GREENSBORO, N.C. – Tiger Woods will play the Wyndham Championship for the first time.

In an email to The Associated Press on Monday, agent Mark Steinberg confirmed that Woods will play in Greensboro this week.

That ends a few days of uncertainty around Sedgefield County Club, the site of the final tournament of golf’s regular season.

Woods created a stir by entering the field just ahead of the deadline last Friday.

But after closing out a 73 and missing the cut at the PGA Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, he hedged a bit. He said he would “go through it with my team” to “see if that’s the right move or not.”

On Monday morning, Wyndham tournament director Mark Brazil sent out a brief tweet: “Bam! Tiger is coming!”

The first round begins Thursday.

The Wyndham annually is the last chance for the PGA Tour’s bubble players to play their way into the FedEx Cup playoffs. They begin next week at The Barclays in New Jersey.

Woods – who’s at No. 187 on the points list – comes to Greensboro rather far from the bubble. Only the top 125 players reach the playoffs.

Mathematically, Woods will need to either win (and earn 500 points) or finish alone in second place (300 points) to crack the top 125.

Last year, only one player outside the top 125 – Sang-Moon Bae – earned enough points here to move into the playoffs, jumping from No. 126 to No. 120 after his tie for 14th. Nobody did it in 2013.

Now the question is how long Woods will stick around at Sedgefield.

In 10 events this year, Woods missed the cut in four of them and withdrew from another. He missed the cut in the last three majors.

He had three rounds in the 80s. His best finish was a tie for 17th at the Masters, a remarkable effort coming off a two-month break to fix a short game that turned shockingly bad in Phoenix and San Diego. His best week was The Greenbrier Classic. While he tied for 32nd, he finished six shots out of the lead. In the other four events where he made the cut, he was no closer than 10 shots.

At Whistling Straits last week, he said his game building, and that he found a key to his putting Saturday morning “but the damage had already been done.”

Now for the first time, he’ll test that putter on the Donald Ross-designed turtleback greens at Sedgefield.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Given a third straight chance to finally win a major, Jason Day promised a fight to the finish in the PGA Championship.

Turns out the biggest fight was to hold back the tears.

Worried that this year might turn out to be a major failure, Day never gave Jordan Spieth or anyone else a chance Sunday. He delivered a record-setting performance at Whistling Straits that brought him a major championship he started to wonder might never happen.

Day was in tears before he even tapped in for par and a 5-under 67 for a three-shot victory. He sobbed on the shoulder of Colin Swatton, his caddie and longtime coach who rescued Day as a 12-year-old struggling to overcome the death of his father.

And then came high praise from Spieth in the scoring trailer when golf’s new No. 1 player told him, “There’s nothing I could do.”

“I didn’t expect I was going to cry,” Day said. “A lot of emotion has come out because I’ve been so close so many times and fallen short. To be able to play the way I did today, especially with Jordan in my group, I could tell that he was the favorite. Just to be able to finish the way I did was amazing.”

Three shots ahead with three holes to play on a course with trouble everywhere, Day blasted a drive down the fairway on the par-5 16th and hit a towering 4-iron into 20 feet. He bit his lower lip, swatted his caddie on the arm, knowing his work was almost done.

The two-putt birdie put him at 20-under par, and two closing pars gave him the record to par in majors, breaking by one shot the 19 under of Tiger Woods at St. Andrews in the 2000 British Open. Day finished at 20-under 268, not knowing until it was over that it was a record.

What really mattered was that shiny Wanamker Trophy at his side.

He shared the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open and the British Open and had to watch someone else celebrate.

“Not being able to finish, it would have been tough for me mentally to really kind of come back from that,” Day said. “Even though I feel like I’m a positive person, I think that in the back of my mind something would have triggered and I would have gone, `Maybe I can’t really finish it off.’

“It felt like I was mentally and physically grinding it out as hard as I could,” he said. “I wasn’t going to stop fighting until it over.”

Spieth gave it his best shot, but even the Masters and U.S. Open champion could tell what he was up against the way the 27-year-old Australian powered one drive after another and didn’t let anyone closer than the two-shot lead with which he started the final round.

“He played like he’d won seven or eight majors,” Spieth said. “He took it back. He wailed it. It was a stripe show.”

