Golf: What began as a magical day for Ireland's Des Smyth in the 64th Senior PGA Championship in Philadelphia slowly dissolved into a struggle for par in the oldest and one of the most prestigious events in senior golf.
Competing in his first Senior PGA Championship and just his 12th Champions Tour event, Smyth finished a marathon 28-hole day at even-par 280, four strokes behind champion John Jacobs.
Smyth's day at storied Aronimink Golf Club began at 8.00 a.m., when he and the remainder of the 71-player field returned to the course to complete a rain-delayed third round.
Beginning on the ninth hole, Smyth attacked the soggy 6,928-yard, par-70 layout. He birdied the 10th, 12th, 15th and 17th holes, the latter a one-foot tap-in after a superlative 187-yard five-iron tee shot. That gave him an Aronimink 18-hole course record five-under-par 65 and a two-stroke lead after 54 holes.
"The conditions were good to play, but it was awfully wet. No matter how hard you hit, the ball stopped straight away.
"The course played every bit of its yardage. You got no bounce and you had to be careful to pick the right club and have confidence to fire the shot."
Smyth needed only 26 putts for his excellent 65, a performance capped by making a solid par save from a left greenside bunker on the 18th hole.
His 65 was matched later in the afternoon by three-time champion Hale Irwin.
After a half-hour's rest, Smyth was back on the course in a bid to become the first international player since South Africa's Gary Player to win the championship.
But his grip on the lead began to slip with bogeys on the third and eighth holes.
He then bogeyed the 10th and 13th holes before finishing with five straight pars. Smyth's bogey run allowed six other players, including defending champion Fuzzy Zoeller, back in the title hunt. In the afternoon, Smyth needed 34 putts.
"It's a major championship and you expect difficult pin placements," said Smyth. "I played well most of the day. I hit a few bad shots in the afternoon and I had a few bogeys. But the only error was the good shots that I made I couldn't convert. I had no birdies in the final round, and as a consequence I missed out on a chance of victory."
The Senior PGA Championship was begun in 1937 at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club at the invitation of the great Bobby Jones, and has since featured the game's legendary stars that have reached the age of 50.
"I felt relaxed today, and I didn't feel relaxed the first two days and I struggled a bit," said Smyth. "I was happy to be one over par after two rounds."
Describing his four-birdie, no-bogey back nine on Sunday, Smyth said: "I holed a very good putt on the 10th, quite a swinger from about 20 feet.
"At 12, I holed a 25-footer. So, when you start doing things like that, you know you're on a roll. I played a few nice holes in the middle of the green. I was going fairway-green all the time, that's what I was happy about. I hit a really good second shot into the 15th (a 465-yard par-four) with a four-iron to about 12 feet and made that.
"On the 17th (a 187-yard par-three), I hit a five-iron about a foot behind the hole and couldn't have hoped for better.
"I made a big save (for par) on 18 (a 430-yard par-four). I was on a roll, and I have a little thing that when I'm on a roll, I need to keep chasing it, you know?"
"I went for that pin at the 18th, and it was a dangerous pin, being very tight left. I paid the penalty but I saved my par."
The previous Aronimink 18-hole record of 66 was shared by Gil Morgan and Seiji Ebihara on Friday, and three players from the 1962 PGA Championship - John Barnum, Bob McCallister and Cary Middlecoff. Aronimink member Jay Sigel shot a 62 in August 1990, in a non-competitive round.
Jacobs had rounds of 68, 69, 71 and 68 for a two-shot win over Bobby Wadkins with Bruce Lietzke and Fuzzy Zoeller a shot further back on 279.
