Walker clings to 1-shot lead after 3rd round of PGA

One of 10 players forced to play 36 holes on Sunday after the previous day’s thunderstorms, Walker started his third round at 7.40am local time and carded a 68 to take a one-shot lead into the final round.

He then pitched in from a bunker on the 10th for a birdie and followed that with a 30-foot putt on the next to get to 13 under.

Day was wearing a big smile as he left the green with a 13-under 287 total and a final-round, 3-under 67.

NOTEWORTHY: Walker became the fourth first-time major champion this year joining Danny Willett (Masters), Dustin Johnson (U.S. Open) and Henrik Stenson (British Open).

“I feel I’m progressing pretty nicely”, said Grace, a seven-times victor on the European Tour who clinched his first PGA Tour victory at the Heritage in SC in April.

“I was struggling most of the day”.

“We brought it up earlier in the week and we were hitting balls pretty much in the same spot, so we talked about it a little bit”, Sanders said.

“We made the birdie, but sometimes things don’t come easy”.

Golf: Jason Day eagles the final hole of the PGA Championship in a valiant effort to steal the lead from Jimmy Walker.

“There’s a lot of emotion going on out there”.

“I thought, ‘Let’s try to finish with a bang, give him something to think about, ‘ ” said Day.

Somehow, the bedlam ahead wasn’t enough to shake Walker, who showed steely nerves and held off the world No. 1 to capture his first major championship. But, I can’t be disappointed. “He is a deserving victor”. I know it’s tough, it’s grueling… you get to a certain point and that barrier, you’ll be sitting there and going, I just don’t know if I can push on anymore.

Day, who battled back after bogeys on two of the first three holes, answered with a 7m birdie putt at the 11th.

Walker had a hard time treading water early in the third round, dropping two strokes on the front side.

The American sprayed his approach to 18 into thick rough right of the green before punching his third safely onto the green but 35 feet beyond the hole. He putted three birdies while he miscalculated the fifth hole that went to bogey.

“I’m just really happy to finish birdie, birdie in both rounds today and post a decent score”.

The players, when their ball lies on a closely mown area “through the green”, may mark the ball, clean it and replace it within one club length no nearer the hole or in a hazard.

He recovered to close out par on the par 5 17th.

Walker has had at least two of his photos selected as NASA’s astronomy picture of the day, which, at last count, gave him six.

Walker did not make the same mistake.

Stenson began the final round at Baltusrol within two shots of Jimmy Walker, but a 1-over 71 included just one birdie and a costly double bogey on the par-4 15 hole.

There was still drama on the 72nd hole of the championship. “I’ve earned the right to play here every single year and that’s my right, and I’ll keep playing in it until I feel like I’m not competitive anymore”.

A miss would have seen the Championship decided in a play-off between Day and Walker. But unfortunately that’s been the case this week because on the weekend this golf course was set up to be flawless for a major championship.

Walker was put under pressure by defending champion and good friend Day, who produced an eagle at the 18th to pull within a shot.