Jason Day two shots clear at The PGA Championship

Jason Day will take a two-shot lead into the final round of The PGA Championship at Whistling Straits after what was one of the best days in recent Major Championship history.

Day celebrating one of his many birdie putts

The Aussie teed off alongside fellow countryman Matt Jones on 9-under-par in the final pairing and shot a 6-under-par round of 66 to take the overnight lead on 15-under-par. Day, who has had nine top-ten finishes in his last twenty Major Championships, made 8 birdies and an eagle during his 3rd round, and only took 25 putts on a day where everything seemed to drop for the world number 5. Day hit 11 out of 14 fairways and found 13 of the 18 greens in regulation, but his most impressive stat was the 11 one-putts he made.

Matt Jones, who was leading heading into the 3rd round shot a 1-over-par round of 73 and finds himself five shots off the lead heading into the final round.

Scoring on average was almost two shots better than the previous two days and Branden Grace and Martin Kaymer, who were paired together for the 3rd round, had a combined score of 15-under-par. Grace, who finished 2nd at the U.S Open at Chambers Bay in June holed out from the bunker at the 18th hole to post an 8-under-par round of 64, the best of the day. He will start the final round three shots back on 12-under-par. Kaymer, the 2010 PGA Champion, carded a 7-under-par round of 65 and will start his final round on 11-under-par.

Despite some brilliant 3rd round scores from the likes of Grace, Kaymer, Day and Rose, a lot of the headlines will go to Jordan Spieth. The two-time 2015 Major Champion was back to his brilliant best and a back-nine 30 helped him post a 7-under-par round of 65 which puts him alongside Jason Day in the final pairing on Sunday afternoon.

Spieth is looking to win his 3rd Major title in 2015

Spieth started the day on 6-under-par and when he birdied the first hole, you felt as if he could really make a push for the lead. However, he got a little frustrated over the front-nine holes and failed to convert birdie chances. That was until the 11th hole, when he rolled in a routine 10-footer to get back into the race. From there the 22-year-old made a further five birdies including three consecutive ones at 16, 17 and 18. Spieth enters the final day with a chance to etch his name in history and become one of the few players to win three Major titles in a single season.

Elsewhere on the course, there were birdies galore and some great scores. Phil Mickelson played some majestic shots in a 6-under-par round of 66 to post 5-under-par for the tournament and first round leader Dustin Johnson carded a respectable 4-under-par round of 68 to leave himself six shots back of Day. World number one Rory McIlroy made a scintillating start to his round, two birdies and an eagle in his opening five holes moved McIlroy onto 6-under-par early, but two bogeys at the 6th and 8th holes halted his momentum. Late birdies at the 16th and 18th resulted in a 4-under-par round of 68 for McIlroy, and he finds himself 6-under-par heading into the final day.

Justin Rose carries the weight of expectation for the British fans tomorrow once again after an up and down round of 68. Rose started the day on 8-under-par and an early birdie at the 1st was cancelled out with a poor double bogey at the 4th hole. However six birdies over the next thirteen holes pushed the Englishman up to 13-under-par heading down the 18th hole, but a loose second shot resulted in a bogey at the last. Rose will start his final round on 12-under-par and just the three shots behind Day.

Tomorrow we could see one of the greatest final rounds in Major Championship history, don’t miss it.

Selected final round tee times below (GMT)

19:45 pm- Jason Day (-15) & Jordan Spieth (-13)

19:36 pm- Branden Grace (12) & Justin Rose (-12)

19:27 pm- Tony Finau (-10) & Martin Kaymer (-11)

18:51 pm- Brooks Koepka (-7) & Brandt Snedeker (-7)

18:15 pm- Rory McIlroy (-6) & Charl Scwartzel (-6)

Ishikawa and Goosen lead at The Quicken Loans National

Retief Goosen an Ryo Ishikawa carded rounds of 63 to share the lead after the first round of The PGA Tour’s Quicken Loans National in Virginia.

Ryo Ishikawa with a hole-in-one at the 4th

The pair were among the early starters and with good conditions scoring was on the low side during the first few hours of play. Ishikawa made a hole-in-one on the 4th hole, his 13th hole of the day after starting on the 10th, which rewarded one lucky person with a whole year of mortgage payments payed for them courtesy of Quicken Loans. Ishikawa made five consecutive birdies from the 14th-18th holes to go out in 30. He then carried on his birdie streak with another one at the 1st hole to get to 6-under-par through 10 holes.

Goosen took advantage of the shortest and longest holes, picking up birdies at three of the four par-3’s and birdies at all of the par-5’s. He was bogey free for his round.

Ishikawa wasn’t the only player with a hole-in-one though, Rickie Fowler also made an ace on the 9th hole. But with the years’ mortgage payment reward gone Fowler sent an ice bucket full of beers to the media centre, much to the delight of the press. Fowler shot a 4-under round of 67 and is four shots back off the lead.

There was a lot of discussion and confusion over Chris Como’s whereabouts yesterday. Tiger Woods’ controversial swing coach did not travel to Virginia and mounted speculation that he had been sacked by Woods. The claim was swiftly denied by Woods’ management before he teed off. The world number 266 made a terrible start, bogeying three of his first four holes and looked like being another long day. But a birdie at the par-5 5th hole gave Woods a bit of momentum and he carded five more birdies over the last 13 holes to post a respectable 3-under-par round of 68 and is still very much in the Tournament. His driving looked good, as did his approaches with the short irons. A few putts were raced by the hole but he was knocking the 5-footers in with confidence. He tees off at 13:10pm (GMT) this afternoon.

Elsewhere on the course defending Champion Justin Rose is just three shots off the lead after posting a solid 5-under-par round of 66 and England’s Andy Sullivan went one better with a round of 65, to put himself withing two shots of the lead.

The second round will get underway in just under an hours time.