“I was able to fight back and be patient, start to make a birdie here or there”, the British Open runner-up said after shooting a 70 for one-over 141, 10 strokes behind leaders Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb.
Advertisement
Walker shot a 4-under 66 with five birdies.
The longest putt McIlroy holed was just seven feet and he needed 34 more to finish a birdie-free round – his fourth in 115 major rounds and second this year – nine shots off the lead and three outside the projected cut.
Streb had eight birdies and a bogey to become the 28th player to shoot a 63 in a major. The ball again started out to the right, and Spieth said to himself, “I need a better break than I got yesterday”.
With the searing heat on Thursday forcing tournament officials to water the greens during play, McIlroy said he would wait until temperatures cooled before returning to the course to work on his putting. But it was a great round.
He was tied with Emiliano Grillo who had a 4-under 32 on his front nine and then made three straight pars.
The only blemish in Walker’s round came at the 18th, when he bogeyed the par-five as Streb closed in.
After his win at Royal Troon, Stenson is enjoying plenty of support from the Baltusrol crowd. And that’s worked pretty well, so I’m sticking with the same plan. “He’s just so tentative through impact (with his putter)”.
Not everyone had such a good day, though. And Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy missed the cut.
Matt Jones (68) made the cut on the number at two over, meaning Greg Chalmers (76) is the only Australian to miss the cut at eight over.
He attributes his performance to lowered expectations once he couldn’t prepare like he usually does, partly because he was worn out after playing the British and Canadian Opens in consecutive weeks and contracting a cold from his young son. He began his round with a tee shot so far left that it sailed off the property, bounced along a road and caromed to the left down another.
Choi and Hend both mixed their cards with four birdies and two bogeys to share ninth place with 10 other players that include world number one Jason Day and Major victor Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa at Baltusrol. He couldn’t make a thing, not that it’s any different than what he’s been doing all year. 12-13 – his third and fourth holes, respectively.
“It was a bit of a mess there”.
“But, man, I hit nearly every mid-range putt I had a good two to four feet past the hole”.
That Day has played so well on a course he knew little about before arriving this week – and then playing only one practice round – is remarkable.
“I just didn’t really do anything that well this week”, Johnson said.
Day said he’s feeling healthier each day.
“When the first guy comes back and he’s ready for a cocktail, you have one”, Walker said. This is the ninth major hosted by Baltusrol, including the U.S. Open seven times.
Advertisement
“Right now I’ve got to focus on resting up tonight and be as patient as possible over the weekend”.
