Saturday’s third round of the 99th PGA Championship was a grind both mentally and physically. Quail Hollow’s demanding length, penal rough and fast greens took its toll on the players over the course of the day as they struggled to make pars. However, South African Louis Oosthuizen might have gotten the worst of it.
Playing the par-4 second hole, the 2010 Open Champion’s drive ended up at the base of a tree to the left of the fairway. With his back against the base of it, he opted to play a low running hook up onto the green. The only thing he needed to do was to make sure he got steep enough to avoid contact with the tree.
Oosthuizen did just that and pulled the shot off flawlessly somehow managing to find the green. The problem was the fact he struck a root in the process that was under his ball, which sent a stinger up his right arm and bent his club.
.@Louis57TM struck a root on No. 2 and hurt his right forearm. He says he’s fine, and he’s still only two back: https://t.co/YKYCKWWiRz pic.twitter.com/nvPQFeCe1v
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 13, 2017
“I saw something. It was very close to my ball,” he said. “I didn’t want to go and feel or do anything. The top, I was going pretty steep on it. Took a big chunk out of it (the root). Bent my 8-iron properly. I had a full 8-iron on 16 and 17. So couldn’t hit them and had to go with 7-irons.
“Those aren’t holes you want to go with different clubs.”
As for his arm and hand, Oosthuizen got some work on it on the sixth hole but said it was fine.
“It wasn’t hurting at all,” he said. “I didn’t feel like it was painful or anything. It was just it got tight really quickly…He [the physio] just did a proper release of it. There was no pain. I could hit my shots no worries.”
Oosthuizen went on to post an even par round of 71 and finds himself only 2 shots back heading into Sunday’s final round. As for his 8-iron, Ping will have a new one ready to go for him.
Kevin Kisner continued his steady play on Saturday with a gritty 1-over 72 in difficult conditions leads by one over Hideki Matsuyama and last week’s Barracuda Championship winner, Chris Stroud. Jordan Speith shot even par but still remains 10 off the pace in his quest for the career grand slam. Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson both shot 2-over 73s and are both tied for 47th.
Here’s a look at Saturday’s highlights:
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