Spieth has the greatest consolation possible. With his runner-up finish, he replaced Rory McIlroy at No. 1 in the world.

“This is as easy a loss as I’ve ever had because I felt that I not only couldn’t do much about it as the round went on, I also accomplished one of my lifelong goals in the sport of golf. That will never be taken away from me now. I’ll always be a No. 1 player in the world.”

Spieth set a record of his own. By closing with a 68, he set a record by playing the four majors in 54-under par, breaking by one the mark that Woods set in 2000. The difference is that Woods won two majors by a combined 23 shots.

That also speaks to the depth of golf in this generation, and Day is the latest example. He moved to No. 3 in the world, meaning the top four in the world are all under 27 and have combined to win five of the last six majors.

“As long as I am healthy, I feel like I’m going to be there a long time,” Day said. “I still want to accomplish that No. 1 goal of mine, which is to be the best player in the world. I’m still motivated and still very hungry for that, even after this win.”

Branden Grace of South Africa had another mistake on the back nine in a major that cost him. Grace was tied for the lead at the U.S. Open when he hit his tee shot on the railroad tracks and out-of-bounds at Chambers Bay. This time, he was two shots behind when he went long of the 10th green and made double bogey. He closed with a 69 and finished third, five shots behind.

Justin Rose got within two shots until making a double bogey for the third straight day. He closed with a 70 and finished fourth.

Day faced enormous pressure of having a lead for the first time going into the final round, trying to avoid becoming the first player since the PGA Championship went to stroke play in 1958 to have at least a share of the 54-hole lead in three straight majors without winning.

It sure didn’t show, even if he felt it every step of the way.

“I knew today was going to be tough, but I didn’t realize how tough it was going to be,” Day said. “I learned a lot about myself, being able to finish the way I did. The experiences that I’ve had in the past with previous major finishes has definitely helped me prepare myself for a moment like this.”

Canadian Nick Taylor moved up the leaderboard to T68 after a round of 1-under 71 on Sunday.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Brooke Henderson got her breakthrough LPGA Tour victory. The Canadian teen will have to wait a little longer to become a tour member.

Henderson won the Cambia Portland Classic by eight strokes Sunday to become the third-youngest champion in LPGA Tour history at 17 years, 11 months, 6 days.

Henderson closed with a 3-under 69 at Columbia Edgewater to finish at 21-under 267, the lowest total since the event went from 54 holes to 72 in 2013.

“I was just trying to keep going low and trying to push it to get even further under par, which I wouldn’t have had that a couple months ago,” Henderson said.

Henderson earned $195,000 and has made $661,818 in 10 events this year. Last year, LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan denied Henderson’s age petition, preventing her from playing Q-school. Because she’s assured of finishing in the top 40 in earnings, Henderson will earn a tour card for 2016.

Henderson said she didn’t know if she would petition the LPGA again this week. “I haven’t even really thought about it yet,” Henderson said. “I’m just going to celebrate tonight and then hopefully make a decision soon and we’ll see what happens.”

Lydia Ko set the age record as an amateur in the 2012 Canadian Women’s Open at 15 years, 4 months, 2 days. She also won the Canadian event in 2013 at 16, and won four times at 17. Lexi Thompson won the 2011 Navistar LPGA Classic at 16 years, 7 months, 8 days.

Henderson’s eight-stroke margin is the largest in the history of the event and the biggest on the LPGA Tour since Jiyah Shin won the 2012 Women’s British Open by nine shots.

Henderson held a 54-hole lead for the second time this season. This time was different than April in San Francisco, when Henderson ended up finishing third after a 74.

“Today, the first time that I really felt nerves was on 18, and then afterward,” Henderson said. “My attitude is much different than it was a couple months ago, and I think that was a big key. … I demanded a lot more of myself than I did three or four months ago.”

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ontario, became the first Canadian winner since Lorie Kane in the 2001 Takefuji Classic. Becoming a part of Canadian golf history is not lost upon Henderson.

“I think Canadian golf is really growing and there’s a lot of great players coming up. To get that for Canadian fans and for the Canadian support that I’ve received over the last couple of months and last couple years is unbelievable, so I’m happy to bring one home for Canada.

