CROMWELL, Conn. – Russell Knox nicknamed himself “The Beast” after playing two good rounds at the Travelers Championship.

He doubled down on that Sunday after sinking a 12-foot putt on the final hole to save par and beat hometown favourite Jerry Kelly by a stroke Sunday, hours after Jim Furyk shot the first 58 in PGA Tour history.

“I felt like the Incredible Hulk when it went in,” Knox said. “I could have ripped my shirt off.”

Knox closed with a 2-under 68 for a 14-under 266 total at TPC River Highlands. The 31-year-old Scot won for the second time on the tour, following his breakthrough victory in China in November in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

Kelly, the 49-year-old former University of Hartford player, finished with a 64.

Furyk tied for fifth at 11 under. He opened with rounds of 73, 66 and 72.

Knox opened with consecutive 67s and had a 64 on Saturday. He took the lead with birdies at 13 and 14. He bogeyed the par-3 16th, and missed a chance to seal it on the par-3 17th when his 20-foot birdie putt stopped an inch right of the hole.

The Scot hit his tee shot on the par-4 18th right and into the crowd, and his second shot into a green-side bunker below the hole. He pitched out short of the hole, setting up a putt that went straight into the hole. He didn’t tear his shirt off, but did send his hat flying in celebration.

“Everybody dreams of making a putt on the last hole to win a tournament,” he said. “I just kept telling myself, this is your chance to make a putt to have a great celebration and hear the roars. I’m glad it went in.”

Justin Thomas was almost an afterthought despite shooting a 62 and stringing together five straight birdies to close out the front nine. He finished with nine birdies on the day and at 12 under for the tournament, tied with Patrick Rodgers for third place. Rodgers shot a 68.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 72 in his final round to finish the tournament at 1-under 279 and in a tie for 64th.

Furyk, already one of six PGA Tour players to shoot 59, took advantage of soft, clean greens during the morning after Saturday afternoon rains.

The 46-year-old American bounced in an eagle from 135 yards on his third hole, ran off seven straight birdies around the turn and picked up his final birdie on the 16th hole with a putt from just inside 24 feet.

He rolled in a short par putt on the final hole, thrust his arms in the air and waved his cap to salute thousands of fans who had rushed to the amphitheatre around the 18th green to catch a stunning slice of history.

“No one else can say they’ve done that out here on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It’s really special.

It was tougher for the leaders in the afternoon.

Daniel Berger, who shot a 62 on Saturday, began the day at 15 under with a three-stroke lead. But he struggled, making four consecutive bogeys to start his back nine. He finished with a 74 to tie with Furyk, Robert Garrigus and Tyrone Van Aswegen at 11 under.

Kelly began the day at 7 under. He shot 32 on the front nine, then went to 5 under for the day when his second shot on the 13th hole found the cup for an eagle from 113 yards. Headed to the PGA Tour Champions in November, he acknowledged the fans were chanting “Jerry! Jerry!” by pounding his heart with his fist as he walked up the 18th fairway.

“The love that they showed me this week, that’s about the best of any year,” he said about the fans. “But, this is about the best I’ve played of any year too.”

Kelly won the last of his three PGA Tour titles in 2009.

Knox made back-to-back birdie putts inside 7 feet after great approach shots on 13 and 14. After a par on 15, he just missed the water by a few inches with his tee shot on 16. He bounced his next shot over the hole and had to settle for a bogey, before surviving the final two holes.

Patrick Reed had the best tournament of the three members of the U.S. Olympic team, shooting a 66 on Sunday to finish at 9 under. Matt Kuchar finished with a 65 and was 8 under, and defending champion Bubba Watson followed at 7 under after a 68.

“It was one of those weeks where you could easily see playing great next week or the week after,” Watson said, before getting on a plane for Rio de Janeiro. “Next week might help me get even further in the right direction or it could happen next week.”

CROMWELL, Conn. – Jim Furyk set a PGA Tour record Sunday, shooting a 58 during the final round of the Travelers Championship.

The 46-year-old American got it going early, making his first birdie on his second hole at the TPC River Highlands course, then holing out for an eagle from 135 yards on the par-4 third hole. He finished his first nine holes in a course-record 27 shots.

Furyk, a member of Team RBC, shot 31 on the back nine, finishing with a 2-foot par on the final hole. The final birdie of his bogey-free round came on the par-3 16th, when he sunk a putt from just under 24 feet from the right of the hole.

