Best read with a hydration advantage.

Brooks Koepka continues to dominate the PGA Championship. Koepka held onto his seven-shot lead despite shooting an even-par 70, his worst round of the week. On a day when a contender could have set up an interesting Sunday, everyone stalled. Koepka’s closest pursuers are the group of Harold Varner III, Jazz Janewattananond, Luke List, and Dustin Johnson.. PGA Championship Leaderboard

Tomorrow, Brooks looks to become the first player ever to hold two back-to-back major championship titles at the same time. Unless he has a world-historical meltdown, he will earn his fourth career major at the ripe age of 29. The focus will then turn to how many he can win.

The more challenging the course and setup, the better fit it seems to be for Brooks. Bethpage Black’s rough has taken its toll on many players, but Brooks has used his strength to his advantage when he’s missed. Often he has been able to hit greens and even make birdies from bad lies.

It’s hard to imagine any player threatening Koepka tomorrow. With a win, he would become the 29th player to reach four majors. More impressively, Koepka has done it in only 21 starts, which have included nine other top 15s and missed cuts in only his first two attempts.

Notes

  • With contenders in need of a round in the mid-60s to threaten Brooks, the best anyone could muster was 67, which both Harold Varner III and Jazz Janewattananond shot. These fine rounds moved Varner and Jazzy J into a tie for second at five-under, and Varner will join Koepka in the final group tomorrow. Both players are in position to notch a career-best major championship finish.

  • Apparently, CBS didn’t expect Thailand’s Janewattananond to make a run. No one on the telecast crew even attempted to pronounce his last name. Yes, there are a lot of syllables, but at least make an effort! After about 30 minutes of Janewattananond coverage, it had become embarrassing for all involved.

  • An 18th-hole bogey dropped world number one Dustin Johnson into a tie for second and out of a Bash Brothers final pairing with Brooks. DJ got off to a hot start but made a few sloppy mistakes that ultimately prevented him from making things interesting.

  • Luke List, another long hitter, got the closest to Brooks, closing his margin to five shots at one point, but bogeys on the 17th and 18th put him seven back.

  • Playing with Koepka, Spieth struggled with his ball-striking and tumbled down the leaderboard. Spieth’s 72 drops him to a tie for eighth. All he has to do to submit his best performance of 2019 is stay inside the top 20.

  • Also struggling on Sunday was Adam Scott, whose putting regressed to the mean. After a remarkable day on the greens in the second round, Scott was dismal with the broom today, ranking 63rd of 82 players in SG: putting.

  • Moving up the leaderboard were Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, and Patrick Cantlay, each of whom shot 68. For Schauffele, another strong round will guarantee a fifth top-six finish in just eight major appearances.

Quick hooks

Trish Johnson shot 66 to tie Helen Alfredsson atop the 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Open leaderboard. Full Leaderboard

Robbie Shelton will look for his second Web.com Tour win after a third-round 66 put him two in front in Knoxville. Full Leaderboard

Peak performance
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THE LATEST

Shotgun Start: Can anyone beat Brooksy and CBS’ dereliction of pronunciation duties

Brooks Koepka, as you might expect, stays atop the leaderboard and by a significant margin at the PGA Championship. We review how he got it around in even-par on Saturday and our disappointment at the chasers’ inability to close the gap. Then we rant on CBS not being prepared to pronounce Jazz Janewattananond’s name even though he started the day in the top 10. We assess the likelihood of Brooks not winning on Sunday, the numbers it might take, who could shoot them, and why Bethpage won’t exactly promote it. We wrap with Andy going off again about the career earnings list and its misrepresentations to the general public, as well as some of the painful stakes some listeners sent in for our Kraft v. Kang head-to-head wager. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify

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