t make it up the slope and rolled back into the sand, and Day wound up with a double bogey right about the time Spieth shifted into another gear.

Day made a birdie on the par-5 16th hole to get to 10 under par. His goal after a slow start was to stay close enough to have a chance on Sunday.

Spieth opened with a birdie and then made nine consecutive pars.

Keeping cool with the in-form Spieth breathing down your neck is easier said than done, however.

“The spot where I had to have gone would have been much harder”. “I’ve been in the lead on a tour event, but a major is a different story”.

“I thought that if I could get to 10 (under), if I could get three more, then I would still have a chance”. “But I think it’s all in the process that I’ve had”. He’s built a game and a state of mind that seems nearly unaffected by pressure, or at least affected a lot less than are the other mortals challenging him this weekend. He shot a pair of 71s in the first two rounds, then the 68 Saturday.

If Woods was playing out the string for his sponsors’ sake; if his passion is spent; if he is tired of his yearlong losing battle with his game, which two years ago carried him to five victories, he gave no hint of it in his postround comments.