Furyk, who has 17 PGA Tour victories – including two of the RBC Canadian Open – was already one of six golfers to shoot a 59 in his career. He did that during the second round of the BMW Championship in 2013.

History!

Jim Furyk shoots 58!

It’s the lowest round in PGA TOUR history.

Incredible. https://t.co/mzggwHU6tT

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2016

To shoot 58 … what a feeling that must be. pic.twitter.com/MKpc1DphvI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2016

“It’s phenomenal … something you dream of.” https://t.co/ymfWWWnTwQ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 7, 2016

CROMWELL, Conn. – Daniel Berger, last season’s rookie of the year on the PGA Tour, missed three cuts in January and February and began hearing the whispers.

“Everyone was starting to say sophomore slump and that kind of got me upset a little bit,” he said. “Not upset, but kind of like, ‘Come on, let’s get going here.”’

Berger earned his first PGA Tour win two months ago in Memphis, and will be going for a second on Sunday. He shot an 8-under par 62 on Saturday to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Travelers Championship.

The 23-year-old Floridian made nine birdies, including seven on his final 10 holes, to finish at 15-under 195 after 54 holes.

Berger, who is still recovering from a left shoulder injury that forced him to miss several tournaments including the British Open, had just one bogey and was two strokes off the course record, following up rounds of 66 and 67 that had him tied for the lead coming into the day.

“I’ve shot better than 62, but I guess it doesn’t matter unless it’s on the PGA Tour,” he said. “It was just a great day.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 68 to climb into a tie for 49th place.

Russell Knox shot a 64 and Russell Henley and Tyrone Van Aswegen each shot 65 to tie for second place at 12-under par. Patrick Rodgers shot a 66 and was five strokes off the pace.

Berger, who is coming off a shoulder injury, is looking for his fifth top-10 finish since April, a string highlighted by his win at the St. Jude Classic.

Berger said he first tweaked his left shoulder in Memphis, then strained it at the U.S. Open. The injury forced him to withdraw after hitting his opening tee shot at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he didn’t return until last week at the PGA Championship.

He said it expects the shoulder to be sore tonight, but it has not been bothering him on the golf course.

“It feels great this week and if I do the right thing then hopefully it’s gone forever.”

Berger said besides the win, he’s hoping for very personal reasons to secure a spot on the Ryder Cup team this summer. His father, Jay Berger, played tennis for the U.S. Davis Cup team.

“I think it would be pretty cool to have a father and son play Davis Cut and Ryder Cup,” he said.

The golfers went out early in trios Saturday off the first and 10th tees to avoid thunderstorms predicted for the area.

Knox set the pace, opening his round with three consecutive birdies. He putted the ball just seven times over his first six holes.

He also is looking for his second PGA Tour win, after a victory last November at the World Championships in Shanghai.

“I always tell myself, don’t be scared to play well,” he said. “You’ve got to go for it.”

Berger is not the only player coming off an injury.

Brooks Koepka, playing with a brace on his right ankle, shot a 30 on his back nine to finish with a 64 and go 9-under par for the tournament, tied for sixth place with Paul Casey.

Koepka tore a ligament earlier this summer and, like Berger, missed he British Open. He said he decided to play the tournament rather than rest because, like Berger, he wants to get enough points to play in the Ryder Cup.

“The better you play the better you feel,” he said. “Today is the best it’s felt in a long time.”

Koepka spent the day sparring with playing partner Daniel Summerhays, who also had four birdies on the back nine, before hitting a tree on his drive at the par-4 18th. He ended up saving a bogey with a 44-foot uphill putt and goes into Sunday at 8-under par, tied for eighth place.

“To see that go in, that was definitely a sigh of relief,” he said. “A good putt can forgive a lot of weaknesses and sins that you’ve committed in one hole.”

U.S. Olympians Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed each shot 68 and are 5-under par, 10 strokes back. Fellow Olympian Matt Kuchar shot a 71 and is at 3-under par.

Watson has insisted his focus this week is on Connecticut, but acknowledged that he wore his opening ceremony outfit on Friday night, texting a photo to teammate Rickie Fowler, who took parade in the parade of athletes.

“He texted me back his outfit,” Watson said. “I said I was there in spirit, so I had to wear my outfit, too.”

