Sunday Shootout on Tap for Valhalla but McIlroy Still Leads


It's going to be a shootout in the final round of the 96th PGA Championship. Eight players are within four strokes of the lead through 54 holes at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

But at the end of Saturday the field was still looking up to the same player who began the third round atop the leaderboard, Rory McIlroy, who carded his second straight 4-under 67 for a 13-under 200 total to stay in first place.

McIlroy posted six birdies and two bogeys. Three of the 25-year-old Northern Irishman's birdies came on the final four holes, with his birdie on the last giving him a one-stroke advantage over Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.

"They got close to me on the front nine," McIlroy said of the surge of players playing well. "But then I was able to move ahead on the back nine . . . the two birdies on 15 and 16 were huge . . . they were probably the difference between being tied for the lead or having the lead heading into tomorrow."

McIlroy, who's won two straight titles - the Open Championship for the third major of his career and last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational - showed his power and accuracy late in the round on the par-4, 508-yard 16th hole, where he hit driver, 9-iron to 2 feet and made the gimme birdie putt.

Unheralded Wiesberger carded six birdies Saturday en route to matching the day's low round, a 6-under 65. The 28-year-old from Vienna has two European Tour wins, with his most recent coming in the 2012 Lyoness Open. He became the first-ever Austrian to qualify for the U.S. Open this year at Pinehurst.

Wiesberger, who made only the second cut of his career in a major this week, hit the shot of the day, almost sinking his 160-yard approach on the 17th to set up a tap-in birdie, one of three straight to end his round. He called the pairing with Phil Mickelson a "dream come true - playing with Phil, one of my heroes."

As for being in contention heading into the final round, Wiesberger added, "It's a completely new experience for me . . . just going to have fun out there tomorrow."

Wiesberger, who'll be paired in the last group Sunday with McIlroy, told reporters later that he recognizes it's rare for an Austrian golfer to get this kind of recognition. "We're not too many Austrians out on Tour. Maybe you know Markus Brier, who was the first Austrian on Tour. But myself, I got introduced to the game from my parents, especially from my father.

"They had quite a big sports store back in Austria and a pro shop close by and a golf club. When they opened up that course there, started playing as well, and that's how I got introduced to the game."

Only two strokes behind McIlroy is Rickie Fowler, who had two birdies each on the front and back nines for a 67. He could have had more but just missed several putts. "I hit it very good on the back nine . . . didn't get a whole lot out of the round but hung in there," he said.

Playing in the final group with McIlroy on Saturday was Australia's Jason Day, who started the third round with Jim Furyk trailing by only a stroke. But Day couldn't get much going on the rain-softened Valhalla course, recording four birdies and two bogeys for a 69 to go into Sunday only three back at 203 with Mickelson.

"I was definitely frustrated, I had several (missed) chances," Day said during a TV interview.

Mickelson got off to a solid start with two birdies on the front nine to make the turn in 33. But he carded two straight bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 before making a charge coming home, posting four birdies in the final five holes for a 67.

"That birdie putt on 14 was really important as I had to go low from that point in to have a chance," Mickelson said during a TV interview.

Four behind McIlroy are South African Louis Oosthuizen (67), Sweden's Henrik Stenson (67), Finland's Mikko Ilonen (69) and American Ryan Palmer (69).

Five back are Welshman Jamie Donaldson (66), Canada's Graham DeLaet (68) and American Steve Stricker (68), while six behind are Australian Adam Scott (66), England's Lee Westwood (69), Dutchman Joost Luiten (69), and Americans Furyk (72), Hunter Mahan (65), and Kevin Chappell (67).

Stricker was aggressively tried to move up the leaderboard but couldn't quite get over the hump. "I was trying to get within three," said the 47-year-old from Wisconsin, who was named earlier this week by Tom Watson as one of his assistant captains for the 2014 USA Ryder Cup team. "It looks like I'll probably be four again or maybe five. A lot of people jammed in there. It's going to take something pretty low tomorrow, I think, from me, anyways to have a chance."

Two of the gallery favorites, J.B. Holmes and Kenny Perry, both Kentuckians, won't be in the mix Sunday, though both are enjoying excellent tournaments. Holmes, a 32-year-old native of Campbellsville, shot a 69 and enters the final round at 4-under 209, while the 53-year-old Perry, who now lives in Franklin, also had a 69 to get to 210.

"I played pretty good today," Holmes told reporters. "I had a chance to have a really good round. I just putted really bad. It was kind of Jekyll and Hyde. Seemed like I either made a long putt or hit an awful putt. I had three three putts and missed a couple short birdie putts. It was frustrating. I finished with two birdies."

For all the scores, visit http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/scoring/leaderboard.