Day 3 of the Brooks Koepka Classic . . .

• Our hero had a rather pedestrian day, carding an even par 70, but that was plenty good enough to keep a 7-shot lead over his now-closest pursuers, Luke List and Dustin Johnson. For a few moments, it appeared that we would be treated to the dizzying prospect of a Brooks/DJ final round pairing, but, alas, Johnson bogied 18, thus removing perhaps the one remaining reason for Sunday’s proceedings.
• I kid, of course. It’s 45 degrees in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and snowing on the mountaintops. What else will I do?
• Bethpage Black showed its teeth today. Three under par 67 was today’s low round, shot by Harold Varner III and the marvelously monikered Jazz Janewattananond from Thailand, whose surname was only attempted by Jim Nantz. The Long Island winds dried out the greens and seemed to confuse a lot of players hitting into the many elevated greens.
• The relative lack of drama did not stop the flow of Twitter observations/humor/snark. A sampling:
  • From NBC Sports Jimmy Roberts: My favorite @PGAChampionship story of the week: ran into 2 local guys whose Uber didn’t show up. They noticed a courtesy car nearby and knocked on the window & asked for a ride. It was [PGA Tour player] @joostluiten – he said sure & chatted w/ them all the way into the players parking lot. https://twitter.com/jimmyrobertsnbc/status/1129425526769295365?s=12
  • Basketball for Dummies co-author Tim Bouret: Tiger still hasnt won a “full field event”in six years (2013 Players). Koepka beat him by 17 shots over 36 holes. https://twitter.com/timbourret/status/1129515610025734144?s=12

• • Journalist John Feinstein: Brooks Koepka walks on first tee, shakes hands with teen-age girl standard-bearer and says, “Hi, I’m Brooks.” Girl almost faints. I suspect she knew he was Brooks beforehand. https://twitter.com/jfeinsteinbooks/status/1129844203951984640?s=12
  • Bunkered Digital Editor Michael McEwan (speaking of Justin Rose’s wardrobe choice, which featured a lavenderish pineapple pattern): Did Justin Rose lose a bet or something? https://twitter.com/MMcEwanbunkered/status/1129818343303778304

• • ESPN Golf Reporter Keith Van Valkenburg commenting on the gallery at Bethpage: Here is my PGA prediction and you can bookmark it: By the end of Saturday the nasty behavior of the crowd will be come “a thing” and we’ll end up fighting about it, with allegations of snowflakes and golf snobs and Long Island jerks being lobbed about like grenades.
  • And his followup: With little drama or suspense and no Tiger, people are going to get bored and compelled to do boorish things. And it will play right into the hands of people eager to talk about how soft golfers are. It’s just a shame Sergio isn’t still here to douse the situation with gasoline.
  • And a few minutes later . . . Update: As Brooks was making his birdie on 13, a guy in the gallery was screaming at the police to arrest a CBS camera guy he claimed nearly ran over his his with a cart, and then started yelling “F all you Democrats! I’m reporting all of you.”https://twitter.com/KVanValkenburg/status/1129867258082336769

Onward and upward, lads!