The shot of the day came from Ernie Els, who aced the par-3 16th hole from 176 yards. It was the 13th hole-in-one of his career.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Daniel Berger says he’s healthy again and hoping to regain the form that helped him to his first PGA Tour title two months ago.

Last year’s rookie of the year followed his first-round 66 with a 67 on Friday for a share of the lead in the Travelers Championship.

He matched 2012 Travelers champion Marc Leishman, Russell Henley and Tyrone Van Aswegen at 7-under 133. Leishman shot 68, Henley shot 65, and Van Aswegen 66.

Berger strained his shoulder at the U.S. Open after winning in Memphis at the St. Jude Classic, his fourth top-10 finish in seven starts. The injury forced him to withdraw after hitting his opening tee shot at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and he didn’t return until last week at the PGA Championship.

“I definitely played better than I thought I would,” he said. “This is my seventh round in six weeks and for a professional golfer that’s not a lot.”

Four players, including 49-year-old University of Hartford graduate Jerry Kelly, were a shot behind. Kelly had a 70 after sharing the first-round lead with a 64.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., was the lone Canadian to make the cut, shooting a 71 to sit well back in a tie for 56th at 1 under. Fellow Abbotsford native Adam Hadwin and Derek Gillespie, of Oshawa, Ont., missed the cut.

Blayne Barber had the best round of the day with a 64 of his own to top the seven players two strokes back.

“The wind got up a little bit today, so you had to be playing good golf to shoot a really good number,” Leishman said.

U.S. Olympians Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar remained in contention. Kuchar shot a 67 to move to reach 4 under. Reed, who turned 26 on Friday, also shot a 67 and was tied with Watson at 3 under. Watson, the defending champion, had a 70.

Seventy-three players made the cut by shooting even par or better.

“If you’re close to the lead, you’re close to missing the cut,” said Paul Casey, who lost last year in a playoff and was among those tied for ninth place at 5 under.

Henley, who is playing this tournament for the first time, joined the leaders by sinking a 20-foot birdie on his final hole, the par-4 ninth.

“It was just a little bit tricky,” he said. “I think with no wind on this course we would have seen double digits (under par) by now.”

Van Aswegen put up an early 66 and led most of the day as the wind picked up and the greens dried out.

The 34-year-old, who is looking for his first PGA Tour win, followed up on his 67 Thursday with a second straight bogey-free round. His four birdies included a 45-foot putt on the par-4 10th.

“You make a birdie on 10, you’re gaining a stroke on the field there,” he said. “I’m hitting the ball quite well and putting really well.”

Kelly had five birdies and five bogeys. He won the last of his titles in 2009.

“I’m tired,” he said. “I’m going to watch a movie and see if I can rest a little bit and see if the old bones will work for two more days.”

Reed, one of six Olympians playing in the tournament, turned 26 on Friday. He was presented with a cupcake on the first tee, and blew out the birthday candle on top with a practice swing. Watson then led the crowd at several holes in rousing renditions of “Happy Birthday.”

“Half the people were chanting ‘Happy Birthday’ and the other half chanting for all of us, ‘USA,’ so it was cool,” he said.

Andrew Loupe, among the leaders after the first round, held a brief one-stroke lead Friday before on his fourth hole of the day, the par-4 14th. He hit his drive out of bounds left, overcompensated right on his next drive and finished with a seven on the hole and missed the cut after shooting a 76.

The most unusual play of the day came from Vaughn Taylor, who put his tee shot on the par-4 17th hole in the course’s signature lake. After conferring with a rules official, he was allowed to take a drop from the opposite shore near the 16th tee, because it was no closer to the hole. That gave him a better angle at the green. After a long cart ride around the lake, he was able to make bogey, despite clipping a corporate tent with his approach shot.

Matt Jones shot a second consecutive 69, despite suffering from what officials described as nausea and dehydration during his round. He took a 15 minute break at the turn and received three Intravenous bags of fluid.

After two days of sun and temperatures in the mid-80s, the forecast for Saturday afternoon include the possibility of severe thunderstorms. Because of that, tournament officials will have the players going out early in threesomes off both the first and 10th tees.

CROMWELL, Conn. – Jerry Kelly played off the emotion of what he considers a home crowd Thursday in the Travelers Championship, shooting a 6-under 64 for a share of the first-round lead with Vaughn Taylor and Andrew Loupe.

The 49-year-old Kelly played at the nearby University of Hartford. Headed to the PGA Tour Champions after this season, Kelly won the last of his three PGA Tour titles in 2009.

