September 20, 2015: Jason Day was finally back to behaving human. Just when it looked like he might race away into the distance, Day settled for a sedate 69 to move to 20-under 193. He is enjoying a six shot cushion over Scott Piercy and Daniel Berger, who shot 67 and 70 respectively to end the day at 14-under 199. Rory McIlroy made his presence felt at the BMW Championship with a measured 67 to reach 13-under 200 with 18 left to play at Conway Farms.
The benign course outside Chicago received much needed help from the weather, which turned cool and damp. The gusting winds offered a hand as well as they combined to rein in the runaway Aussie, who made 61 and 63 in the first two rounds.
Day made six birdies on Saturday, but also suffered four bogeys to account for his two under score in the third round. “Obviously, the most difficult round that we’ve had this week by far,” admitted Day. “I think a lot of players really understood how hard it was,” he added. “It was very difficult to get anything going.”
On Sunday, Day will be pursuing a fourth victory in six starts, from his commanding perch at the top. The chasing pack has plenty of day light between them and the leader.
Piercy jumped three spots from five to two, to earn the right to partner Day in the final round. It will be a tall order to mount any real challenge, but he does have the best seat in the house to watch the in form Aussie deliver some spectacular golf.
World No.1 McIlroy also gained space, climbing five spots from T9 to 4th on the leaderboard. He will be in the second last group on Sunday, with rookie Berger, who is currently tied with Piercy.
“The tournament is in Jason’s hands right now,” McIlroy acknowledged, “he needs to come back to the field a little bit.” It is difficult to see Day fueling those hopes though, as he has accumulated a combined score of 99-under since the narrow miss at The Open Championship.
Day will be looking to avoid the fate that befell him late on Saturday. Driving like a monster all week, Day suffered a rare error when he settled his tee shot at the 13th in the front yard of a course facing home.
“Just a poor swing, I’ve fought with that hole in the past,” explained Day, who signed for a difficult bogey at the hole. He had a similarly painful experience at the 15th where he fumbled from the tee to green through the thick rough off the fairway.
At 12-under 201, Rickie Fowler seems to have resigned to play for second. “You kind of have to look at Jason as an outlier” said Fowler. “Right now, it’s almost like there’s a secondary tournament going on, for the guys that are 8, 12 under right now.”
Follow Us: @GolfingIndian
Join Us: Facebook.com/GolfingIndian
Download Our APP Here
Follow the author on Twitter – @SportASmile
- In this article
- Pros
- anand datla
- bmw championship
- jason day
- rory mcilroy
