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PGA Championship: Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson unable to pressure Brooks Koepka

By Kathlene Bissell

FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 18: Brooks Koepka of the United States and Jordan Spieth of the United States prepare to play from the eighth hole during the third round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 18, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK - MAY 18: Brooks Koepka of the United States and Jordan Spieth of the United States prepare to play from the eighth hole during the third round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 18, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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The PGA Championship still has one round to go, but it may already be over, as a host of hopefuls failed to put any real pressure on Brooks Koepka on Saturday.

It was a day of mistakes and missed opportunities for those attempting to catch Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship, including Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson.

Spieth, who has been making solid progress in reclaiming his once-winning golf game, showed his game is not quite back to top form.  But he was good enough to get into the final group on a Saturday, something which has eluded him for months.

Koepka, who played with Spieth, kept opening the door, but Spieth was not able to capitalize and walk through it.  He was stuck making putts for pars, and it’s hard to advance up the leaderboard that way.

He missed a 9-footer for birdie at the 6th, a 2-½-footer for birdie at the 8th, and absolutely butchered the 9th hole. There, he missed the green from the fairway, faced a 47-foot putt, which he left short by six feet, then missed the 6-footer to post double.  Even birdies at the 13th and 14th didn’t help him enough. At the 16th, he hit into a greenside bunker from the fairway.

He declined comment after his round.

Spieth was not alone in struggles, however.

Johnson, world No. 1, missed an 8-footer at the 6th for birdie, a 3-footer a the 8th for birdie and a 4-footer at the 10th for birdie.  If he had made those, he would have been at 8-under par.  Finally, at the 12th, he found his putter and made a 13-footer.

“I played well today. Just made too many bogeys,” Johnson said to media after the third round. “Wind got me a couple times. You know, hit some drives that I thought should have ended up better than they did.”

He’s still tied second headed into Sunday. As far as his chances against Koepka, he said, “I’m going to need some help from him, and then I’m going to have to play very, very well.”

Johnson pointed to the tricky wind that seemed to blow from different directions during the day.

Koepka, while, not as sharp as in his first two rounds, escaped when he needed to.  He was in the trees twice. He missed a 3-footer for par at the 9th. He went rough to rough at the 10th, and there, he ended up with bogey. Mostly, though, Koepka played the angles of the golf course perfectly to set himself up for a fourth major championship victory on Sunday.

“If I can get off to a good start tomorrow, these first six holes are very scoreable. I feel like if you can get 1- or 2-under after six, you’re in a good spot. That’s all I need to do tomorrow,” he explained in his press conference. “From there, from 7 to 12, just try to hang on and make as many pars as you can.”

When asked if he thought he would win tomorrow, he said yes.

“I know tomorrow, if I can get off to a good start, guys got to push, and if you’re going to push on this golf course, you’re going to make mistakes,” he noted in his press conference.

The best score of the day was 3-under par turned in by Harold Varner III, who will get the privilege of watching Koepka on a likely victory march on Sunday. The high round of the day was 2002 winner Rich Beem’s 82.

The fun golfer of the day and week has been Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand. Don’t feel badly if you can’t say it the first time.  Nobody else could either.

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Jan-eh-wat-ta-nan-nond.  Apparently his real first name is just as long, and because his father liked jazz, he got lucky with a short nickname.

“My first time ever getting a crowd like this, shouting my name,” he said in an earlier press conference. “I don’t know how to react to it. This is my first time for the shouting. They give me some really funny names. I try not to remember it.”

Janewattananond was impressed with the difficulty of the course as soon as he saw it.

“The course plays so tough because the rough was so long, the ball don’t go anywhere,” Janewattananond noted. “I was having a nightmare. How am I going to play this golf course? I’m not going to break 80. This exceed my expectation already.”

dark. Next. Brooks Koepka's pure dominance at the PGA Championship

Actually Janewattananond is tied for second, seven shots back of the dominating performance of Brooks Koepka. He’ll have that to hang on to in Sunday’s PGA Championship finale, as every player not named Koepka is likely just playing for second place.

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