“Even the last couple days I received a lot of Twitter messages and text messages and emails, just cheering me on and wishing me the best. I’m sure my phone is blowing up pretty badly right now,” Henderson said.

She joined Laurel Kean as other only Monday qualifiers to win. Kean accomplished the feat in the 2000 Rail Classic.

Henderson bogeyed the final hole, only her third dropped stroke of the week, and had 24 birdies. She got into the field Monday with a 68, then shot 66-67-65 to take a five-stroke lead into the final round. Pornanong Phatlum (68), Ha Na Jang (70) and Candie Kung (70) tied for second.

Henderson never allowed an opening Sunday. She made two-putt birdies at the par-5 fifth and seventh to reach 20 under, and holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-4 ninth to take an eight-stroke lead.

She made a 3-footer for birdie at the par-5 12th, then stumbled with a bogey at 13. Henderson made her final birdie at the par-4 17th, knocking in a 10-foot putt from the fringe.

Henderson hit her drive in a fairway bunker at 18, but with a large lead, pitched out of the sand, hit her approach to 20 feet and two-putted for bogey. After raising her arms in victory, Henderson was quickly doused with champagne by players and family.

Asked if she was able to taste the champagne, Henderson smiled and said, “No, not really. I can just smell it, though.”

Henderson also won the Symetra Tour’s Four Winds Invitational in June in Indiana, and tied for fifth in the Women’s PGA Championship – the second of the LPGA Tour’s five majors.

Defending champion Austin Ernst shot a 68 to tie for fifth at 12 under.

Morgan Pressel, second after three rounds, had a 75 to tie for 10th at 10 under. Finishing alongside Pressel at 10 under was Canadian Alena Sharp with a round of 1-under 71 on Sunday.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – South Africa’s Dawie van der Walt won the Price Cutter Charity Championship on Sunday for his second Web.com Tour victory of the season.

Van der Walt closed with an even-par 72 at Highland Springs to finish at 23-under 265, two strokes ahead of tour rookie Smylie Kaufman.

“I feel very fortunate,” van der Walt said. “I didn’t think it was going to be enough. Everything was just a little bit off, but I’ll take it.”

He earned $121,500 to jump from 16th to third on the money list with $286,827, more than enough to wrap up a PGA Tour card for next season.

“My goal coming into this week was to secure my PGA Tour card,” he said. “I came to America to play college golf. Also, I wanted to play the PGA Tour.”

Van der Walt opened with rounds of 63, 65, 65 to take a four-stroke lead into the final round.

Kaufman finished with a 70.

Martin Piller, also a two-time winner this year, had a 71 to tie for third at 20 under with Dicky Pride (65) and Brad Elder (68).

Canadian Corey Conners closed with a final round 6-under 66 to finish T23. Taylor Pendrith signed for a 1-under round of 71 on Sunday. Brad Fritsch and Adam Svensson finished T62.

BROCKTON, Mass., – Vicky Hurst (Melbourne, Florida) was threatened early on the back nine, but managed to pull away towards the end to win her fifth career Symetra Tour event by carding a 3-under 68 on Sunday at the W.B. Mason Championship at Thorny Lea Golf Club to finish at 13-under 200. She closed three shots clear of Brittany Benvenuto (Langhorne, Pa.) and Alejandra Llaneza (Mexico City, Mexico).

With the win, Hurst moves from 25th to 14th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list.

“It feels really good, I haven’t won in six or seven years,” said Hurst, whose last win came on July 13, 2008 at the CIGNA Golf Classic. “It feels good to be back playing well and hitting it well so it was really exciting to be in the lead group and finish strong.”

Finish strong she did. The shot that ultimately won her the tournament came on the 14th hole. Hurst was 12-under at the time and she didn’t know that Llaneza had made double on the 14th hole to fall three back.

“I hit my drive through the fairway on 14 into the woods and I had 125 yards to the pin, but I really had to keep it low because of the trees everywhere,” said Hurst. “I hit a little punch 7-iron to about 10 feet which was pretty cool and I was able to make the putt which was big to get the momentum back.”

Hurst went onto birdie 15 to seize full control of the tournament. She made bogey on 16 and then par on 17 to take a three shot lead to the 18th. Hurst lagged her birdie putt to a foot and then tapped in for the win.