“I’m not that man who has people constantly yelling wherever I go,” Kelly said. “I kind of take those good vibes and run with it. It’s fun.”

Kelly started his afternoon on the back nine, sinking a 45-foot putt for eagle on his sixth hole of the day, the course’s signature par-4 15th. The green was redesigned as part of a $3.5 million course renovation project this year and the front left pin placement was new.

“It was a question mark, how fast it was going to be and I judged it correctly, apparently,” he said.

Loupe and Taylor went out early, when relatively soft greens and little wind helped the scoring.

Taylor, the 40-year-old who won for the first time since 2005 at Pebble Beach this year, strung together five consecutive birdies starting on the 12th hole and shot a 30 on the back nine.

“That was a nice little run and I needed that,” Taylor said. “I was playing well and just needed something to kind of get me going.”

Loupe, who at 27 is looking for his first PGA Tour win, had seven birdies and a bogey on the day. He pulled into a tie for the lead after a 128-yard approach shot on 18 gave him a 2-foot birdie putt.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 24th after an opening round 68 while fellow Abbotsford native Adam Hadwin finished with a 70. Derek Gillespie (72), of Oshawa, Ont., is at 2 over.

Jon Rahm, the 21-year-old Spaniard who turned pro in June, eagled the par-5 13th hole and was a stroke back along with Ben Martin and Marc Leishman.

Ninety-three players shot par or better, including U.S. Olympians Bubba Watson (67), Matt Kuchar (69), and Patrick Reed (70).

They are playing the first two rounds as a trio, and fans stood four and five deep at times to watch them, chanting “USA! USA!” as they arrived at the 18th tee.

Reed was using the red, white and blue golf bag he received this week as part of his Olympic team gear

“All three of us are very excited and eager to get over there,” said Watson, the tournament’s defending champion. “We hear all the USA chants. But at the same time, you want to play well here.”

Besides the Americans, three other Olympians are playing in Cromwell.

Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen and Germany’s Alex Cejka each shot 68, and Ireland’s Padraig Harrington came in at an even-par 70.

The tournament was moved from its traditional spot in June, a week after the U.S. Open, as the PGA Tour shuffled its schedule to accommodate the Olympics.

But the schedule didn’t affect the quality of the field, which includes 10 players ranked in the top 30 in the world, led by Watson, who came into the week ranked sixth.

South Korea’s Si Woo Kim had the shot of the day. The 21-year-old aced the 215-yard fifth hole on his way to a 69.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – Jimmy Walker did everything required of a major champion on the longest final day in 64 years at a PGA Championship.

And then Jason Day made him do a little bit more.

Walker was standing over an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th hole Sunday when he heard a roar that caused him to twice back off the putt. It was Day, the defending champion and world’s No. 1 player, down to his last chance and delivering with a 2-iron that landed in front of the pin and stopped 15 feet away for eagle.

Walker answered, like he had done all day, with a birdie for a three-shot lead.

Moments later, another roar.

Day made the eagle putt, and the lead was down to one.

“There was nothing easy about the day – really about the week, for that matter,” Walker said. “Especially coming down the last hole.”

He went for the 18th green knowing it was his easiest chance for the par he needed to win. The outcome was still in doubt until Walker missed the green to the right, pitched out of deep rough to 35 feet and rolled his first putt about 3 feet past the cup.

Walker calmly made it to capture the PGA Championship, ending a long and wet week at Baltusrol, and still having just enough strength left to hoist the 37-pound Wanamaker Trophy.

“He really put it on me to make a par,” Walker said. “Sometimes pars are hard. But we got it.”

That par gave him a 3-under 67 and a one-shot victory and made the 37-year-old from Texas a major champion. Even with the silver trophy at his side, Walker still had a hard time letting that sink in.

Because of rain, the 36-hole final was the longest in PGA Championship history since Jim Turnesa won his 36-hole match in 1952. Walker at least had time to rest in his travel bus – he’s a frequent neighbour of Day on the PGA Tour – and get right back out into the final round. Walker, who shot a 68 in the morning for a one-shot lead over Day, didn’t make a bogey over the last 28 holes.

Day, trying to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners of the PGA Championship in stroke play, came out to the 18th green with his son to watch the finish and quickly found Walker. “Great stuff, mate,” he said.

