They don’t have the amateur baseball equivalent of a 15-run rule to stop the game early on a count of lopsidedness, so they will go ahead and play the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday at Bethpage, though the winner — Brooks Koepka — has essentially already been determined.
The tickets have been sold, the corporate tents are spoken for and the beer taps are still flowing.
But if it’s drama or intrigue you’re seeking out of Sunday’s final round on the Black Course, this is not your place. Unless you’re fired up about the race for second place. Because that’s about the only suspense remaining in this tournament.
Koepka — who’s poised to win his fourth major championship in the span of two years, his fourth major in the past eight in which he’s played — put Bethpage Black to sleep with his remarkable performance in the first two rounds, with a 63 on Thursday and a 65 on Friday.
Needing only to keep the field at bay by avoiding any sort of collapse, Koepka, who took a seven-shot lead into the third round, posted an even-par 70 on Saturday and retained that seven-shot lead entering Sunday’s anticlimactic final round.
Nobody in major championship history or PGA Tour history has lost a seven-shot lead after 54 holes. So there’s that.
Four players — Dustin Johnson, Harold Varner III, Luke List and Jazz Janewattananond — are tied for second place at 5-under. Matt Wallace and Hideki Matsuyama are 4-under.
“I’m definitely not going to let up, I promise you that,’’ Koepka said. “I enjoy the confidence I have and what I’m playing with right now.’’
Asked if there’s any doubt in his mind that he’s going to win Sunday, Koepka, without a nanosecond of hesitation, said, “No.’’
“I feel confident, I feel good, I feel excited,’’ he said. “I feel confident going into [Sunday]. There’s really a couple key holes out here. You play [No.] 7 well, play 10 and 12 well, and then from there, you just hit the center of the greens and try to par this place to death.’’
Nerves?
Those won’t in Koepka’s golf bag.
“I don’t know what my resting heart rate is … but if I did, it would probably be not far off what it is sitting on the couch versus the first tee or the 18th green,’’ he said. “I would say I’m pretty flatline, as you can tell.’’
That would be an equal understatement to one suggesting Koepka is playing fairly well this week.
“Brooks is taking the tournament by the neck,’’ said Xander Schauffele, at 3-under and playing well yet still nine shots behind Koepka. “I don’t see him giving up, either. He’s just doing his thing and everyone else is chasing. It is a weird thing. This is a major championship and everyone is here to win, but there’s only one guy who’s absolutely just destroying this place. I’m sure he’s having a blast. But for the rest of us, he’s making it awfully boring.’’
Rickie Fowler was asked if Koepka has gotten to the point where he intimidates other players the way Tiger Woods once did.
“We’ve always looked at Brooks as one of the best players out here and I feel like it’s more of a level of respect,’’ Fowler said. “It’s not necessarily [that you’re] scared of him or anything. He made a good comment earlier in the week as far as Tiger being intimidating. We’re not worried, he’s not coming trying to hit me or anything. If Brooks was going to try and hit me, I’d want him on my side.
“It’s not like I’m trying to catch a pass up the middle and he’s coming across to hit me. Although, in full contact golf, may be interesting. But no, it’s obviously great to see him play well and put together some rounds like he is right now. It’s impressive stuff.’’
Phil Mickelson walked off the course after shooting a 6-over 76 Saturday, looked at the leaderboard to observe what Koepka has been doing this week and said, “I just have a lot of respect for him and his game and how hard he works and the process he went through after he left amateur golf as a pro to make it out here.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for him, and he’s playing some remarkable golf. It’s not easy. It’s really not an easy test.’’
Yet Koepka is making one of the most difficult golf courses on the planet with the strongest field in professional golf look ridiculously easy.