CHARLOTTE -- Unlike Jean Van de Velde or the fictional Roy McAvoy, Jason Day didn't wait until Sunday to endure a final-hole implosion. He got it out of the way Saturday at the PGA Championship.
Playing in the final group and four strokes off the lead, Day pushed his tee shot on Quail Hollow's lengthy par-4 closing hole into the trees on the right side. Electing not to punch his ball back into the fairway, the 2015 champion attempted to play a hook past an adjacent cart path.
It didn't work. His ball landed in a row of hedges, from which he took a drop. His next shot flew past those hedges but found the thick rough on the right side of the hole. He then hit another wedge shot just short of the green, used his putter to knock it to 7 feet and missed that putt.
The final tally? A quadruple-bogey 8 for a third-round 77 that moved Day from 4 under in the tournament to even par, which left him seven strokes behind 54-hole leader Kevin Kisner entering the final round.
Day declined all media interview requests after the round.
Based on his recent performance, it might've been a surprise that Day was even in the mix entering this weekend. The former world No. 1 has yet to win in what has been a trying year that has included his mother's lung cancer diagnosis.
"It is frustrating to me because I'm sitting there, and I'm like, 'My game is not where it should be. I'm not doing the right things on the course. I really haven't had the greatest year,'" he said prior to the opening round. "You're not panicking or anything. You're just wondering why. You're up at night thinking about, 'OK, what do I need to do to get back to that winning form?' I think once I minimize the distractions that I've had in my life and can focus more on just playing golf and focus, and single-focus on golf, then everything will take care of itself."