“It was nice to get the eagle, just to try and make Jimmy think about it,” Day said after a 67. “But obviously, Jimmy just played too good all day.”

In a most peculiar final day at a major, the PGA Championship allowed for preferred lies – that never happens in a major – because of nearly 4 inches of rain during the week that drenched the Lower Course. Desperate to beat the clock and avoid a second straight Monday finish at Baltusrol, the pairings stayed the same for the final round.

Walker and Day were playing with occasional mud on their golf balls on the back nine of the third round Sunday morning as some players behind them were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in short grass in the fourth round.

But it ended on a happy note for Walker. He is a major champion, completing a sweep of first-time winners in the majors this year. Better yet: It moved him from No. 29 to No. 4 in the Ryder Cup standings, all but assuring him a spot on the team.

He finished at 14-under 266, one shot from David Toms’ record score in the 2001 PGA Championship.

Walker began the back nine by holing a 45-foot bunker shot on No. 10 and making a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 11. The final birdie on the 17th was the most important because he had a cushion. And thanks to Day, he needed it.

“Two-putting from that is pretty difficult, especially trying to go for your first major,” Day said. “But he’s handled himself pretty good.”

British Open champion Henrik Stenson, trying to join Ben Hogan as the only players to win back-to-back majors at age 40, faded with a double bogey on the 15th hole.

“It was a long day. I never felt like I brought my ‘A’ game,” said Stenson, who started the final round two shots behind and closed with a 71. “I think I hit more poor shots in the two rounds today than in the previous six or seven rounds combined.”

For the second straight major, this became a duel over the final hour.

Day pulled within one shot with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 11, but he never had another birdie chance closer than 25 feet until the two par 5s at the end. Even so, the Australian battled to the end with the second of two 2-irons at 18 leading him to shout, “Get back there!” And it did.

Thanks to Walker holding his nerves, it just wasn’t enough.

“God, just to be in it and be there and have a chance and then to finish it off is just … it’s so gratifying,” Walker said.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – The PGA Championship was halted because of thunderstorms Saturday, raising the possibility of a second straight Monday finish in a major championship at Baltusrol.

Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb, tied for the lead at 9-under par, were 40 minutes from teeing off in the third round when clouds gathered, the sky rumbled and the horn sounded to suspend play. The course was pounded with rain and players eventually were sent home.

The third round was to resume at 7 a.m., weather permitting. More rain was in the forecast.

The PGA said players would stay in the same pairings and go off in the same order for the final round, starting as early as 8:40 a.m. That at least would allow the chance to finish Sunday evening, though it also meant the champion could finish hours before the last group finished.

Kevin Kisner had a 5-under 65 and was done with 54 holes at 5-under 205. Padraig Harrington also had a 65 and was at 4-under 206.

Only 37 of the 86 players who made the cut completed the third round, and 10 players had yet to tee off. Russell Knox lagged his 65-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole to within a few inches, tapped in for par and a 67, and then the horn sounded right as Marc Leishman was getting ready for his 12-foot birdie putt.

Knox jokingly apologized to Leishman on Twitter: “Grub, showered and feet now up. Make that putt so we don’t play 4 straight days together.”

Phil Mickelson won the 2005 PGA Championship when tournament organizers took a gamble on not moving up the Sunday tee times because of rain in the forecast, and it cost them. Mickelson had to return Monday morning to claim a one-shot victory.

The last Monday finish in a major was just last year at the British Open because of heavy rain that flooded St. Andrews.

Kisner and Harrington showed a glimpse of what figured to be low scoring Saturday because of the soft conditions from two spells of rain earlier in the week. Play had to be stopped Friday morning for nearly an hour because of moderate rain that left the two fairways on the far end of the course filled with too much water.

“You keep it in the fairway, you can attack,” Kisner said. “The course is receptive enough. You can make a lot of birdies.”

Mickelson made the cut with one shot to spare on Friday, rallying from an opening tee shot that went out-of-bounds and onto a side street. He shot a 68 on Saturday and was at 1-under 209.

“There is a low 60s round,” Mickelson said when he finished. “I think somebody is going to break that 63 record in these next two days. The greens are pristine. You can make a lot of putts. They are soft, so you can get the ball very close. I think that there’s that 61 or 62 out there that I was probably trying to chase a little too hard.”

Two weeks ago, Mickelson had a putt for 62 that rimmed out of the cup at Royal Troon in the opening round. Henrik Stenson closed with a 63, needing his best golf to hold off Mickelson.

