BETHPAGE, United States: Defending champion and runaway leader Brooks Koepka made a frustrating bogey to close the front nine but still owned a seven-stroke lead at the turn in Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship.
Third-ranked Koepka, in prime position for his fourth major title, made the turn at Bethpage Black on 13-under par after two birdies and an around-the-edge miss on a tap-in par putt at the ninth hole.
The 29-year-old American owned an seven-stroke lead over world number one Dustin Johnson and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, his only rivals within nine shots.
No one in major golf history fired a lower 36-hole score than Koepka’s 12-under 128, and his seven-stroke lead was the second-largest halfway edge, trailing only Henry Cotton’s nine-shot advantage in the 1934 British Open.
If Koepka does capture the Wanamaker Trophy and the $1.98 million (1.77 million euros) top prize, he will be the first man to own back-to-back titles at two majors simultaneously. Koepka seeks a third consecutive US Open crown next month at Pebble Beach.
“He’s definitely, in these events, playing on a different level than most anyone else,” four-time major winner Rory McIlroy said of Koepka.
“It’s awesome. It’s so good. It’s great to watch.”
Kopeka’s routine tee blast and wedge approach made him a threat on holes when he found the fairway. He missed a six-foot birdie putt at the first but sank a five-footer at the second and a three-footer at the fifth to reach 14-under and lead by eight.
Koepka found tall weeds and greenside rough at the seventh but rescued par by sinking a nine-foot putt and saved par again after missing the green at the par-3 eighth, only to botch his last par putt before starting the back nine.
The PGA’s largest-ever 54-hole lead was five strokes, last achieved by Ray Floyd in 1982, and the low 54-hole tournament score was 196 by David Toms in 2001.