Australian Steve Elkington is one stroke off the lead with three
holes to play after lightning stopped play in the final round of the
87th US PGA Championship at Baltusrol this morning. Overnight leader
Phil Mickleson got the jitters in the middle of his final round to
allow Elkington to take a two shot lead, before recovering to lead by
one shot from “the Elk” and Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn (14 holes) at four
under after 13 holes.

With the 1995 PGA title already to his name, plus two Players’
Championships and a British Open play-off lost to Ernie Els in 2002,
Elkington has long been one of the world’s best players but continuing
allergy illness and a need to take some time away from the game had
seen him slip well below the radar in recent years. But earlier this
year he felt the urge to seriously reacquaint himself with the game and he’s never looked back.

Tiger Woods is the leader in the clubhouse with a 2-under-par 278 and could yet
feature in a play-off as those still out on the course rest their
nerves overnight before facing the tough closing holes tomorrow morning. Geoff Ogilvy
is the top Australian in the clubhouse, just one shot adrift of Woods at one-under, while
Stuart Appleby – who had earlier led the tournament – fell out of contention at one-over-par with three
holes to play, after
starting the day two strokes from the lead.