“I still was getting pretty nervous on the last few holes and on 18 I just wanted to find the fairway and green and lag it up there,” said Hurst. “It felt good to leave myself a one footer to win and it was pretty exciting.”

Hurst won her first Symetra Tour event at the age of 17 in 2008 and went onto win four official tournaments to lead the money list and earn an LPGA Tour card. At her peak in 2010 on the LPGA, Hurst earned over $400,000 and finished 28th on the LPGA Tour money list. She hit a low last year when she finished No. 162 on the money list and made south of $3,000 in 11 events.

“A year ago, I was pretty frustrated with my golf game and my injuries and I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen next because I didn’t know if my wrist would heal,” admitted Hurst. “I really worked hard with my coaches and my family has been great support emotionally and mentally. I came back to the Symetra Tour with a positive attitude, not a negative one, and that has really helped me.”

Hurst had two ganglion cysts in her wrist and a tear of the TFC (Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex).

Even the beginning of this season was a struggle for Hurst. In mid-July, Hurst was No. 127 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list. Over the last four events, she has moved to No. 14 with four top 11 finishes.

“My problem was off the tee. For the last year or so I really couldn’t hit the ball consistently off the tee and that is where I kept my focus,” said Hurst. “I worked closely with my coaches to fix my game and my swing and finally it is coming together. I’m hitting the ball long and straight and it feels good.”

Next up for Hurst is a trip to Pratville, Alabama to try and Monday Qualify for the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic.

Llaneza moved from 5th to second on the Volvik Race for the Card money list with her tie for second.

“The first day I felt like I got off to a bit of a slow start,” said Llaneza, who carded a 1-over 72 on Friday. “I knew my swing was close and yesterday was really important. I found some good rhythm and tempo and I was able to carry that into today.

Benvenuto moved from 18 to 16 on the money list. The other big moves came from Lindy Duncan (Jupiter, Fla.), who finished in a tie for fourth to jump from 13th to eighth and Lee Lopez (Whittier, Calif.), who moved to No. 1 on the money list with a tie eighth.

The Tour takes two weeks off before heading to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the Sioux Falls GreatLIFE Challenge at Willow Run Golf Club from September 3-6. The tournament is offering the largest purse, $210,000, in the history of the Tour.

Canadian Samantha Richdale finished in seventh place after a final round of 1-under 70. Sara- Maude Juneau signed for a 3-under 68 to finish T14. Maude-Aimée Leblanc finished T23 after a final round of 1-over 72. Jessica Wallace finished T36, Augusta James finished T49 alongside Nicole Vandermade while Natalie Gleadall finished T59.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Hannah O’Sullivan won the U.S. Women’s Amateur on Sunday, beating Sierra Brooks 3 and 2 in the 36-hole final at Portland Golf Club.

The 17-year-old O’Sullivan, from Chandler, Arizona, took the lead with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-4 30th, added birdie wins on the par-4 32nd and par-5 33rd and ended the match with a two-putt par for a halve on the par-4 34th.

“I can’t really describe how good it feels,” O’Sullivan said. “It was just such a tough match today, and to be able to come out on top, it’s just incredible. I just feel so blessed.”

The 17-year-old Brooks, from Sorrento, Florida, took a 3-up lead with a birdie on No. 14 and led 1 up after 18 holes.

“This morning, I was striping it, and everything was really clicking,” Brooks said. “I didn’t miss a lot of shots. … When we came back out, she definitely played 100 percent and she definitely brought it on,” Brooks said. “I struggled a little bit, but I still played well, and she just played better, and she made more putts, and in match play that’s what it always comes down to.”

O’Sullivan eagled the par-5 23rd to pull even and took her first lead since the fourth hole with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 24th. She won the par-3 26th with a birdie to take a 2-up lead.

Brooks fought back with a birdie on par-4 27th and tied it with a par on the par-4 29th.

O’Sullivan won Nos. 30, 32 and 33, holing a 7-footer on the 33rd.

“I knew if I was standing over that putt thinking about (winning), probably the result wouldn’t be what I would have liked,” O’Sullivan. “I just tried to push that aside and just stand over the putt, commit to it and put a good stroke on it, and to see it go in was awesome.”

