Shane Lowry recorded his lowest round in a Major to move right into contention as the second round of the weather-delayed US PGA Championship was completed on Saturday morning.
Gary Woodland had set the target at ten under before storms arrived at Bellerive Country Club on Friday afternoon and while he would not be caught, Lowry was among a host of players to make a charge up the leaderboard early on day three.
Rickie Fowler carded a 66 to get to eight under alongside fellow American Brooks Koepka, one shot back of another clubhouse dweller in Kevin Kisner.
Lowry's sensational bogey-free 64 moved him to within three of the lead and into a group alongside Friday finishers Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Pieters.
Defending champion Justin Thomas and Pat Perez moved into the group four shots off the lead, with 2015 winner Jason Day and Julian Suri making their way to five under.
Lowry was already three under for his first ten holes and he put his tee-shot on the par three third to ten feet to edge to five under for the week. A wonderful approach to tap-in range on the seventh set up another birdie before a six-footer on the ninth completed his morning's work.
"I got a good night's rest," he said. "My day out there this morning did the business, it was nice. Conditions were perfect, no real wind this morning and perfect greens.
"Obviously things haven't been going well for me this year. The last few weeks have been good.
"I have my brother on the bag and he's doing a great job, really enjoyed it. And now we're going out on a Saturday afternoon in the mix at the PGA, it's great. I have my dad here to watch, it doesn't get much better."
We're going out on a Saturday afternoon in the mix at the PGA. It doesn't get much better - Shane Lowry
Fowler was two under for his round playing the 11th when the hooter sounded on Friday and he showed no ill effects from the disruption, putting an approach to five feet and moving to eight under.
He found a bunker off the tee on the par three 13th to drop a shot but a textbook birdie after laying up on the par five 17th got him back within two shots.
"This golf course really suits me," he said. "I feel like I can play it very well. I feel like I'm in a good spot with the game so the biggest thing is not getting ahead of yourself, sticking to the game plan."
American Perez began the day at five under and initially slipped back after missing the green on the 15th but he laid up and birdied the 17th before holing a 15-footer on the last for a 67.
Countryman Thomas had 11 holes left to play in the morning and started birdie-bogey before picking up further shots on the 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th in a 65.
Playing partner Tiger Woods picked up a shot in the morning to get to four under, with two-time champion Rory McIlroy completing that three-ball a further shot back - the highlight of his 67 being a chip-in on the 14th.
Tony Finau was at level par after a 66 but that did not tell the whole story as he completed one of the most remarkable rounds in US PGA Championship history.
The American started his round with five straight birdies before recording a triple-bogey on the sixth. He then bounced back with two gains on the seventh and eighth to become just the second player in 25 years to card seven birdies on a nine at this event.
Another bogey came on the ninth as he turned in 32, and three more birdies on the back nine made him just the second player in history after Gary Player to record ten in a round at the season's fourth Major.
