US PGA Championship: Matt Fitzpatrick in contention as Mito Pereira leads at Southern Hills

Mito Pereira emerged with a three-stroke lead in the US PGA Championship as England’s Matt Fitzpatrick battled his way into the race in round three.

Fitzpatrick, chasing a first major title, will play in Sunday’s final group after a stunning three-under 67 moved him to second on six-under.

He’s tied with Will Zalatoris, who led after the second round but hit a 73.

Scoring conditions were difficult on a chilly Saturday, with the majority of players heading in the wrong direction on golf’s traditional moving day.

It was largely those who could hang on to what they had who fared better, except for a handful of well-built rounders like Fitzpatrick, Irishman Seamus Power and American Cameron Young, who also shot 67s.

Young’s round included an eagle at the par four 17th to move him to five under par, one past Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, who shot a par 70, while Power is three under.

It sets up an intriguing final day without any of the top six winning a major.

American Webb Simpson also defied the trend to post the lowest round of the day, a five under 65, which lifted him to one under.

Rory McIlroy is tied after struggling at four of 74 which included a double bogey and a triple bogey on two of the par three holes. That leaves him eight shots adrift, while Tiger Woods also struggled, finishing the day 12 over par after a nine-for-79 and the 15-time major champion retired.

Quietly efficient Fitzpatrick

Sheffield’s Fitzpatrick can only boast one major top 10 in his career so far, with that on his Masters debut six years ago, but the 27-year-old will start in the final couple on Sunday after tamed Southern Hills. the Saturday.

The world number 17 started with back-to-back bogeys, but he pulled one back almost immediately, coming out of the sand at fifth, and, after another bogey at seven, began to work his way up the leaderboard with birdies at nine and the par-five 13th.

It was a day when fortunes turned quickly and Fitzpatrick’s round went from solid to spectacular as he closed with back-to-back birdies, the last celebrated with the fist pump of a man who knows he has a real chance of winning a first major trophy.

“I am eager to [Sunday] no matter what, I played well for at least three rounds,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I’ve had the experience of being top in Europe before and a major is completely different. It’s the first time I’ve been in contention so I’m looking forward to trying to stay as level as possible. .”

Pereira finishes strong after faltering

Zalatoris has four top-10 finishes in his first seven major starts and looked set to edge closer to a first win after setting the tone midway through one clear of the pack.

But the Texan, like his playing partner Pereira, has yet to win on the PGA Tour and the pressure seemed to be on a calamitous front nine.

The 25-year-old struggled to control his putt with four bogeys in his first seven holes.

Pereira, who revealed he had slept just nine-and-a-half hours on Friday night, instead of his 11 average, started the day second but crashed in a birdie second to overtake Zalatoris and lead on nine pennies.

As Zalatoris’ contact with the putter continued to let him down, another birdie on the fifth meant Pereira – just his second major start – had a four-stroke lead as he neared the seventh tee.

But the 27-year-old from Santiago encountered his own problems on the turn, carding four bogeys and throwing more shots into a five-hole spell than he had in the entire tournament.

The world number 100 showed his determination to regain control with successive birdies on 13 and 14, while Zalatoris also regained some composure to card a three from 73, but Pereira moved into pole position to a first major title by driving from 27 feet for his fifth birdie of the day on the last hole to card a 69.

It’s the first time he’s led after a round in a PGA Tour event and he becomes the first player to hold the absolute lead from 54 holes on his tournament debut since John Daly took the win in 1991.

“If you play golf really well during the week, you’re going to win – it doesn’t matter if it’s your first time or your 10th time,” Pereira said.

“I’m just going to try to keep my head in the moment, try to enjoy it too because I’m in the last couple of a major. If you had told me that two or three years ago, it would be unreal . “

McIlroy frustrated on day three

McIlroy’s recent major performances have been characterized by slow starts and solid finishes, but at Southern Hills he seemed to be doing the opposite, shooting a five under 65 to lead after the first round.

However, after a windy 71 on Friday, the Northern Irishman started Matchday 5 behind the pace of Zalatoris.

He opened with a par five run but a double bogey on the par three sixth, after finding the water with his tee shot, sparked a costly run.

The four-time major champion, who is looking to end his eight-year major drought, bogeyed the next day after nearly finding the water and lost four strokes in three holes with another fall on eight that brought him back to the level by .

McIlroy birdied on the ninth but it proved a false dawn as the 33-year-old proceeded to give up three shots on the par-3 11, dropping his tee shot left and then three shots putts once he finally reaches the green.

And then came a race that could have kept his championship hopes alive.

McIlroy birdied the par-five 13th after hitting the green in two before sticking a superb tee shot from a few feet to also birdie the par-three 14th. He had three birdies in four holes on the 16th.

However, a stray shot on the last compounded a frustrating afternoon.