PGA Tour Championship 2012: Golfers Set to Make Run on Final Day

The 2012 PGA Tour Championship begins its final day, and the largely American field is filled with a number of golfers ready for a run.

Day Three of the tournament produced the worst overall performance. The remaining players shot a combined 70.4—a full stroke more than in Round One. Expect an overall rebound in the final day; the Weather Channel predicts just 11 mph winds and 70 degree weather. 

Brandt Snedeker shot a six-under in Day Three to make a rather unlikely run for first. He is tied atop the leader board with the No. 11 player in the world, Justin Rose (-8). Both will need to be exceptional in Day Four as the numbers one, two, four and five golfers in the world are all within five strokes of the lead. 

Here are three golfers in the best position to make a Round Four push.

Rory McIlroy; Tied for 4th (-5)

Forget all the talk about intimidation on the golf course; the fact is Rory McIlroy is playing the best golf of his life and, well, Tiger Woods is not.

McIlroy has picked up three of his last four tournaments (for a cool $4.3 million in winnings).

When Woods was at his best, he was the undisputed favorite to win any tournament in which he was within two or three strokes of the lead on the final day. McIlroy is the number one in the world, and if he wants to continue being regarded as such, these are the types of tournaments he should win.

This has not been an issue for McIlroy in 2012 as he has shot a 68 or better in the final round on five different occasions.

Tiger Woods; Tied for 7th (-4)

Only Snedeker and Ryan Moore (currently in third) shot better than Woods on Day Three, which should please him since he managed to overcome his three-over performance in Round Two. He starts today four shots back.

Woods has three Top-10 finishes since August (and one 11th place finish), but has been unable to do enough on the final day to win. Why does he get it done today?

Well, aside from the obvious (he is Tiger Woods), I really like how he has been hitting, especially off the tee—Woods is tied for fifth in driving accuracy. Good, safe first shots have led to easy birdie opportunities, even though he is only driving it 295 yards (18th). Woods has 14 birdies thus far.

Luke Donald; Tied for 11th (-3)

Luke Donald has improved on each day of the PGA Tour Championship—where he has finished second for the last two years—and was especially solid on the back nine of Day Three with two birdies and an eagle.

Donald has been very consistent all week. His 42 pars lead all golfers.

Then again, his “consistency” may really be the result of missed birdie opportunities. Were it not for his average of 1.8 putts/green (18th), Donald may be in the top four. Look for him to correct this problem today.