Tiger Woods had plenty to react to Saturday, including a bunker shot on the 14th that led to bogey.
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Combined PGA Tour wins of the top five players on the leaderboard? 22.
PGA Tour wins by Tiger Woods? 21. J.P. Hayes has one -- 1998 at Westchester in a playoff over Jim Furyk.
The last man to make the PGA Championship his first win? Jeff Sluman in 1988.
So much for the secondary slam. Ernie Els is 2-under heading into the final round. He had finished second in The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.
Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson both made the turn at 9-under, then shot 2-over 38s on the back nine to fall from realistic contention.
Notah Begay III liked the 18th on Saturday. He chipped in for eagle to finish his second round, then birdied the hole in the third round.
For the first three rounds, the average score at Valhalla has been 73.331. Saturday, it was 71 and the field was a combined 80-under par. It was the lowest single-round average in PGA history.
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Tom was terrific
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Bruce Edwards has caddied for Tom Watson for 24 years. So when he heard Watson, who hasn't putted well in years, say he couldn't wait to get on the green Saturday, he knew something was special.
He had no idea how special. Watson shot 65, tying the course record at Valhalla for an hour until Jose Maria Olazabal came in at 63. Watson hit long birdie putts at the second and 10th holes. He put approach shots inches from the cup on Nos. 9 and 14. He capped it with a snaking 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, then marched off the green to a thunderous roar he hasn't heard in a while.
It was the Watson of the 1970s, at least for five hours.
"Today it was vintage Watson," Edwards said. "It reminded me of being 27 again."
Watson is 50. He'll be 51 on Sept. 4. He last won a major championship in 1983 at the British Open. He won his last U.S. Open in 1982; his last Masters in 1981. But he's never won the PGA.
In 1978, Watson lost in a playoff with John Mahaffey and Jerry Pate. He led by five shots with nine holes to play at Oakmont, but double-bogeyed the 10th after hitting his ball into a fairway divot. In 1996 -- at Valhalla -- Watson got within a shot of the lead after 12 holes, but hit his ball into the water at the 13th, took a double bogey and finished tied for 17th.
"That was my chance for all four of them," Watson said.
He harbors no illusions of winning this year. He's 5-under for the championship -- eight shots behind Tiger Woods. "I don't think I'm in contention," he said. "There's a guy named Woods out there."
But for an afternoon, he was magic. The nostalgic in the galleries flocked to see him. Watson couldn't stop smiling.
"Vintage Watson," he said of himself.
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Par-5 madness: Looking for a tip in Sunday's final round? Check out how the contenders play the par-5s. Woods is 11-under for the tournament. Bob May is 8-under. Scott Dunlap and Greg Chalmers are 10-under. J.P. Hayes is 6-under.
Favorite Sunday pairing: 50-year-olds Tom Watson and Tom Kite. Both are 5-under -- among those tied for 15th place.
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OVERHEARD
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LANGHAM
On Olazabal's 63 beating his 65: "I looked up -- I guess the first time was on 15 or so -- and he was 8-under. I was like, 'Wow, I thought I was playing good.' " |
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OLAZABAL
On the last time he drove the ball as well in a round: "Don't ask me such tough questions. I would have to go way, way back." |
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MAY
On his pairing with Woods for the final round: "There's not a whole bunch of pressure on me. I'm not supposed to win (Sunday). He is." |
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WOODS
When a fan gave him a tip about a swing flaw: "I didn't know I was doing that. Thanks for the tip. ... I'll work on it at the range out there." |
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