WARRNAMBOOL golfer Marc Leishman is on track for his best finish in a major when the final round of the 92nd PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin tees off this morning.
The 26-year-old, who was forced to play 30 holes yesterday (AEST) after fog delayed the second round, was to start his final round this morning at even par, 13 shots behind leader, American Nick Watney.
Leishman, who made a bright start to the tournament, making four birdies in the first six holes in his opening round before posting a one-under 71, had a one-over 73 in his second round and an even par round of 72 in the third round.
Leishman's PGA Championship campaign, just his fourth appearance at a major, has been undermined by bogeys. In the third round, he made four birdies but matched them with four bogeys.
His best result at a major was tied for 60th at last month's British Open after he had missed the cut in the US Masters and US Open earlier this year.
Watney fired a six-under-par 66 to take a three-shot lead into the final round but his efforts were overshadowed by China's Liang Wen-chong, who set a course record with a sizzling 64.
Watney, whose six top-10 finishes this year include two in majors, moved to 13-under 203 and has a three-shot lead on fellow American Dustin Johnson and Northern Ireland's rising star Rory McIlroy, who each shot 67s.
Liang rolled in eight birdies during a bogey-free round as he went one stroke below than the previous Whistling Straits record set by Miguel Angel Jimenez and Darren Clarke.
"I know how to remain calm and not let the pressure get to me," said Liang. "So I was able to perform very, very well today."
Liang, from Zhongshan, has a chance to become the first golfer from China to win a major championship. South Korean Yang Yong-Eun became the first Asian man to win a major title by winning last year's PGA Championhip.
Liang reached nine-under 207 through 54 holes and is four shots adrift of Watney, tied for fourth with Australian Jason Day (66) and German Martin Kaymer (67).
Steve Elkington (67), Zach Johnson (69), Jason Dufner (69) and Jim Furyk (70) are at eight-under 208.
Tiger Woods' quest for a 15th major title hit a snag in the third round as he shot an even-par 72 and now has a lot of work to do as he is 10 shots off the pace.
Saturday was the first time that morning play started on time and by the end of the day the schedule was all caught up.
There have been a total of nearly six hours in fog delays followed by two rounds halted by darkness.
Seven of the top 10 players on the leaderboard are seeking their first major championship, including Watney.
Watney, who won for the second time on the PGA Tour at last year's Buick Invitational, competed in two previous PGA Championships but missed the cut in both.
Watney said he is going to try and keep it simple on Sunday.
"I am going to go out there tomorrow, put a tee in the ground on No. 1 and just focus on that shot," Watney said. "It is going to be a long day and a tough day but I am really looking forward to it."
Watney, 29, had three consecutive birdies on the front nine, including a 15-foot putt on the par-five fifth hole.
He opened his third round with birdies on the first and second holes and finished with a bogey on the par-four 18.
McIlroy, who earned his first PGA Tour title earlier this season at Quail Hollow, made birdies on three of his first five holes. He finished with six birdies, 11 pars and one bogey.
"I holed a lot of putts out there," said McIlroy, who is hoping to improve on his third-place finish last year in his PGA Championship debut at Hazeltine.
Woods finished his darkness-halted second round in the morning but couldn't maintain his solid play throughout the third round. He had three bogeys on the front nine and hit just five of 14 fairways in the third round.
Putting and par-fives gave Woods the most trouble.
"Unfortunately you have to make birdies on the par-fives and I haven't done that," Woods said.
Half the field had to finish their second rounds Saturday morning after darkness halted play on Thursday and Friday.
Woods played in the first two rounds with defending champion Yang, who missed the cut.
European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and reigning British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa also missed the cut.
Masters champ Phil Mickelson is the only one of the three major champions of this year who made the cut.
US Open winner Graeme McDowell had seven bogeys over his two rounds and finished at three-over 147.
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