Saturday's third round action of the PGA Championship saw a mixed bag for several Georgia products. While Matt Kuchar had a great day and moved up significantly, Bubba Watson maintained his relative position on the leaderboard. Davis Love III, unfortunately, shot poorly down the stretch and took a dive in the standings.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket alumni Kuchar put up his best round of the tournament on Saturday. Kuchar managed birdies on holes 5 and 8 on the front nine to move to 2-under. He offset two more birdies on the back nine with back-to-back bogeys on holes 15 and 16, leaving him with a 2-under 68 on the day. Through three rounds of golf, Kuchar has an even-210 for the tournament and has jumped 19 spots into a tie for 20th.
Georiga Bulldog alumni Watson struggled on the front nine but then responded in the latter half of the day to put up an even-70. Watson had four bogeys and one birdie through the front nine, placing him at 3-over. However, four birdies on the back nine helped him recover and Watson finished the day with an even-70. Watson sits at +2 overall, and has moved up two spots from 39th at the beginning of play on Saturday to 37th.
Georgia resident Love III faltered on Saturday with a 6-over 76 performance after posting solid rounds of 3-under 68 on Thursday and 1-over 71 on Friday. He had five bogeys on the front nine and one birdie. Though he managed three birdies on the back nine, two double-bogeys and another bogey doomed Love's round and made him settle for a 6-over 76 on the day. Davis slipped 42 spots and ended the spot in a tie for 56th.
Sunday's action will crown a winner to the 2011 PGA Championship. Kuchar and Watson could make some noise and, provided the two play good rounds of golf, could challenge those at the top of the leaderboard by day's end.