Newtown Square (United States) (AFP) – Rory McIlroy birdied six of the first 13 holes to seize a share of the lead in Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship at suddenly vulnerable Aronimink. Midway co-leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley were preparing to tee off when McIlroy joined them atop the leaderboard at four-under par with a five-foot birdie putt at the 13th after blasting out of a bunker.
All the frontrunners were targets for the pursuing stars on a breakout day at the 7,934-yard layout after two days of brisk winds and difficult pin placements on sloped greens kept leaders bunched. World number two McIlroy opened with a birdie and answered a bogey at the fourth with birdies at the fifth, sixth and par-five ninth, pitching 53 yards from the fairway to three feet and set up a birdie to climb within two shots at the turn.
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McIlroy, who captured his sixth major title at last month’s Masters, sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the 11th before matching the leaders at 13. Not since Jordan Spieth in 2015 has a player won the first two majors in a year. Not since Jack Nicklaus in 1975 has a player won the Masters and PGA Championship in the same year. McIlroy could become the first PGA Championship winner to shoot 74 in the opening round since Payne Stewart in 1989, having closed with four bogeys Thursday then spending hours at the driving range to solve tee woes.
American Xander Schauffele, a two-time major winner, birdied the sixth and seventh, followed a bogey at eight with birdies at nine and 11 to reach three-under, one adrift. Spain’s Jon Rahm birdied the first and par-three fifth holes to reach three-under, with England’s Aaron Rai and American Patrick Cantlay there as well after two early birdies.
Chris Kirk, who birdied five of the first seven holes, briefly shared the lead by sinking an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th, needing a closing birdie to take the lead and match the major record low round at 62. But the 41-year-old American made a three-putt double-bogey at 18 and settled for shooting five-under par 65 to share the clubhouse lead on two-under 208. “Finishing with a double on 18 stings a little bit, but played some really great golf, and nice to see some putts go in,” Kirk said.
England’s 45-year-old Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open winner at nearby Merion, and Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who won last week at Quail Hollow, also fired 65s to stand on 208. Rose birdied the third through sixth holes and closed the front nine with another, while Reitan followed back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 with eagles at the driveable par-four 13th and par-five 16th. “Got it rolling a little bit on the back nine, so that felt good. Two eagles helped for sure,” said Reitan. “Changed my putter going into this round, just to get a different feel. That worked out a bit.”
American Michael Kim became only the third player in the past 30 years to birdie six of the first seven holes. Also ripe for the taking was a record $20.5 million prize purse announced Saturday by the PGA of America, $1.5 million more than last year. The winner will collect $3.69 million, $270,000 more than top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler made last year, with $2.214 million to the runner-up. Scheffler opened with two pars to remain on two-under. Three-time major winner Spieth, who would complete a career Grand Slam with a victory and snap a nine-year major win drought, was level for the day and one over overall.
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