Both players earned exemptions for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open.

O’Sullivan won the Symetra Tour’s Gateway Classic in February at 16 to become the youngest winner in the history of the professional circuit. In May, she teamed with Robynn Ree to finish second in the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Bandon Dunes.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – With six straight 3s on his card, Jason Day looked determined as ever Saturday to finally get that first major. He had a 6-under 66 and built a two-shot lead in the PGA Championship, the third straight major he has at least a share of the lead going into the final round.

One look at the leaderboard at the name right behind him – Jordan Spieth – made it clear it won’t be easy.

Spieth was five shots behind and had two holes to play when he capped off a stunning charge along the back nine at Whistling Straits with six birdies over his last eight holes, including three in a row at the end that gave him a 7-under 65 to get into the final group.

“Very pleased to have a chance to win another major,” Spieth said.

He is trying to join Tiger Woods (2000) and Ben Hogan (1953) as the only players to win three majors in one year, and Spieth hopes to rely on his experience of having already won the Masters and U.S. Open this year.

Day showed plenty of moxie, though.

After making a double bogey that cut his lead to one shot, and then failing to birdie the par-5 16th, he poured in a 25-foot birdie putt and pumped both arms to show how much it meant.

“One more day left,” Day said before heading off to the practice range before the sun set on this wild day along Lake Michigan. “I got to keep pushing forward, keep grinding, keep doing the best I can out there and see how it goes tomorrow.”

Saturday featured abundant sunshine and endless action, starting in the dead calm of the morning when Matt Jones finished the storm-delayed second round with two birdies for a two-shot lead. In the hunt at a major for the first time, Jones kept his cool even when his drive landed in a hospitality tent left of the ninth fairway and he chose to play off the blue carpet, over the white fence and just off the green.

But he imploded at the end, dropping four shots over the last four holes for a 73.

Day looked like he was headed that direction. One moment it looked as though the 27-year-old Australian was pulling away. The next minute he was pulling himself together.

He played a six-hole stretch around the turn in 6 under, which included a 15-foot eagle at No. 11 for his first lead of the round. When he stuffed another approach close on the 14th hole for birdie, he was 16 under.

One swing changed everything.

He tugged a 5-iron into a bunker left of the 15th green and was surprised by the amount of sand. The first shot didn’t make it up the slope and rolled back into the sand, and Day wound up with a double bogey right about the time Spieth shifted into another gear.

Spieth was trying to stay close enough to have a chance on Sunday. The volunteers were slow to post Day’s double bogey on the large leaderboard on the 18th green, which Spieth couldn’t help but notice as he lined up his 7-foot putt.

“I saw Jason was at 16 under and I said, `You’ve got to be kidding me. When is he going to slow down?'” Spieth said. “I saw that he was 16 under with four holes to go, thinking he could get to 17 (under pretty easily). I need to make this to have a chance within four of the lead. And then I think he’s dropped a couple of shots since then. But I did all I could do to finish off the round.”

Day did his part, even after failing to make birdie on the par-5 16th. Instead of getting down, he hit 4-iron into 25 feet on the 17th hole and rolled in the birdie.

He was at 15-under 201.

This was hardly a two-man race. Branden Grace of South Africa, tied for the lead with three holes to play in the U.S. Open when he hit a tee shot out-of-bounds onto the train tracks at Chambers Bay, holed a bunker shot for birdie on the 18th hole for a 64 to finish three shots behind.

“It’s another chance,” Grace said. “This is what we all play for. We all play to give ourselves the opportunity to get close to a major championship and we’re all here.”

Justin Rose also was three shots behind, even with a double bogey on the fourth hole for the second straight day. Rose also missed the 18th and made bogey, giving him one more shot he just make up against Day.

Still in the mix was Martin Kaymer, who had a 65 and was four shots behind. Kaymer won the PGA at Whistling Straits five years ago.

Day already has two wins this year and plenty of heartache in the majors. He was in a four-way tie for the lead at Chambers Bay while coping with vertigo symptoms, and he faded on the last day. A month ago, he needed birdie on the last hole at St. Andrews to get into a playoff at the British Open, and it stopped just short.

