Day two shots off lead at Torrey Pines

A spectacular hole-out eagle from 147 yards on the 17th hole has Jason Day well poised for a final-round tilt at the US PGA Tour event at Torrey Pines.

Just two holes after being rattled by splitting a young boy’s head open with an errant drive, the Australian hit his nine-iron approach to the penultimate hole with stunning precision to lift him to just two shots off the lead after the third round on Saturday.

The world No.8’s one-under 71 moved him to seven-under for the tournament and a tie for eighth, just two behind co-leaders Harris English (73) and JB Holmes (68).

Former US Open winner Lucas Glover (70), recent Sony Open winner Jimmy Walker (70) and fellow Americans Spencer Levin (70), Chad Campbell (70) and Nick Watney (72) shared third at eight-under.

Day, battling a head cold, struggled early and was two-over through 12 holes.

But he managed a timely birdie on the 13th before sending his drive on the 15th left into the crowd.

The result was a nasty head wound to a young boy, upsetting Day.

“I felt awful and I will make sure he is okay and gets some nice stuff,” Day said.

“And after that I just thought I have to play good for him, not quit on the round.

“Thankfully I hit the good shot into 17 and made it and now I’ll have a good chance tomorrow.”

Fellow Australian Marc Leishman ground out an even-par 72 to be six-under and tied 13th, just three strokes back.

The Victorian opened with a bogey and couldn’t buy a putt throughout but a one-under back-nine left him with a chance to better his runner-up finish from a year ago.

Cameron Percy shot 73 to sit three-under and tied 32nd while John Senden’s 73 left him at even-par in a tie for 55th.

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