Adam Scott slept on the best round of the second day at the PGA Championship, but awoke Saturday and just couldn’t replicate it.
The 38-year-old Australian could not carry momentum from his 64 on Friday and shot a third-round 72 at Bethpage Black, dropping him to 3-under for the tournament and nine shots back of leader Brooks Koepka.
Scott made three bogeys on the front nine to turn at 37, and from there, he just tried to grind his way in.
“I really needed a solid start,” said Scott, who was in the second-to-last group with Danny Berger (who shot 78), making them feel a world away from Koepka. “I really needed under-par front nine I thought to just keep interested in chasing him down.”
Despite the huge deficit, Scott, the 2014 Masters champion, was still looking for something miraculous to happen on Sunday.
“You’ve got to tee off with the hope,” Scott said. “I mean, I shot 6-under [Friday]. Maybe they’ll set the pins up a little friendlier and give someone a chance to do that. You never know. It’s possible he could struggle and shoot a couple over.”
Unheralded 23-year-old Jazz Janewattananond from Thailand shot a third-round 67 and went to 5-under for the tournament. He is to be in the penultimate group Sunday with Luke List. Janewattananond was loving the New York crowds, who kept mispronouncing his name.
“I heard all sorts,” he said. “Some pretty good ones. I don’t want to remember it.”
Englishman Matt Wallace shot a third-round 70 and was 4-under, eight back of the lead. He was also impressed with the New York banter.
“There’s a lot of witty comments out there,” he said. “‘Do it for the queen’ is one of my favorite ones, which I find funny. I mean, it’s good fun.”
The long hitters sure are at an advantage at Bethpage. List, for one, made his way up the leaderboard with a 1-under 69. Ranked third on the PGA Tour in driving distance behind only Cameron Champ and Rory McIlroy, List had a chance to be in second by himself before bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18.
“The more I treat it like a normal event for me, the better,” said the 34-year-old, who has never won on the PGA Tour. “I’m just going to go out and try to shoot under-par.”
Former Mets star David Wright followed around the final pairing of Koepka and Jordan Spieth, traveling with the media just inside the ropes. Acting as an ambassador for the championship, Wright got a lot of fan attention and responded to almost every comment in kind.
Rich Beem, who won the 2002 PGA Championship as one of just three career Tour wins, made five birdies in his final six holes on Friday to make the cut on the number. He must have enjoyed that Friday night. He shot 82 on Saturday and is 16-over for the tournament.