“It’s just all been trending in the right direction,” he said Saturday morning after finishing his second round.

Canadian Nick Taylor posted a third-round of 3-over par 75.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Brooke Henderson gave herself some breathing room in her bid for a breakthrough victory.

The 17-year-old Canadian opened a five-stroke lead Saturday in the Cambia Portland Classic, shooting a 7-under 65 at Columbia Edgewater.

“To get a good round together and try and increase my lead, and definitely just hit good shots. I’m really happy to get it to (18 under), and hopefully tomorrow just improve on that just a little bit,” Henderson said.

She’s trying to join Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson as the only players to win an LPGA Tour title before turning 18.

On a warm, calm day, Henderson made seven birdies in her bogey-free round. Henderson, who turns 18 in September, tied the tournament 54-hole record of 18-under 198 set by Yani Tseng in 2013. The five-stroke margin is the largest third-round lead on the LPGA Tour this year.

Morgan Pressel was second after a 65.

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ontario, also had the 54-hole lead in April in California in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She closed with a 74 and ended up finishing third. She’ll be banking on that experience Sunday.

“Saturday I wasn’t feeling the nerves, and then Sunday I did. I’ll just have to be aware of that tomorrow,” Henderson said. “It was interesting in San Francisco. I learned a lot about myself and my game, and I think I’ve come leaps and bounds from there early in the season.”

The Canadian won the Symetra Tour’s Four Winds Invitational in June in Indiana, and tied for fifth in the Women’s PGA Championship – the second of the LPGA Tour’s five majors.

A win Sunday would assure Henderson of finishing among the tour’s top 40 on the money list, giving her an LPGA Tour card for next season. Through nine LPGA Tour tournaments, Henderson has made $466,818. LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan denied Henderson’s age petition last year, preventing her from playing Q-school. She earned a spot in the Portland Classic field in Monday qualifying.

Henderson is attempting to become the second Monday qualifier to win an LPGA Tour tournament. The only player to accomplish the feat was Laurel Kean in the 2000 Rail Classic.

Had it not been for Henderson’s older sister, Brittany, there’s a chance none of this happens. Brittany received a sponsor’s exemption for the Portland Classic, and Brooke decided to take a chance on the Monday qualifier after running out sponsor’s exemptions.

She was asked if she would have tried to qualify without Brittany in the field.’

“I don’t know,” Henderson said. “I think it was a blessing in disguise that she’s got the sponsor’s invite and I came out here, because it is a long way to travel from home, and I’m not sure I would have made the trip.”

Henderson took a one-stroke lead over Masson into the day. After the two matched birdies at the par-4 first, Henderson increased her lead to two strokes with a birdie at the par-3 second. Masson closed within a stroke with a birdie at the par-5 fifth, and both players birdied the par-5 seventh.

Henderson pulled away on the back nine, starting with birdies on the par-5 10th and par-4 11th. Masson bogeyed the par-5 12th, giving Henderson a four-stroke lead. Even though Pressel birdied three of her final four holes, Henderson increased her lead to five strokes with birdies at the par-4 15th and par-3 16th.

On Sunday, Henderson will play alongside Pressel. The two played in Sunday’s final group when Henderson had the 54-hole lead at Swinging Skirts.

“Brooke is a great player. I mean, to Monday qualify and obviously be playing this well, she knows what’s at stake for her. She’s a great girl, and she has a lot of potential, for sure,” Pressel said.

Pressel, who made nine birdies during her second and third rounds, says she’ll have to stomp on the gas again if she’s to have a shot at catching Henderson.

“I’ll take another nine birdies tomorrow,” Pressel said. “I need to just give myself a lot of opportunities and eliminate the sloppy mistakes that I’ve made the last few days.”

German players Sandra Gal (65) and Caroline Masson (70) were tied for third 12 under.

Jaye Marie Green had a 63 – the best round of the week – to move into a tie for ninth at 9 under. Ko was tied for 53rd after 2 under after a 72.

Alena Sharp posted a third-round of 70 to sit T9 heading into tomorrow’s final-round.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – The second round of the PGA Championship offered a little bit of everything Friday.

Except a conclusion.

