Brooks Koepka looks unbreakable, but the 100th PGA Championship isn’t over yet. On a hot and steamy day, the sun shone, birdies continued to fly and Koepka emerged as the man to beat. With 18 holes remaining, here are the numbers that told the story.
5: Front-nine birdies for Brooks Koepka, who broke away from his final-group playing partners, Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland, and seized control Saturday afternoon. He made a couple of bogeys coming in, but he holds a two-shot lead over Adam Scott.
44: Holes Koepka played without a bogey before the 14th hole in Round 3. He also bogeyed 15, but picked up a key birdie at the par-5 17th to extend his lead.
337: Koepka’s average driving distance in the third round.
10: Players within four shots of Koepka’s lead, including past major-winners Scott, Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Stewart Cink and Charl Schwartzel.
28: Total holes played Saturday by Tiger Woods, who started his day on the 8th hole at 7 a.m. local time. (He also went through at least three shirts.) He finished the day eight under par, four behind Koepka. He’s right in the thick of it, but he could’ve been closer if not for…
2: Three-putts for Woods, including a back-breaker on the gettable par-5 17th. His miss there from four feet for birdie really stung.
-10: Woods’s cumulative score on the front nine through 54 holes.
+2: Woods’s score on the back.
65: Lowest score of the third round, by Adam Scott. The Aussie is playing with a heavy heart after the loss of his friend and fellow Australian Jarrod Lyle. Scott is in prime position to honor his buddy by winning his second career major.
6: Total players to shoot a four-under 66: Koepka, Jon Rahm (nine under overall) Woods (eight under), Stewart Cink (also eight under), Daniel Berger (six under) and Seungsu Han (four under).
2: Provisional shots Jordan Spieth hit on the 12th hole. After shoving his tee shot into the right-side trees (pictured), Spieth re-loaded. He eventually found his first ball in the woods, so no penalty there, but his escape shot slammed into a tree trunk and caromed away. Spieth dropped for his second provisional and punched out. This time he wasn’t so lucky: his first shot ricocheted O.B., so he had to play that second ball with a penalty. After making four birdies on the front nine to get in contention, he tripled the hole and toppled out of it.
1: Number of PGA club pros, out of 20 in the field, still playing this weekend. Ben Kern, a 34-year-old Texan, made the cut on the number and shot a third-round 67. He won’t be lifting the Wanamaker Sunday afternoon, but he’s a nice story nonetheless.
$1,980,000: Prize money awaiting Sunday’s winner. No pressure, guys.