And then Friday, Streb became the 28th player to post a 63 when he made a 20-foot birdie on his final hole at Baltusrol.

The course was so susceptible that Harrington didn’t feel as though he played all that well and still played bogey-free for a 65.

“Hit the right shots at the right time and any of the shots that I didn’t hit well didn’t do me any harm,” he said. “So it was one of those days. It’s nice when you score better than you play. It was just an average day, as I said. Thursday was the day I played well. It was amazing, the best I played Thursday, is the worst score I shot. That’s the nature of the game.”

The nature of the game Saturday was to wait.

Jordan Spieth played one hole and narrowly missed a birdie putt. Rickie Fowler had 45 feet for birdie on the first hole.

That was as far as they got.

Now they face a marathon Sunday, with a reasonable chance they will not finish until Monday.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – In a major championship season of endless theater, the PGA Championship lived up to its end of the bargain Friday.

Robert Streb led the way, even if hardly anyone noticed.

As thousands of fans crammed into the closing holes at Baltusrol to see if Jason Day could finish off his amazing run and Phil Mickelson could make it to the weekend, Streb hit a 6-iron into 20 feet on his final hole at the par-3 ninth for a shot at 63.

He made the birdie putt during a TV commercial break, making him the 28th player to shoot 63 in a major, and the third in the last 16 days.

“It was pretty noisy for the 15 people that were out there,” Streb said.

No matter where anyone was at Baltusrol, there was no shortage of entertainment.

Mickelson hit his opening tee shot off the property and onto a side street and made triple bogey, only to rally to make the cut. Rickie Fowler finished birdie-eagle to get back into the picture. Rory McIlroy only needed to birdie the par-5 18th, the easiest hole on the course, to make the cut. From the fairway, he made bogey and was headed home to figure out what was wrong with his putting.

A second round that began in rain with one group given the wrong hole location on No. 10 ended with Streb and Jimmy Walker sharing the lead and becoming the eighth and ninth players to match the 36-hole record in the PGA Championship at 131.

Walker had to settle for a 4-under 66, right when he had the 36-hole record for all majors (130) within his reach with two par 5s remaining. But he hit into the hospitality area well left of the 17th and scrambled for par, and then his tee shot narrowly missed its mark and found the water on the 18th, leading to bogey.

Even so, he was tied at the halfway point of a major.

“It’s going to be a new experience, and it will be fun,” Walker said. “You still have to go perform. Doesn’t matter what tournament it is.”

Day dropped to even par with a double bogey on No. 7, and that appeared to wake up the world’s No. 1 player. Day went on a tear with seven birdies over his next eight holes, two of them from 18 feet, one of them from 35 feet. Suddenly, he was on the verge of a shot at 63 until he hooked his tee shot to the base of the hospitality area on the 17th, and pushed a driving iron into the right rough on the 18th. He settled for pars at both for a 65.

Day was right where he wanted to be, three shots behind going into the weekend, his name high on the leaderboard for everyone to see. At stake is a chance to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back PGA champions since the stroke-play era began in 1958.

Day was joined at 7-under 133 by Emiliano Grillo, the talented young Argentine who worked hard on his putting at Baltusrol and watched it pay off. Grillo got this afternoon of birdies going by making five of them in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine until he cooled on the front and had to settle for a 67.

This is new territory for him, too.

Just like Walker and Streb, he has never even contended in a major.

“I’ve never been in this situation, and I’m not afraid of it,” Grillo said. “I’m going to go out and enjoy it.”

By the end of the day, it was easy to overlook a familiar figure – Henrik Stenson, the British Open champion who made eagle on the 18th at the turn and polished off another 67. He was only four shots behind in his bid to match Ben Hogan as the only players to win two straight majors at age 40.

Mickelson made the cut, and that might have been the most entertaining of all.

He began his round with a tee shot so far left that it sailed off the property, bounced along Shunpike Road and caromed to the left down Baltusrol Way. Wherever it finished, it was out-of-bounds, and Mickelson had to scramble for a triple bogey. He spent the rest of the day battling to get back, and he delivered on the 18th with a birdie to post a 70.

“I think in the history of the PGA Championship, that’s the worst start of any player’s round. I’d have to look it up,” Mickelson said.

No need to. Someone pointed out that Nicolas Colsaerts piped two over the fence and made 8.

