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Young, the world No3, is chasing his first majorAlamy<\/p>\n\t\t\t5.56pm<\/p>\n
\t\tGotterup chasing first major\n <\/p>\n
Chris Gotterup has been one of the breakout stars of the past year, his three big wins in the past ten months all succumbing him to post-round tears. Six birdies and a round of 65 in a whipping wind was some effort on Friday and he led yesterday before three lost shots in his back nine. He is one of the best drivers in the field and remains a threat on two under. The American so nearly holes a lengthy birdie putt at the 1st but it just stays high. He remains four back.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t5.38pm<\/p>\n
\t\tScheffler\u2019s putting awry again\n <\/p>\n
Brilliant from Scheffler once again as the world No1 follows a 341-yard drive with a wedge to only a handful of feet at the 3rd. It leaves a reasonably simple birdie putt, but the four-times major champion misses his 11th putt from inside ten feet this week. He remains on two under and four back. An ominous start from the 29-year-old \u2014 but that was another big missed opportunity.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t5.32pm<\/p>\n
\t\tScheffler four back\n <\/p>\n
That\u2019s more like it from Scheffler. The world No1 is disappointed with his 99-yard approach into the par-four 2nd \u2014 playing much shorter today \u2014 but pours in a big swinging 20ft putt to get to two under. His tee shot at the 3rd is then perfect. Watch out.<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick meanwhile makes another birdie to get to four under for the day and one under for the tournament. Brooks Koepka has just started his fourth round on the same score.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t5.17pm<\/p>\n
\t\tScheffler under way\n <\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler ranked 74th out of 82 players with his putting in round three but makes a very solid two putt at the 1st to stay one under. He will have been disappointed with his approach from 95 yards though, with his ball landing pin high then ripping back down to the front of the green. It\u2019s a clever pin on that elevated tier \u2014 if you\u2019re even a hair short you\u2019ll be putting from at least 50ft. The world No1 remains five back.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t5.07pm<\/p>\n
\t\tBirdies everywhere\n <\/p>\n
More fast starts out there, with Matt Fitzpatrick and Daniel Berger three under for their rounds just after the turn, and Dustin Johnson, Cameron Young, Ryan Fox, Tom Hoge and Daniel Hillier all getting into the red for the tournament. Padraig Harrington, 54, is also enjoying his Sunday after adding a 67 on Saturday to Friday\u2019s 69, and is one under par. The old and the new, and the unheralded and the multiple champions are all dreaming big ahead of a potential Sunday classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Young, the world No3, is chasing his first majorAlamy<\/p>\n
\t\t\t4.53pm<\/p>\n
\t\tKitayama\u2019s round of the week\n <\/p>\n
Homa said he thought there would be five rounds of 64 today but Kitayama has just gone one better with a 63, the joint-lowest final round in major history. The American did not drop a single shot in his seven-under round, the best of the week by two shots. A sign of things to come?<\/p>\n
It is telling that he made five of his seven birdies in the front nine, given that six of Aronimink\u2019s eight hardest holes this week are in the back nine. Make your gains early \u2014 or you may make none at all.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t4.31pm<\/p>\n
\t\tLow score to be had\n <\/p>\n
Early of course but there are plenty of birdie chances out there today (Rick Broadbent writes). So far the greens in regulation percentage is 73 compared with 63 on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\t4.20pm<\/p>\n
\t\tCigars for Rory? Port for Rahm?\n <\/p>\n
If there is a play-off today it will be played over\u00a0three holes \u2014 the 10th, 17th and 18th \u2014 and then sudden death on the 18th if required (Rick Broadbent writes). The pace of play has been an issue here, so if three or four players got into extra time then they could be playing in fading light. Not good for UK newspaper deadlines either, but at least it is better than the marathon ordeal of the 1931 US Open. For reasons probably lost in the snug of a clubhouse after too many port and brandys, the play-off was a 72-hole marathon. Billy Burke and George Von Elm were tied after the initial extra two rounds and so they did it again. After a total of 144 holes in five days, Burke prevailed. It was said that Burke smoked 32 cigars during the tournament and Von Elm lost 15 lbs. We should be grateful.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t4.02pm<\/p>\n