On one side of the golf course, Jordan Spieth was piling up enough birdies to momentarily tie for the lead at Whistling Straits. On the other side with far less attention, Hiroshi Iwata ran off five birdies and an eagle and tied the major championship record with a 63.

Dustin Johnson was losing ground in the rough and in the bunkers, falling out of the lead with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch. John Daly lost his cool and then lost a 6-iron when he heaved it in Lake Michigan.

And that was before a wicked storm that packed gusts up to 48 mph and suspended the second round.

Jason Day ran off three straight birdies and was tied for the lead with Matt Jones at 9-under par when players were taken off the course. The storm was severe enough to topple the main scoreboard at the entrance and rip flags off the poles atop some of the grandstands.

The round was to resume at 7 a.m.

Justin Rose pulled within one shot of the lead with back-to-back birdies. He headed to the 18th tee, feeling good about being able to finish.

“I opened my big mouth to the boys playing with us,” Rose said. “I said, `The end is in sight.’ And 30 seconds later, they blew the horn. So my name is mud all over here.”

Tiger Woods, for all his struggles in the majors this year, can at least say he made it to the weekend in three of them. He made the cut at the Masters. He missed the cut on Saturday at the wind-delayed British Open. There was still hope at the PGA Championship, though he was 4 over with five holes to play, two shots away from the projected cut.

The leaderboard was as clouded as the sky over Whistling Straits.

Seven players had at least a share of the lead at some point Friday, when a strong breeze in the morning gave way to steamy sunshine and virtually no wind until the storms moved in. When players were evacuated from the course, 11 players were separated by three shots.

David Lingmerth of Sweden made only four pars in his wild round of 70 and was the clubhouse leader at 7-under 137. One shot behind was a group that included Spieth, the Masters and U.S. Open champion who is very much in the picture to join Woods and Ben Hogan as the only players to win three majors in one year.

Scott Piercy (70) and Brendan Steele (69) joined Spieth at 6-under 138.

The star of the day was Iwata, a 34-year-old from Japan who had every reason to think his first appearance in the PGA Championship would be a short one. He opened with a 77 and still was 3 over when he reached the back nine. Iwata reeled off five birdies and an eagle, and he saved par on the 18th for a 63.

It was the 27th time that a player shot 63 in a major, 13 of those in the PGA Championship and most recently Jason Dufner at Oak Hill two years ago.

“When I came here, I was thinking just to make my game better and better and on Sunday, I can be in the top 10,” Iwata said through a translator.

Even with a record-tying score, he still has plenty of work ahead of him to do that. Iwata was at 4-under 140 and losing ground as one player after another took aim at Whistling Straits in good scoring conditions.

Day was through 14 holes while Jones, his fellow Australian, was through 12 holes and on the front nine.

Day shared the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open while coping with vertigo symptoms. He missed by one turn of the golf ball a birdie on the 18th hole at St. Andrews that would have put him in a playoff at the British Open. Now it looks like he gets yet another chance. He was thrilled to stop play, especially as the storm clouds turned dark and he had trouble with depth perception on some of his wedges.

“We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” Day said. “We’ve got some scoring holes and some tough ones to finish on. But I’m real happy to be done.”

Dustin Johnson, the 18-hole leader, took a brief lead at 8 under until he ran into trouble on the par-5 11th with a wicked lie in the bunker that led to bogey. He added two more bogeys and was four shots out of the lead at 5 under.

“Hopefully, I can come back in the morning and make a couple birdies coming in, and then we’ll get the day started on Saturday,” he said.

Rory McIlroy had hopes of being a little closer to the lead. Coming off an ankle injury that has kept him out since the U.S. Open, he world’s No. 1 player went cold with the putter and had to settle for another round of 71 that put him at 2-under 142.

McIlroy was keeping pace with Spieth until a big turnaround on the 18th hole at the halfway point of their round. Spieth holed out from a bunker for birdie, while McIlroy went well left into knee-high hay, took two chips to reach the green and made double bogey.

“You’re going to have to have more of a short game to be able to salvage par sometimes,” he said. “I wasn’t quite able to do that today at points. But there’s still enough good stuff to give me encouragement and make me feel that I can shoot a low one tomorrow and get myself back into it.”

Woods had his work cut out for him. He opened with two quick birdies, only to give them back with a double bogey from the bunkers on the fourth hole.

