Koepka leads PGA, but Woods, strong pack of chasers looms

ST. LOUIS — Twotime U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka took a step toward adding a third major to his short list of victories.

Koepka bullied rainsoftened Bellerive on Saturday on the front nine and built a fourshot lead, only to run into bad patch that brought a strong list of contenders into the mix — including Tiger Woods — going into the final round of the PGA Championship.

Even with back-toback bogeys on the back nine, Koepka had a 4-under-par 66 for a two-shot lead over Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion who has been struggling through his worst season in nearly two decades. Scott had a 65 to get into the final group.

Gary Woodland lost his way in his footprints in a bunker and made triple bogey on No. 10, falling six shots behind, and still managed a 71 to stay within three shots of the lead, along with Jon Rahm (66) and Rickie Fowler (69).

The biggest buzz, as always, belonged to Woods.

Coming off a threeputt bogey on the fifth hole, Woods ran off three straight birdies to get in range, only to stall on the back nine. He settled for a 66, and by the time everyone else came through the 17th hole, he slipped back to a tie for sixth, four shots out of the lead. Brooks Koepka tees off on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club. Despite a back-to-back bogeys on the back nine that trimmed his lead, Koepka holds a two-shot advantage. PGA Championship Today on TV

That’s the same position he was in going into the final round of the British Open at Carnoustie, where he led briefly before fading.

Now Woods gets another shot, and it most likely will take another round like Saturday.

“Not just myself, but everyone is going to have to shoot low rounds,” Woods said. “It’s soft, it’s gettable, and you can’t just go out there and make a bunch of pars.”

Koepka was at 12-under 198 and will play in the final group of a major for the first time. He won in the penultimate group at the U.S. Open each of the last two years.

He already burnished his reputation two months ago by winning a U.S. Open on two entirely different courses — one at Erin Hills with a record-tying score of 16 under par, the other at Shinnecock Hills where he won at 1 over par.

He has only one other PGA Tour victory, one in Europe and two in Japan. But put him against the strongest fields and the biggest events, and he is a world-beater.

This test figures to be different.

Bellerive is so soft that a charge can come from anywhere.

“I’ve watched Tiger win 14 of these things hanging around a lot of

the time,” Scott said. “He ran away with a few, for sure, but he hung around for a lot. And I would love to hang around tomorrow. And that might mean shooting 5 under again to hang around, but I would love to be in the mix coming down the stretch and have the chance to hole some putts to win.”

Ten players were within four shots of the lead, which includes defending champion Justin Thomas (68), Jason Day (67) and Stewart Cink, the 2009 British Open champion who played with Woods and matched his 66.

“It’s a pretty intense environment out there. It’s fun,” Cink said. “Hearing the crowd, and Tiger’s performing great, it was like turning back the hands of the clock.”