Louis Oosthuizen is two shots off the lead going into the final round of the PGA Championship as he chases his second Major title.
Despite what he said was a day of poor golf by his high standards, Oosthuizen signed for a level-par 72 to finish 54 holes on five under par overall.
Phil Mickelson managed to extend his lead to seven under par with a third round of 70, and he leads by one stroke over second-placed Brooks Koepka, who also signed for a 70.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Branden Grace are still both in the top five on three under par following respective third rounds of 72.
Oosthuizen is certainly well placed going into the final round, and despite feeling that he wasn’t at his best on Saturday.
“That was probably the worst I’ve played in a while,†he said. “Especially the first 10 holes going along with Phil hitting it beautifully and playing great, I was all over the place. I could sense early on that I wasn’t on song, especially I felt a move in my driver that I didn’t like, and from there it wasn’t good.
“So I was just sort of fighting to stay in it, and you know, at the end there, I started judging the greens wrong and everything just fell apart. All in all, two behind going into Sunday, I’ve got to take a lot of positives out of that with the way I was playing today. I think anyone within four or five shots is still in for a good shot.â€
But Mickelson will certainly prove to be hard to catch with the kind of mindset he currently has and with the chance to make history as the first golfer to win a Major after turning 50.
“I believe that I’m playing really well and I have an opportunity to contend for a Major championship on Sunday, and I’m having so much fun,†he said.
Of the other South Africans in the field, Daniel van Tonder signed for a third round of 74 to go into the final day on three over par. Dean Burmester also posted a 74 to put him on six over par, while Garrick Higgo carded a 78 to finish the day on 11 over par.
