Jason Day struggles to get a grip Sunday at Valhalla

Jason Day is in the thick of things in Sunday’s final round at the PGA Championship but a nagging wrist injury was forcing him to make changes in his grip just a few hours before he headed out in the third-to-last group at Valhalla.

Day, who will start the finale at 10-under and just three shots back of 54-hole leader Rory McIlroy, has had a frustrating season, to say the least. A thumb injury forced him to the DL for a lengthy stay early on, vertigo caused him to withdraw from Firestone last week, and now the wrist stinger that flared up at the British Open.

“I’ve been fighting a little bit of a hook from the U.S. Open. I just got a little strong in the left grip and last week we tried to nail it down,” Day told TNT from under an umbrella as rain pounded the course.

“That’s probably the hardest thing to change in your grip, but I feel like I’m slowly getting it,” he added. “It’s coming around.”

Day noted that he hoped to straighten out the “few quick hooks” he hit during Saturday’s third round, none quite so wayward or adventurous as the drive he yanked into the swamp on the second hole.

“You just have to fight until the end,” Day said about that crazy shot to kick off his weekend. “It wasn’t over, I was just starting my third round. There’s plenty of holes left.”

Sunday, with his shoes back on and pants rolled down -- at least for now, as the skies had really opened in Louisville -- Day was focused on the newly weakened grip he was taking to alleviate the pain on his joint capsule.

Saturday was the first time he had put it into play and he was not enamored of the results. So it was back to the drawing board ahead of his 2:35 p.m. ET tee time with Louis Oosthuizen.

“Wow, that’s pretty amazing stuff, having a grip change when you’re running fourth in a major championship,” opined TNT’s Ian-Baker Finch. “That is difficult, to concentrate on your game enough to win a major, compete in a major, when you’re trying to get used to a grip change.”

Day’s ability to drive the ball an average of 299.5 yards this week, in the midst of such a drastic modification, impressed Baker-Finch.

“More credit to him to be able to play at this level,” he said, “going to a weaker grip and still hit it as far as he does.”

It is what it is, Day suggested.

“Anything can happen,” Day said. “It’s always fun to be in contention on major Sunday.”

Probably not quite so enjoyable when you’re having to change your game plan on the fly during a driving rainstorm.