Leaders launch third round at rain-soaked Oak Hill

Co-leaders Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners began Saturday’s third round of the PGA Championship in soggy conditions as heavy rain showers drenched Oak Hill.A day-long deluge made the thick rough even tougher to escape and reduced length for those fortunate enough to find the fairway.Hot air blowers and squeegees were used to keep greens and fairways playable.Second-ranked Scheffler, last year’s Masters champion, 11th-ranked Hovland of Norway and Canada’s Conners were all on five-under par 135 for 36 holes as they began a slog across the water-logged layout."It’s doable. There are birdie holes out there,” six-time major winner Phil Mickelson said after a five-over 75. "It’s not impossible. It’s just playing difficult. But if you play well, I think you can shoot under par.”Trailing hopefuls spent hours getting soaked while trudging through a wet mess."It’s just really difficult to keep everything dry,” three-time major champion Jordan Spieth said. "It starts with a grip and if you get water on the ball or the driver face the ball can really go anywhere. "You just have to be so accurate off the tee here and the rain makes it more difficult to be accurate.”World number one Jon Rahm, last month’s Masters winner, fired a 72 despite six bogeys and a birdie in his first 10 holes, standing with Spieth on six-over 216.Four-time major winner Rory McIlroy was three adrift on two-under after a five-foot birdie putt at the par-3 third and six-foot birdie putt at the par-3 fifth.The world number three from Northern Ireland seeks his first major title since 2014.Scheffler, last year’s Masters winner, would overtake Rahm atop the world rankings with a victory. The American could become the first man to win the PGA and the Players Championship in the same year since Hal Sutton in 1983.Hovland led after a round for a third consecutive major and was in the top five after 36 holes for his third major in a row. His best major finish was fourth in last year’s British Open.Conners, ranked 29th, is trying to become his homeland’s second men’s major champion after Mike Weir’s 2003 Masters triumph. Conners won last month’s PGA Tour Texas Open and had his best major finish, a share of sixth, at last year’s Masters.They could take some comfort in knowing that all six prior major champions crowned at Oak Hill, including Jack Nicklaus at the 1980 PGA Championship, were in the top three after 36 holes.Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, two US stars who jumped from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-financed LIV Golf League, were loudly booed when they went off together at the first tee.They are the only players to shoot 66, the low score of the week, and among only nine players under par for 36 holes, the fewest at any PGA since 2008.Spieth, who hoped to complete a career Grand Slam with a victory, fired a 71, his low round this week. The American has struggled with a left wrist injury."I just don’t have the confidence in it not making it worse, so I just bail a little bit,” Spieth said. "I probably cost myself a few shots on that.”Lee Hodges had a dramatic moment at 17 when on a 15-foot par putt his ball hung on the edge of the cup for more than 20 seconds before dropping into the hole, the American being discouraged from tapping in by playing partner Spieth.After the round, Hodges was given a one-stroke penalty for waiting longer than the 10-second limit to play a ball in that situation.Defending champion Justin Thomas fired a 75 to stand with Mickelson and Hodges on 220.