Liang hits it Straits and true for course record

WHISTLING STRAITS was finally brought to its knees in the third round of the PGA, a day that brought benign conditions, favourable pin placements and more birdies than anybody could imagine. Who will win this today? It's impossible to say, for the leaderboard is packed and only a few shots separate a raft of different players.

• Watch the birdies: Wenchong Liang lines up a putt on his way to a course-record breaking 64

It could be the impressive Nick Watney who clinches the deal. It could be the fast-charging Martin Kaymer or Rory McIlroy, both of whom were outstanding in their third rounds. There are a battery of young Americans - and a few veterans - within striking distance also.

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher is too far back, but his reputation as a performer of high-class has been added to by what he is doing in Wisconsin this week. Gallacher does not look out of place in this stellar field and on this brutal golf course, a layout that already claimed the scalps of many of the world's best players at the halfway cut. Padraig Harrington failed to make it past the 36-hole mark. So did Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Ross Fisher and other Ryder Cup players and major champions. Tiger Woods made it, but couldn't improve his position, finishing his third round with a 72 for 3-under. Woods won't win either but there are sure signs here that he is beginning to get his game back in order. Maybe not his putting, though. "I hit the ball better than I did in the first two days, but I putted atrociously," he said candidly in the aftermath.

There were many star performers last night, but the pick of them was Wenchong Liang of China, who did something that would have been considered impossible only a few days ago.

The 32-year-old fired in eight birdies in a round of 64 and broke the course record, a feat that was quite breathtaking to behold. Liang has no track record in major championships, having played in less than a handful of these events and only ever making one cut. But he was irresistible in Wisconsin. For a player who possessed an unorthodox and wholly ungainly baseball type swing when entering the ranks of professional golf in 1999, he has come a long way.

Liang has won many times on the Asian tour and is the Chinese player to win the Asian Order of Merit, but his mantle of the flagbearer of his continent was passed on long ago.

After the success of YE Yang at the PGA last year, it will be intriguing to see how Liang copes with the pressure this evening.

There are some fine European performances for Colin Montgomerie to take heart from, but so many of his team crashed early here and he must be concerned by the form of some of his bigger names.

Harrington, winner two years ago, made a brilliant recovery from his opening 75, but all the hard work was undone when he hit his second shot into the hazard short of the 18th green.From there he took a penalty drop, pitched 10 feet past the flag and missed the bogey putt. With a 71 for a two over aggregate he then waited to learn his fate - and an hour later it was confirmed he was out by a shot.

"It's very disappointing, but it would be silly to think that my last shot is going to cost me my place," said Harrington. Even if he gets a pick, though, it could have cost somebody else their spot. "The Ryder Cup does come first. I made out my schedule to peak for the four majors and the Ryder Cup and I'm going to stick with it. If I get picked I want to be ready to play." Meanhile, Donald, who tumbled to a 77 for five over, is currently fourth on the Ryder Cup standings, but the problem for him is that if he is overtaken on the world points list he will not be among the five who qualify on the European Tour list because he has spent most of the season in the States.

The resumes this evening at Whistling Straits, though. Watney is the one to beat, but the chasing pack look formidable.