“I’m having a difficult time right now managing my expectations, because I know how well I’m playing and I’m so result-oriented that I’m not playing very relaxed, free golf like I did at the British, like I did in the preparation here,” Mickelson said.

Two weeks ago at Royal Troon, where Mickelson opened with a 63 and Stenson close with a 63, it was just those two players in a duel that ranked among the greatest.

At Baltusrol, a dozen players were separated by five shots going into the weekend, a group that included Martin Kaymer (69). Jordan Spieth was finally back in the mix, at least on the fringes, after a hot start that led to a 67. He was in the group six shots behind.

The biggest surprise was Streb, who became the fourth player with a 63 at Baltusrol. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf each had 63 in the opening round of the 1980 U.S. Open, and Thomas Bjorn shot 63 in the third round in the 2005 PGA Championship.

Streb hasn’t had a top 10 on the PGA Tour since he tied for 10th in the PGA Championship last year. He found something in his swing a few weeks ago, birdied the last four holes a week ago Friday in the Canadian Open just to make the cut, and grabbed a sliver of history at Baltusrol.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. – A drab year for Jimmy Walker took a turn for the worse two weeks ago at the British Open, when he stayed in what was dubbed the “frat house” at Royal Troon with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.

Walker was the only one to miss the cut.

He still stayed the weekend. He just stayed away from the golf course, and his clubs. How does one kill time in such a small Scottish town?

“When the first guy comes back and he’s ready for a cocktail, you have one,” Walker said.

Thursday in the PGA Championship, the drinks were on Walker.

In the final major of the year, Walker finally saw enough putts to fall at Baltusrol that he matched his low score in a major with a 5-under 65 and wound up leading a major for the first time in his career.

Just like that, a stale year came to life.

Walker had a one-shot lead over two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, Emiliano Grillo and Ross Fisher.

And for Henrik Stenson, a great year might get even better. Coming off his record performance at the British Open, the Swede had three birdies on the back nine as the sweltering heat gave way to dark clouds and 20 mph gusts. That gave him a 67, leaving him two shots behind. Stenson is trying to join Ben Hogan in 1953 as the only players to win back-to-back majors at age 40.

“It’s going to be a great season for me,” Stenson said. “But at the same time, I want to give myself a chance to try to make it the best season.”

It wasn’t the best of times for Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy.

Johnson, the U.S. Open champion with a chance to go to No. 1 in the world, was in the trees, in the water and couldn’t get out of a bunker. He managed only one birdie in a round of 77 that wasn’t enough to beat 15 of the club pros at Baltusrol.

He wasn’t alone in his misery. McIlroy took 35 putts and didn’t make a single birdie in his round of 74 that left him so frustrated that he returned to Baltusrol late in the day with only his putter.

Walker’s year has been so mediocre that he has finished within five shots of the winner only once this year, at Torrey Pines. He is on the verge of falling out of the top 50 in the world ranking and hasn’t given as much thought to Ryder Cup with qualifying a month away from ending.

“I feel like all year it’s just been real stale and stagnant,” Walker said. “It’s just ebbs and flows of golf. Just haven’t been scoring. … It’s frustrating. I would have loved to have had a better year than I’ve had so far to this point, but I know there’s always time to play well at the end of the year.”

Kaymer had the best score in the afternoon, when the blend of poa annua and bent grass on the Baltusrol greens became a little more difficult to navigate.

Baltusrol still allowed for good scoring. Twenty players were at 68 or better, a list that included defending champion Jason Day.

Day played in the morning group with McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, and he was the only player without much stress. Mickelson, just 11 days after that magnificent duel with Stenson at Royal Troon, was 4 over through 11 holes when he rallied with a trio of birdies late in his round to salvage a 71.

“It’s not the start I wanted. It’s not indicative of how I’m playing,” he said. “But I’m back to where tomorrow, if I play the way I’ve been playing, I should be OK.”

Jordan Spieth only regretted one hole, the par-4 seventh, when he lost his ball so far to the right he had to chip back into thick rough and wound up three-putting for a double bogey. That was his lone mistake. He rolled in big putts on the 15th for par, 16th for birdie and closed with a two-putt birdie to get back to even-par 70.

Grillo had a chance to at least join Walker in the lead when he was at 4 under with the final two holes par 5s. He made par on both. Fisher made birdie on the two closing par 5s for his 66. Kaymer started his afternoon round on the back nine and kept it together with two pars, including a 35-yard bunker shot on No. 8 to within 3 feet.

