Lionel VELLA, with AFP
American Dustin Johnson, chasing a second Grand Slam title after the 2016 US Open, has jumped 10 places on the leaderboard to take control of the PGA Championship. Fifth player in the world, former No. 1 for 91 weeks between February 19, 2017 and May 19, 2019, managed to overcome his difficulties - a double bogey and a bogey - thanks to eight birdies, to return a card of 65 (-5 ). With a total score of 201 (-9), he at the same time becomes a serious candidate for the coronation in San Francisco.
Nothing will have succeeded in disturbing him during this windy Moving Day, not even the fact of having lost at the bottom of his bag his course booklet, of which his brother and caddy Austin however had a duplicate, but not really up to date. . “It was last week, but it worked well,” he said with a smile. I'm going to do my best not to follow what my direct opponents are doing on Sunday (namely Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Champ, one point behind) and just play my game. It doesn't really matter what the other guys are doing. . All I can control is myself ”.
140 feet of putts made on Saturday for @DJohnsonPGA.
He leads the field in SG: Putting this week. pic.twitter.com/5C3nIreoi8
Two strokes behind, however, points the favorite of the event. Brooks Koepka occupies the fourth place the young US prodigy Collin Morikawa, 21, and the very experienced English, Paul Casey. The defending champion limited the damage at the end of the course, netting his third and fourth birdies on the 16th and 18th holes, just after committing three consecutive bogeys. "Today I played better than my score can indicate" (69, -1), estimated the one who hopes to become the second player in history to achieve a "hat trick" at the PGA Championship after Walter Hagen (four wins between 1924 and 1927, but the tournament format at the time was match play).
Last year, leading the side of Bethpage (New York), he had kept Dustin Johnson at bay to win. Here he is in turn in the shoes of the hunter. “I had capitalized. There, I do not know ... He is looking for his second Major. I play well. We will see, ”added Koepka.
Scottie Scheffler is seeking to be the first player since Keegan Bradley (2011) to win the PGA Championship in their tournament debut.
A total of 8 players have accomplished the feat. pic.twitter.com/3wKvxNiRor
Behind, a group of six players are three shots behind the leader: Bryson DeChambeau, author of a superb putt almost 29 meters long on the 18th hole, Tony Finau, Daniel Berger, the English Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and the Australian Jason Day, co-leader after the first round. Haotong Li, surprising leader on Friday after 36 holes and who had dreamed of becoming the first Chinese to win a Major, came down to earth, more precisely in 13th place. Ditto for Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who was his runner-up and fell to 18th place (-4)? five shots from Johnson. He lost 18 places on the leaderboard and saw Victor Perez return, the other Frenchman having crossed the cut, two points behind. The Tarbais has indeed posted a second 69 in a row and is now in 30th place (-2), just ahead of the new world number 1 Justin Thomas (34th). The latter did not lose heart after himself, because of the two bogeys committed on holes 16 and 18 having weighed down a performance that could have been much better (six birdies). "I am very angry. I let a good lap slip away, I didn't capitalize on my good start ”.
2 birdies.
4 bogeys.
4 hit fairways.
12 greens in regulation.
31 putts.
Tiger Woods cards a 2-over 72 in Round 3 of the PGA Championship. He's +2 for the tournament. pic.twitter.com/cG7XCaJfUH
For Tiger Woods on the other hand, it's probably over. His third day ended with four bogeys and two birdies which relegated him to 59th place (+2). He will therefore wait to win his 16th Grand Slam title. More stoic but no less disappointed, Tiger Woods saw his chances of landing a 5th USPGA vanish. After an encouraging start Thursday (-2), he finished at +2 on Friday, repeating this poor performance on Saturday, still weighed down by his putt in cool and windy conditions on Harding Park. “I hope I can finish under the par, it's playable,” said the Tiger, nevertheless already looking to the sequel and the US Open in a month (September 17-20).