Who are you? And you? And you?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/08/2011 (5494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Brendan Steele is playing in his first major championship. Jason Dufner has never won a tour event.

Hard to tell at the PGA Championship.

The no-names stayed cool on a sweltering Saturday at Atlanta Athletic Club, setting up a final round that will be short on recognizable faces but could end a major drought for the Americans. Steele shot 4-under 66 and was tied with Dufner, who joined him at 7-under 203 with a 68.

“It’s a great week for me just to be in the field,” Steele said. “To have a chance to actually win in my first major is really something special.”

Keegan Bradley, another guy playing in his first major, bounced back from a double bogey at the first hole for a 69 that left him just one stroke back heading to the final round, another perfect fit for what is developing as the theme of the year’s final major.

Who are these guys anyway?

“Coming up to the final hole with the sun going down,” Bradley said, “that was kind of cool.”

Tiger Woods, defending PGA champion Martin Kaymer and several other stars are watching from home, failing to make the cut. U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, who came into the week as the favourite, struggled to a 74 with his ailing wrist and won’t be a factor today.

Into the void stepped several Americans known only to the most ardent golf fans. But they’ve put the U.S. in position to capture its first major title since Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters. Since then, it’s an 0-for-6 drought, this country’s longest of the modern Grand Slam era.

The 34-year-old Dufner, who had not made a cut since late May, showed his moxie after a couple of three-putt bogeys knocked him out of the lead. He bounced back with a birdie at the 15th, the longest par-3 on the course, and made it two in a row by rolling in a 12-footer at the next hole.

He’s got the closest thing to a home-course advantage among the leaders — he lives about two hours away in Auburn, Ala., and is used to playing in the blistering heat and on Bermuda greens.

“Maybe I’m a little bit surprised to be in the final group at a major,” Dufner said. “But I’m not surprised to be playing well on this type of golf course.”

Steele, a 28-year-old Californian, birdied five of the first 10 holes, shaking off a double bogey at the seventh when he drove into a swale on the left, tried to putt it on and watched in dismay as the ball rolled back to his feet.

Bradley, the 25-year-old nephew of LGPA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley, got off to a jittery start. He drove his first shot into a bunker, did the same with the second and wound up taking a double-bogey six. But he quickly steadied himself, dropping only one more shot with a bogey at the seventh on the way to a 204.

“That was a tough first hole, but I really calmed down after that,” he said. “It didn’t really bother me much at all. I played really well.”

There were some familiar names lurking near the top. Forty-seven-year-old Scott Verplank had two late birdies for a 69 and headed to the clubhouse at 205, his creaky body holding up in the heat. Steve Stricker, the top-ranked American in the world at age 44, was another stroke back after a 69 of his own.

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Neither of the old-timers has won a major title.

Jim Furyk was in the mix until he put two balls in the water at the 18th and took double bogey. The 73 dropped him to 209, a daunting six strokes off the lead.

— The Associated Press