Jon Rahm set the early clubhouse target as the cream finally rose to the top on a weather-affected third day of the 107th US PGA Championship.
Following a three-and-a-half-hour delay due to early morning thunderstorms, Rahm carded a superb 67 to surge up a crowded leaderboard at Quail Hollow.
The former US Open and Masters champion made light work of the windy conditions with seven birdies – including three in a row from the 14th – as he bids to win the third leg of a career grand slam.
At six under par, Rahm was two shots behind Bryson DeChambeau after the US Open champion picked up shots on the 14th and 15th, with world number one Scottie Scheffler a shot behind DeChambeau with six holes remaining.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open winner, was also six under after covering his first 11 holes in level par.
One star name missing from the top end of the leaderboard was Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who remained one over par for the championship after 11 holes.
Tournament officials had earlier insisted they did not have “any concerns about player intent” after McIlroy’s driver was deemed to be non-conforming ahead of the US PGA Championship.
It emerged on Friday that the driver McIlroy had planned to use had failed tests conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA) on Tuesday, forcing the world number two to use a replacement.
The Masters champion struggled off the tee during a first round of 74 but made the halfway cut on the mark of one over par, following a second round of 69.
McIlroy did not speak to the media after either round and had just teed off in the weather-delayed third round when PGA of America chief championships officer Kerry Haigh issued a statement addressing the issue.
“We can confirm that the USGA was invited to do club testing at the PGA Championship, at the PGA of America’s request,” Haigh said.
“That testing program is consistent with the same level of support that the USGA provides to the PGA Tour and other championships, as part of their regular programs for driver testing.
“The standard process is for about a third of the field to be randomly tested under the program. That was the case at Quail Hollow this week.
“Finding driver heads that have crept over the line of conformance is not an unusual occurrence, especially for clubs that are hit thousands of times over a long period of time.
“The results are kept confidential to protect players, who are unaware the club has fallen out of conformance and not responsible for it falling out of conformance other than hitting the club thousands of times.
“Players are simply asked to change heads if necessary and all do without issue.
“To publicly identify players whose club did not conform can lead to that player being questioned unnecessarily. Neither the USGA nor the PGA of America have any concerns about player intent.”
It is not uncommon for normal wear and tear to render a club non-conforming by going over the allowable limit for the spring-like effect of the clubface.
Defending US PGA champion Xander Schauffele experienced a similar issue during the 2019 Open and was furious that it became public knowledge.
Schauffele’s driver was one of 30 selected for random testing at the start of the week at Royal Portrush and found to be non-compliant, forcing him to use a different club in the first round before making adjustments to the original for rounds two and three.
“The R&A, they p***ed me off because they attempted to ruin my image by not keeping this matter private,” Schauffele said at the time.
“This is me coming out and treating them the exact way they treated me. The only time I am an unhappy camper is when I feel like I’m treated unfairly.
“It is an unsettling topic. I’ve been called a cheater by my fellow opponents. It’s all joking, but when someone yells ‘cheater’ in front of 200 people, to me it’s not going to go down very well.”
