PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka Leads By Two After 54 Holes

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Brooks Koepka tees off on the fifth hole during day three of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive CC in St Louis, MO. Credit: Streeter Lecka/PGAA via Getty Images

Brooks Koepka posted a 4-under 66 on Saturday at Bellerive and will take a two-shot lead into Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship.

PGA_Championship_Brooks_Koepka
Brooks Koepka tees off on the fifth hole during day three of the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive CC in St Louis, MO. Credit: Streeter Lecka/PGAA via Getty Images

Starting the day two off the lead, Koepka came roaring out of the gate with birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 5, 8 and 9 to turn with the lead at 13 under par. A back nine of two bogeys against one birdie allowed the the field to close the gap somewhat, but Koepka still sat atop the leaderboard in St. Louis at 12-under par.

At his post-round press conference, the Florida Stat product sounded extremely confident about his chances on Sunday.

“I’m just focused on me,” said Koepka. “I feel like, if I do what I’m supposed to, I should win the golf tournament.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of star power, and it should be, it’s a Major championship. You should see the best players in the world come to the top. And that’s what you have, and that’s what’s going to make this event very exciting to watch tomorrow.”

Koepka will be joined in Sunday’s final pairing by Adam Scott, who made two late birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 en route to a 65 and a three-day score of 10-under par.

One further back at 9-under par was the trio of Rickie Fowler (69), Jon Rahm (66), and Gary Woodland (71).

Tiger Woods shot 66 and sits T6 at 8-under par, alongside defending champion Justin Thomas (68) and Jason Day (67), among others.


2018 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP


TOP 10: ROUND THREE

POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
1. Brooks Koepka -12 (-4)
2. Adam Scott -10 (-5)
3. Jon Rahm -9 (-4)
3. Rickie Fowler -9 (-1)
3. Gary Woodland -9 (+1)
6. Justin Thomas -8 (-2)
6. Jason Day -8 (-3)
6. Tiger Woods -8 (-4)
6. Charl Schwartzel -8 (-1)
6. Shane Lowry -8 (-1)
6. Stewart Cink -8 (-4)


OTHER NOTABLES

POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
12. Kevin Kisner -7 (+2)
12. Francesco Molinari -7 (-2)
15. Brandon Stone -6 (E)
15. Pat Perez -6 (E)
15. Thomas Pieters -6 (+1)
15. Webb Simpson -6 (-2)
15. Xander Schauffele -6 (-3)
21. Ian Poulter -5 (-2)
21. Justin Rose -5 (-1)
21. Patrick Cantlay -5 (E)
21. Dustin Johnson -5 (+2)
28. Jordan Spieth -4 (-1)
36. Rory McIlroy -3 (E)
36. Zach Johnson -3 (+1)
36. Tyrrell Hatton -3 (-1)
36. Rafael Cabrera Bello -3 (-1)
45. Tommy Fleetwood -2 (-1)
45. Jimmy Walker -2 (-1)
57. Tony Finau -1 (-1)
63. Hideki Matsuyama E (+3)
71. Marc Leishman +1 (+2)


VIDEO: ROUND-3 HIGHLIGHTS


FINAL QUESTION FOR BROOKS KOEPKA

Were you channeling your inner Arnold Palmer on your tee shot on No. 1? You hit driver there, and other guys didn’t.

KOEPKA: Oh, yeah, I mean, I don’t see anything but driver. I don’t know why everybody else is laying up. You see guys hit iron off the tee, and they have got 180 yards.

Meanwhile we have got driver, and I think we had 80, 70 and maybe 90. I just don’t see anything but driver. So this golf course, I like the way it sets up. There is quite a few right-to-left holes, but with Zoysia fairways the ball’s not really going to roll out any ways, and especially with a wet golf course, you’re not going to get a bunch of run. So all you have to do is put it in the fairway and you’re fine.

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