Definition of Moving Day in Golf

We often hear golf announcers on tournament broadcasts, or just golfers in general, saying something along the lines of, "Today is moving day," or "Tiger Woods is making his move on moving day."

What does "moving day" mean in this golf context? Moving day is the expression that golfers use to mean the day before the final round of a tournament.

So in a four-round (72-hole) tournament, moving day is the third round. In a three-round (54-hole) tournament, moving day is the second round.

Since most top-level professional golf tournaments are four rounds/72 holes, and are played on a Thursday-Sunday schedule, that means that Saturday (Round 3) is usually "moving day."

Most pro tournaments have a cut after the first two rounds (after 36 holes), so when the field returns for Round 3 the golfers left obviously comprise those who've been playing the best so far.

And if those golfers hope to win the tournament in the final round? Then in Round 3, they better get moving. That's where the expression comes from: Moving day is the penultimate round in a golf tournament, the day when competitors are trying to move themselves into position to make a run at winning in the final round. And "moving" refers to moving up the leaderboard.