Koepka clings to lead as PGA Championship moves to back nine

Brooks Koepka was closing in on a PGA Championship hat-trick and a landmark major win for LIV Golf on Sunday clinging to a one-shot lead heading onto the back nine at sunny Oak Hill.

Saying he had learned his lessons from last month's Masters, when he led by two going into the final round before a collapse opened the door for Jon Rahm to grab the Green Jacket, Koepka came out firing on all cylinders.

Winner of four majors including back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018 and 2019, Koepka began the day atop the leaderboard, one shot clear of Norway's Viktor Hovland and Canada's Corey Connors, and looked ready to win in a romp after carding three consecutive birdies from the second.

But the big-hitting American needed all of them as Hovland would not allow the pacesetter to run away, answering with birdies of his own at four and five.

When Koepka bogeyed the sixth suddenly the romp was a nail-biter with the lead back to one.

Scottie Scheffler, who appeared to drop out of contention after a poor third round left him four adrift, was clawing his way back into the hunt by going two-under through 11 holes to sit just three off the pace.

Conners bid to become the first Canadian man to win a major since Mike Weir two decades ago at the Masters was fading as three bogeys plus a birdie on his outward nine dropped him four back alongside Bryson DeChambeau, Kurt Kitayama and Cam Davis.

The day could be remembered as watershed moment for LIV Golf with two of its standard bearers, Koepka and DeChambeau, in position to deliver the controversial Saudi-bankrolled circuit some major validation.

Critics of LIV Golf have branded the big-money venture as uncompetitive and little more than a sportswashing enterprise by a country eager to polish its human rights record.

A victory by Koepka or DeChambeau would not end the human rights questions but would give the tour a bit of the credibility and legitimacy it seeks.