With a few holes to go on Saturday, Kevin Kisner seemed set to possibly run away from the pack heading into Sunday’s final round at the 99th PGA Championship. But Quail Hollow’s famed three-hole difficult closing stretch named the Green Mile reeled the Georgia back into the rest of the back. Kisner, the world’s 25th-ranked player, will start Sunday in the final pairing with a one-shot lead alongside journeyman Chris Stroud. But it’s those just ahead of Kisner on the tee sheet and behind him on the leaderboard that will grab the day’s major attention.
Hideki Matsuyama will start the day one shot behind Kisner, and he’ll likely be your favorite to take home the title if you’re making bets on Sunday afternoon. The world’s number three player stands with a chance to take home Japan’s first ever major championship, an accomplishment that would have a massive impact on the golf-crazed nation that’s come up just short so many times over the past decade. Matsuyama isn’t the first Japanese golf star — Isao Aoki had enough near-misses to make the Hall of Fame, Shingo Katayama flirted with Masters and PGA wins, and Hideki’s the superstar Ryo Ishikawa was supposed to be just a few years ago. For a nation with an outsized share of golf heartbreak, a major breakthrough would be massive.
Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, and Jason Day will all be in contention too. Follow the action with us here.