• US PGA Championship, Round Three

What They Said

ESPN staff
August 13, 2011
Luke Donald paid the price for finding sand on 18 © PA Photos
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Luke Donald surrendered shots coming home, including finding water on 18, to drop to one-under. He said: "I worked so hard to get to five under for the day, hit a great tee shot into 15. The final holes are tough and I paid the price. I wanted to stuff it in there close and wanted to make a par, I went tight and pushed it a little. I am angry. I had something really good going there, and kind of threw it away. The positives are I played really well and gave myself a lot of chances. I don't think I've put myself out of the tournament but it depends how the leaders go."

Lee Westwood endured another frustrating day on the greens. After shooting a round of 70, he said: "I've had enough of this now. I've hit one bad shot all day, it wasn't that bad actually just a bad lie in the bunker on 14 and it hit the cart path. I've hit it great all day, hit it close and holed nothing. I misread a couple, mis-struck a few, and when I hit some good ones they either don't do what I expect them to do or still manage to miss. I've played such good golf for three days, but nothing has gone in and you are just under pressure all the time to play quality golf and hit quality shorts."

Jason Dufner looked unflappable all day and was happy with his round of 68. He said: "For the most part I was confident with my ball striking. I got a bit aggravated on the back nine and that spurred me on to get a couple of birdies. Golf is not an easy game but when you are confident with your swing it makes you feel confident. I have been out here six years and trying to win. It was maybe only two years ago that I started to believe I can win so to be in this position to have a chance in a major is great but whether it is a major or regular event I feel it would be the same pressure."

Steve Stricker is firmly in contention at four-under and will look to be patient on Sunday. He said: "There's going to be a lot of pressure on everybody tomorrow. I think patience will be the key, you will have to stay in position and grind it out. It is a tough course and if you get out of position on this course you are going to struggle."

David Toms surged into contention with a 65 to move to two-under. He said: "Early on I hit a lot of quality shots and really didn't get anything going at all. And really the key to my round being a great round was the bunker shot I hit on 14, because holing that, could have made bogey, double, pretty easily; and to hole a bunker shot and made birdie, that was a bonus."

Rory McIlroy fired a four-over 74, on a frustrating day when he needed 33 putts. He said: "Another frustrating day; I got off to a terrible start. I didn't have my speed at all on the greens. I've struggled with it all week."

Reflecting on the shot on Thursday that caused his injury, he said: "Looking back it probably wasn't the right thing to do. If I'd been in the position again and not knowing what would happen though I 'd probably do the same thing."

Adam Scott signed for a 70 after some surprise errors and he is aware he needs to go low on Sunday. He said: "It does not seem that bad, but losing shots to the leaders is not ideal. I played well but a couple of errors and mental mistakes cost me a couple of shots. If I can get it going I am still in it. I did well to recover from hitting it in the water on 12. It is a grind and I am happy with 70. I will have to have a good round tomorrow, but it is possible. I will have to finish off with my best round of the week."

Masters champion Charl Schwartzel is firmly in the hunt at two-under, on a course he feels is a huge challenge. He said: "Definitely some of the toughest [holes] I've ever played. The first couple days, they have not treated me too well. And then today was much better. I think I was one-under through the last four holes, and I think any time you're going to do that on this golf course, you know you're going to end up fairly well. These last four holes are going to decide this golf tournament. The whole week, it really has been good ball striking for me, and I've made a bunch of birdies, but just, you know, the first two days have been too many bogeys and double bogeys, and today I managed to prevent those."

Francesco Molinari has battled through a wrist injury and is now level par after a 67. He said: "It is a positive day. I would have taken anything under par so I am happy. I was struggling a bit with the last few holes, but did not do any major damage and am happy going into tomorrow. The wrist is still a bit stiff in the morning, but when I am playing I do not feel it. It was a strange preparation but I am happy to be playing and am happy to go in to tomorrow level par."

Hunter Mahan shot a 66 despite a double bogey at the eighth. He said: "It was obviously very disappointing because I was playing so well and just missed one shot, and that's the tough thing on this golf course. I've never seen guys play so well then all of a sudden have one bad hole and then another bad hole, and it's not even holes, it's one shot. It's really one of the more one-shot penalising golf courses I've ever seen. I knew the round wasn't over because obviously you go through that first stretch, you can make some birdies. So I kind of just confirmed with myself that I'm hitting it good and don't need to worry about the eighth hole. It was nice to hit it close on 10, make the putt on 11 and then played well from there."

Robert Karlsson carded a 67 to move to two-under and he said: "I am delighted with my scoring today. I am playing well and knocked in some good birdie putts. The golf course the way it is set up is not to get too mixed up with what is on the scorecard. You have to play the hole as you see it."

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