\t\tCrunching the numbers\n <\/p>\n
Some interesting numbers to look at before the leading pack tee off. Leader Alex Smalley has been the best putter in the tournament \u2014 how long can that streak last? Ludvig Aberg has been among the worst putters \u2014 how dangerous will he be if he can get going on the greens? Aaron Rai ranks second for approach play while Xander Schauffele is dead last despite ranking first off the tee\u2026 <\/p>\n
\t\t\t3.48pm<\/p>\n
\t\tEarly birdies\n <\/p>\n
So far it looks like Homa was right about the scoring conditions today. Kurt Kitayama made five birdies in a bogey-free front nine to get to one under, Alex Noren birdied three of his first seven holes, and Shane Lowry has just made an eagle at the 9th to get back to two over. The front nine is definitely the easier of the two, with a much greater onus on long irons in the back. It will therefore be interesting to see how Aberg starts. If he can pick up a couple of shots early on, he can come into his own in the back nine and could be hard to beat.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t3.30pm<\/p>\n
\t\tWill Aronimink become gettable?\n <\/p>\n
Scoring conditions were so much easier yesterday with five rounds of 65 from Nick Taylor, Matti Schmid, Justin Rose, Kristoffer Reitan and Chris Kirk. So how low can they go today? It\u2019s warmer and less windy, so the players should feel more comfortable taking on some of these tricky pins. Max Homa was speaking on the No Laying Up podcast last night saying that he expects there to be five rounds of 64, which would bring even the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka \u2014 currently on one under \u2014 into the mix. <\/p>\n
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The Sunday pins<\/p>\n
\t\t\t3.09pm<\/p>\n
\t\tAnyone\u2019s for the taking\n <\/p>\n
And more storylines\u2026 Ludvig Aberg is a major winner-in-waiting (Rick Broadbent writes). One PGA of America official asked another LIV man,\u00a0Martin Kaymer, if he still played golf on Tuesday, but he is only four away.\u00a0Scottie Scheffler surely will start to make a few putts and then what? Patrick Reed is looking dangerous. And the US PGA has a penchant for surprise winners. Remember Shaun Micheel, ranked No169 when he won in 2003. He once told me he celebrated with a Wendy\u2019s burger and then got a surprise fall from the\u00a0lead singer of glam heavy rockers KISS. On Friday, Micheel missed the cut for the 15th PGA in a row, but his email address reflects his greatest day.\u00a0Don\u2019t rule out Alex Smalley. Having named so many people there, you can expect Xander Schauffele to win.<\/p>\n
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Kaymer won the US PGA in 2010\u2026AP:Associated Press<\/p>\n
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\u2026and is four shots back 16 years later going into the final roundAP<\/p>\n
\t\t\t2.45pm<\/p>\n
\t\tCan Rory surpass Faldo?\n <\/p>\n
So many potential storylines today (Rick Broadbent writes). A win for Rory McIlroy would take him past Sir Nick Faldo and mean he is second only to Harry Vardon on the list of European major winners. Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith or Joaquin Niemann can debunk the theory that LIV Golf has blunted their talent. Aaron Rai or Justin Rose could be the first English winner since Long Jim Barnes in 1919. Two sons of billionaires \u2014 Maverick McNealy and Kristoffer Reitan \u2014 are in contention. <\/p>\n
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McIlroy, right, is on three under; Koepka, left, is on one underAlamy<\/p>\n
\t\t\t1.55pm<\/p>\n
\t\tGood start for Donald\n <\/p>\n
He may be well out of contention, but it\u2019s been a good start for Luke Donald. Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup captain has taken two birdies from his first five holes to move to six over. <\/p>\n
Things have been more mixed for Alex Fitzpatrick. Having birdied his opening hole, he instantly followed that up with a double bogey on the 2nd. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t1.35pm<\/p>\n
\t\tMcIlroy cleans things up\n <\/p>\n
After using a four-letter swear word to describe his first round and damning the Aronimink set-up after his second, Rory McIlroy finally found his mojo at the US PGA Championship (Rick Broadbent writes). Asked for a new adjective to update his fortunes, he settled for \u201cbetter\u201d, adding: \u201cNo profanity today, keep it clean.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cleaned up his game too. The six-times major winner was outside the top 100 on Thursday night, but as the beast of Aronimink turned into a fireside tabby cat, he finished three strokes behind the American leader, Alex Smalley \u2014 who played the back nine beautifully to sit at six under par.<\/p>\n