McIlroy holds narrow lead heading into final round of PGA

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sit back and enjoy this one, golf fans.

Fourteen years removed from Tiger Woods outdueling Bob May in that scintillating playoff, there is not much more you can ask for in a major championship final round than what’s on the menu for Sunday’s PGA Championship climax at Valhalla.

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•  You have Rory McIlroy with a one-shot lead at 13-under par, on the verge of dominating the sport with a victory, which would be his second consecutive major championship and third consecutive win overall.
•  You have a little-known Austrian named Bernd Wiesberger, more notable for being friends with Olympic skiing legend Franz Klammer than he is for being in contention at major championships, one shot behind McIlroy at 12-under par and 69 spots behind him in the world rankings.
•  You have Rickie Fowler, the only player who has finished in the top 5 of this year’s three previous majors and whose career seems on the cusp of exploding beyond his flashy wardrobe and matinee idol looks, at 11-under par.
•  And You have 44-year-old Phil Mickelson, the five-time major champion who has struggled to find his game all year having not even finished in a top 10, at 10-under par, trying to become the oldest player to win a major in 24 years.

  Tied with Mickelson is Australian Jason Day, who has knocked on the door in major championships so often [five finishes inside the top 5] his hands should be calloused beyond repair.

  

  There, too, are more on the leaderboard who have a chance to hoist the Wannamaker Trophy by day’s end Sunday, including Henrik Stenson, who’s trying to become the first male Swede to win a major, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, Finland’s Mikko Ilonen and Ryan Palmer, all of whom are 9-under, just four off the lead.

  Steve Stricker, Jamie Donaldson and Graham DeLaet, at 8-under, cannot be counted out of storming up the board from behind with a hot round.

  In all, 18 players are within six shots of the lead.

  “This one’s out there for the taking,’’ Fowler said. “It’s wide open … and someone is going to have to play some good, solid golf to win. [McIlroy] is not going to back up. If someone is going to beat him, they are going to earn it.’’

  Regardless of who’s behind him, McIlroy, the hottest player on the planet, sounded rather composed when the day was over as he looked ahead to Sunday.

  “It’s not the biggest lead I’ve ever had, but I’m still in control of this golf tournament,’’ McIlroy said.

  McIlroy closed strong, with birdies on 15 and 16 and a great up-and-down from a greenside bunker on 18 to regain the one-shot lead over Wiesberger.
  “To get up-‑and‑-down out of the bunker on 18 was big,’’ he said. “It’s not like it’s that huge of a difference between tied for the lead and being one ahead going into [Sunday], but it just sort of makes you feel better about yourself going to bed.’’

  

  McIlroy said he expects Sunday to “feel different’’ than Hoylake felt last month for the British Open.

  “It is going to be a shootout,” he said. “The conditions are soft, guys are going to make birdies, and you know that you’re going to have to make birdies as well to win.’’

  McIlroy also said, despite the added stress and pressure that comes with being in the lead, where he has lived for so much of the last couple of months, there’s no place he would rather be.

  “I feel like I’m in the best position I can be in going into [Sunday],’’ McIlroy said. “I would rather be the guy that’s being chased and have that shot advantage than not. It’s where I want to be. It’s the best place to be in the golf tournament. I couldn’t want to be anywhere else.’’

  Despite having won just twice on the European Tour and never having contended in a major, Wiesberger said the moment won’t be too big for him.

  “I know I have it in me,” he said. “I know I can perform on the big stage.’’

  As for Mickelson, he bleeds to be on the big stage, particularly after not having win since his life-changing British Open win last year at Muirfield.

  “It’s so fun for me to be back in the thick of it, have a chance, being in contention heading into Sunday and not having to get up at 6 o’clock in the morning to tee off … if I get to tee off,’’ said Mickelson, who missed the cut at the Masters, tied for 28th at the U.S. Open and tied for 23rd at the British this year. “I think it’s going to take eight or 10 birdies to win, and I feel like I have got that low round in me. The golf course is giving it to us, if you play well. My game feels so close to clicking.’’