Jason Day back in contention for a Memorial win on ‘home’ course

DUBLIN, Ohio -- Each coming off wins in their last start, Saturday needed to be moving day at the Memorial for golf’s trio of superstars. And while Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth struggled to make up ground on the leaders, Jason Day surged forward into contention to challenge for the lead.

Well, until the last hole.

Day walked up the 17th fairway with an 8-foot opportunity to tie Emiliano Grillo and William McGirt for the lead at 14-under, but his fortunes changed quickly in a hole and a half. His putt to tie didn’t turn as much as expected and slid over the lip, and he followed that up on the 18th by leaving a pitch shot short of the false front and turning in a double-bogey six on the 54th hole of the tournament.

“It was just a little bit unlucky of the lie, I think. It shouldn’t have stayed there in the first place, halfway up the hill,” Day said of the pitch. “It’s already soft underneath with a pitch mark behind. Just hit it a little bit fat with the chip, trying to make sure that I got underneath it to put a little spin on it.”

At 11-under, he’s still by no stretch out of contention. He’ll be three back of McGirt, Gary Woodland, and Matt Kuchar to start Sunday morning in what should be tougher conditions than players have seen through the first three days of the tournament.

Here are five things to watch during Sunday’s final round.

This is, essentially, Day’s “home tournament” on the PGA Tour. Sure, he’s Australian -- but his ties to the state are deep. He lives in Central Ohio. His wife is from here, they met here, he’s raised his kids here. Columbus might be the only Tour stop stateside where Day’s crowds and cheers might dwarf Jordan Spieth -- and it’ll be a big deal if he’s able to come from behind and grab the victory on Sunday.

But there’s actual, real golf reasons why winning here would signal something bigger for Day, too. Despite it being close to his adopted home, he’s never played well here. Sound like a familiar theme this season? Day’s already won this year at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass -- two other courses where, by his own admission, he hasn’t played well in the past. A win at Muirfield Village would give Day a trifecta of layout demons he’s conquered between mid-March and now and would just be more evidence to his claim to the World’s Best Player Right Now title.

Over the past few years, no one’s been better at Muirfield Village than Matt Kuchar. He won here in 2013 and contends nearly every year -- only finishing outside the Top 15 once since 2007. He knows the track as well as any in the field, and he’ll easily be the most accomplished player in the final group on Sunday. A bogey on the last on Saturday night after the storms cost him the overnight solo lead

“I love this golf course,” he said. “This is the highlight for me of the year. Certainly got great memories here. My track record is very good. I’ve had a lot of success here, having a win back in ‘13. I’ll certainly be looking forward to tomorrow’s round of golf.”

That’s an incredibly Matt Kuchar quote, sure, whatever. But it’s an obviously true statement given his play here, and he’s as good a pick as any to win on Sunday.

Here’s a fun little tidbit: William McGirt was six behind to start the third round. Rory McIlroy will be five back to start the day on Sunday.

No, McIlroy won’t exactly be a favorite in the final round -- he’ll have to take it low to have a chance. But the golf course has yielded low scores all week, just as McGirt and Søren Kjeldsen proved with 64s on Saturday. If McIlroy could post a similar number, things could get fun coming down the back nine.

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If you’re one of those people that track things that are “GOOD FOR GOLF,” you probably pull for one of two outcomes during tournaments. Either 1) a star to win or 2) a compelling dude that could become a star wins. Emiliano Grillo is the latter.

Okay, okay, maybe that’s hyperbolic. But Grillo’s game is real enough to win major championships. Plural.

He’ll start the day just a shot behind the leaders after making double bogey on the 17th following the delay. If he wins, Grillo will be one of two players on the PGA Tour under 23 with multiple wins on tour. The other is Jordan Spieth. Taking home a title as big as the Memorial would instantly elevate the tiny Argentinian above some of the other early 20-somethings that garner more attention (Hi Justin Thomas, Smylie Kaufman, & Bryson DeChambeau!) and might make him a trendy pick at Oakmont in two weeks.

It’s not as sexy or as headline-grabbing as seeing Spieth, Day, or McIlroy at the top, but some of the best stories of the golf year often come when journeymen tour pros that have toiled on lower tours are able to gain the financial and career security that comes with a PGA Tour win. For Adam Hadwin, Jon Curran, William McGirt, or Zac Blair, lifting the trophy would truly be life-changing.

Here’s this for context: If Jason Day wins, he’ll have double the number of wins in the last 10 months that Hadwin, Curran, McGirt, and Blair have made MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP STARTS COMBINED. McGirt’s been a regular on the Tour for a few years and has a trio of second-place finishes, but the other three are almost completely new to the big stage. Curran is a couple years removed from the dang Hooters Tour and has exactly one Web.com Tour win to his name. Hadwin had a near-miss at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, but has spent the majority of his career playing on the Web.com tour or in his native Canada. Zac Blair is a dude best known for bashing his putter off his face, getting DQ’d, and then being really cool about it. Root for all these dudes, because a win here would get them Masters & PGA Championship invites and a whoooooooole lot of money.

Due to the threat of afternoon storms, the leaders tee off at 10:30 a.m. ET on Sunday (the full tee sheet is here).