History not on Day's side to defend PGA Championship

Despite trailing by only two strokes, Jason Day waltzed into Sunday's third round with odds-makers confident he would go on to lock up his second straight PGA Championship.

The World No. 1 managed to cut the deficit in half by the end of the tournament's 54th hole, but there's just one problem: history.

History is not on Day's side at all.

In fact, since the PGA Championship implemented the stroke-play format in 1958, only Tiger Woods has managed to successfully defend the season's fourth and final major trophy.

Even before the stroke-play era, repeating as PGA Championship victor proved to be an extremely rare feat, with only Denny Shute being able to do it in the 20 previous years.

Day, therefore, is up against the stats, on top of the pack of contenders breathing down his neck, which includes - but is not limited to - 2016 US Open champ Henrik Stenson and 2012 US Open champ Webb Simpson.

Leaderboard after Round 3:

If there's anybody that could do it, it might be Day.

For his part, the 28-year-old Aussie has ensured he won't lose the tournament due to a lack of urgency.

"It would be really nice to get that second major under my belt," he said after his third round. "I don't want to win just one for my career."

On Friday, Day communicated similar sentiments when he said he doesn't want any sympathy because he's been under the weather lately and arrived at Baltusrol later than most - if not all - other players.

So here he goes, the best player in the world looking to impose his presence and make history. He hopes to write a few pages of it, in fact, but the preceding chapters suggest he may run out of ink before he can scribe his name as the author of the greatest achievement in recent PGA Championship memory.