“There’s nothing easy on the golf course today,” Kaymer said. “I just didn’t miss many fairways and therefore, you can create some birdie chances. But at the end of the day you still need to make the putts.”

Walker kept the ball in play off the tee until late in his round, and he was particularly sharp with his scrambling out by getting up-and-down six times.

“I’m a good putter,” Walker said. “Like good shooters, just keep shooting. I’m just going to keep putting, and they’re going to start going in.”

OAKVILLE, Ont. – It was only fitting that Jared du Toit took the final shot of the RBC Canadian Open.

Although the amateur from Kimberley, B.C., fell out of contention in the final round of the PGA Tour event, he still got the biggest ovation of the day at the awards ceremony on the 18th green at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Fans gave him a rousing standing ovation when he birdied on the final shot of the tournament and again as he was given the Gary Cowan medal as the Canadian Open’s lowest scoring amateur player.

“It was awesome,” said du Toit of the hundreds of fans that followed him around the course on Sunday. “I probably could have shot a hundred out here and they would have been behind my back all day. Honestly unbelievable.”

Du Toit started the day tied for second and was in the top pairing with leader Brandt Snedeker. The 21-year-old Arizona State University player struggled in the front nine with two bogeys and a birdie before rallying with three birdies and a bogey in the back. Du Toit finished the day a 1-under 71 and tied for ninth at 9 under.

Although it was a solid performance for du Toit, he tumbled down the leaderboard as the PGA Tour’s professionals finally found their rhythm on a hard, firm course that had frustrated most players all week. Still, du Toit finished the week two shots better than world No. 1 Jason Day.

Jhonattan Vegas shot an 8-under 64, birdieing the final three holes, to rocket up the leaderboard and earn a one-stroke victory. The 29-year-old Venezuelan began the day five strokes behind Snedeker, and four behind du Toit and U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson.

Vegas earned US$1,062,000 and a spot in the PGA Championship next week at Baltusrol in New Jersey. He also received a two-year tour exemption and a spot in the Masters next year.

Du Toit, who only had 15 fans following his trio in Thursday’s opening round, had nothing but praise for the Canadian fans who rallied to support him after 5-under 67 in the first round thrust him to the top of the standings.

“Unbelievable. The atmosphere they were providing was unbelievable,” said du Toit, who added that he lost count of how many high fives he doled out on Sunday, but that there were enough to make his hands sore. “Every tee box, every green, everyone was clapping, hollering, ‘Go Canada!’

“It was truly unbelievable. I’m on cloud nine right now.”

Making his breakout performance even more impressive, Du Toit learned on Saturday night that he had bronchitis after what he initially thought was a cold grew worse over the past seven days. Coach Derek Ingram drove du Toit to nearby Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and the young player only got five hours of sleep ahead of Sunday’s final round.

“We’re going to take care of this bronchitis a little bit, probably hold off the celebration a little more,” said du Toit. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

Ingram, who was named the head coach of Canada’s men’s golf team earlier in the month, wasn’t surprised by du Toit’s performance.

“Jared’s been playing great, he’s been trending really well for the past six months,” said Ingram. “He’s been playing great, a bit of a surprise to be in the final group of the Canadian Open as an amateur, but not surprised that he played well at all.”

Adam Hadwin (71) of Abbotsford, B.C., tied for 49th at 1 under, amateur Garrett Rank (76) of Elmira, Ont., was in a group tied at 77th 8 over and Corey Conners (78) of Listowel, Ont., finished at 12 over in 80th.

Hadwin won the Rivermead Cup as low professional Canadian, but even then he didn’t feel wholly comfortable taking the award from du Toit.

“Little awkward holding this with Jared playing so well this week, y’know, he beat me by eight,” said Hadwin during the awards ceremony. “Not sure I should be holding this, but I’ll accept it.”

A Canadian hasn’t won the national golf championship since 1954, when Pat Fletcher accomplished the feat at Vancouver’s Point Grey Golf Club. An amateur hasn’t won the Canadian Open since American Doug Sanders at Montreal’s Beaconsfield Golf Club in 1956.

Can't say enough about @Jareddutoit's performance @RBCCanadianOpen this week – a terrific ambassador for golfhttps://t.co/mJfJFn2mjO

— Golf Canada (@TheGolfCanada) July 24, 2016