As for Daly?

His tournament effectively ended on the seventh hole when he hit 4-iron into the lake, and then followed with two more tee shots with his 6-iron into the lake. After a fourth attempt found the green, Daly heaved his 6-iron into the lake and made 10. He shot 82 and missed the cut.

Canadian Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 69th after a a 1-over 73. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 1-under par and is tied for 76th at 3-over.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Brooke Henderson is trying to leave everyone else behind – and not get too far ahead of herself.

The 17-year-old Canadian took the outright lead in an LPGA Tour event for the third time this year, birdieing three of her last four holes Friday for a 5-under 67 and a one-shot advantage in the Cambia Portland Classic.

“Just to stay within myself and play my own game,” she said when asked what she has learned this season. “Playing as an amateur I was used to a lot of people, a lot of media and television and stuff like that, but it’s a little bit different on the LPGA Tour, and I think that’s something that I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable with this year.

“I think if I can just stay patient and play my own game and not focus on outside factors, I think good things will happen.

Playing in cool, breezy and sometimes wet conditions, Henderson finished with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth to reach 11-under 133 at Columbia Edgewater. She made her only bogey of the tournament at 11, but rebounded with birdies at 12, 14 and 3 before the late burst.

Henderson, who turns 18 in September, has made $466,818 in nine LPGA Tour tournaments and needs to finish in the top 40 on the money list to earn a card for next year. LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan denied Henderson’s age petition last year, preventing her from playing Q-school. She earned a spot in the field in Monday qualifying.

“Right now, I’m just taking it one day at a time and one tournament at a time, but I’m really looking forward to the next couple years,” Henderson said. “Hopefully, this week I can secure my card for next year and be full time on the LPGA.”

Henderson is attempting to become the third player to win an LPGA tournament before turning 18, joining Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson.

“That would be really good, but I’m still a long way from that, and I realize that,” Henderson said. “I have to go low and shoot some good numbers.”

Caroline Masson has second. The German player shot a 64, the best round of the week.

Masson had eight birdies, four on each nine, in her second straight bogey-free round after missing the cuts in five of her six previous tournaments. Masson is winless in her three-year LPGA Tour career. In the 2013 Portland tournament, she shot a second-round 64 on the way to a fifth-place finish.

Masson is attempting to win and make a late bid for European team berth in the Solheim Cup, set for Sept. 18-20 in Germany.

“It’s been on my mind a lot. I don’t know, maybe not too much. It’s the only Solheim Cup probably that’s going to be in Germany while I’m playing,” said Masson, who played in the 2013 Cup. “It means a lot to me, obviously, to be on that team. But you can’t think about it and you can’t play with that being on your mind because it just puts too much pressure on yourself.

Candie Kung, Julieta Granada and Jenny Shin were tied for third at 9 under. Kung, a four-time LPGA Tour winner, had a 66, Granada shot 69, and Shin 68.

Amy Anderson and Sandra Changkija, tied for the first-round lead at 65, each shot 72 to drop into a tie for ninth at 7 under.

Defending champion Austin Ernst was 6 under after a 66.

No. 3 Stacy Lewis was 4 under after a 69, and No. 2 Ko shot a 72 to remain 2 under.

The 36-hole cut was at even par. Among those failing to advance were two-time Portland champion Suzann Pettersen. She was 5 over after a 74. Also missing the cut was Henderson’s sister Brittany, who was 5 over after a 75.

The Portland Classic is the penultimate tournament before the U.S. Solheim Cup team is set Aug. 24. The top eight players in the Solheim Cup standings, the top two in the world ranking not among the top eight in the standings, and two captain’s picks will make up the 12-player team. Six players have clinched spots in the standings.

No. 7 Angela Stanford failed to make the cut after shooting 74, while No. 8 Gerina Piller was even par after a 72. Of those outside the top eight, No. 9 Lizette Salas (70) and No. 10 Brittany Lang (71) are in the best position to make a move, as both are 3 under through 36 holes.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont., posted a second round of 2-under to sit T9 at 7-under for the tournament.

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., signed for a round of 75, Sue Kim had a round of 74 and Brittany Henderson recorded a round of 75. The trio not play the weekend.