NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — In an unorthodox move, Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, the winner of last week’s Truist Championship, changed putters mid-tournament and shot a 5-under-par 65 on Saturday in the third round of the PGA Championship.
Reitan, who is at 2-under and just four shots behind Alex Smalley, replaced the new putter he used to win at Quail Hollow with his old one.
“I’ve had that putter for two and a half years,’’ he said. “Then I changed before last week and putted well with [the new one]. I don’t know … just something about the feel of it. It was an easy choice to give the old putter a new go [Saturday], and I’m happy that I did.’’
Stephan Jaeger, who is at even-par after three rounds, had a fun back and forth with Martin Kaymer, who on Thursday joked that Jaeger doesn’t count as one of the fellow Germans in the field because he’s spent so much time in the U.S.
“Well, I can show him my passport,’’ Jaeger said. “I only have one [and] that’s the German one. He’s not wrong. I’ve been here in the States for longer than I was in Germany. I’ve been here 20 years; I left Germany when I was 17.
“I still consider myself, I have some German tics to me, but I also have a lot of Tennessean in me.’’
Ben Kern, the only one of the 20 club professionals in the field to make the cut, shot 67 on Friday.
Since 2000, a club professional has shot 67 or better at the PGA Championship just three times — and Kern shot two of those rounds.
He also shot 67 in the third round of the 2018 PGA Championship.
Kern shot a 7-over 77 on Saturday.
When Bryson DeChambeau, one of the biggest stars in the sport, missed the cut Friday, it marked the first time he’s missed the cut in consecutive majors since 2017.
DeChambeau also missed the cut at the Masters last month.
His next major comes at Shinnecock for the U.S. Open, which he’s won twice.
The PGA Championship on Saturday announced its $20.5 million purse, putting it over the $20 million mark for the first time.
There was a bump of $1.5 million from last year, the PGA’s largest increase since 2023.
The PGA now ranks third in the majors behind the Masters ($22.5 million) and the U.S. Open ($21.5 million) but is ahead of the British Open ($17 million).
