The cheers erupted as Jordan Spieth walked down the eighth fairway late in his second round Friday at the PGA Championship, but only when the fans saw the portable scoreboard tailing behind him.
Advertisement
And that was before a wicked storm that packed gusts up to 48 miles per hour and suspended play until 5 a.m. PDT Saturday. These included the Englishman Justin Rose, who had advanced to eight under, five under for the day, with the treacherous 18th remaining.
“I was pretty nervous on the first tee”, McIlroy said of contemplating his first ball struck in anger since the US Open in June.
Watched by massive galleries, all three provided their share of the spectacular, along with a few mis-steps along the way, before McIlroy and Spieth wound up with matching 71s and Johnson with a 75.
Sweden’s David Lingmerth, who obviously found himself with his debut win at the Memorial this year, is the clubhouse leader at 7-under.
“That was a roller coaster”, Lingmerth said on TNT. “I’m going to have to shoot a couple more rounds like today”.
The American dominated leaderboard sees Spieth joined on six-under by home favourites Scott Piercy, Brendan Steele, Russell Henley and J.B Holmes.
Japan’s Hiroshi Iwata equalled the lowest round in major championship history as Jordan Spieth took another step towards an even more impressive feat in the US PGA Championship.
“I have a putt on 15 to get to 10”. We’ve got some work to do this weekend.
It was a nice encouraging start with birdies on first and fourth, though I had makeable birdie putts in between.
Spieth was 1-under for the day when he jump-started his round by holing a bunker shot for birdie on No. 18, his ninth hole. And, as always, he made some memories along the way. “He hits it far enough and he’s definitely above average in terms of length, but he’s the prime example of someone whose game is very efficient”.
Iwata, who racked up eight birdies, an eagle at the par-five 11th and a bogey, became the 25th player to shoot a 63 at a major as he vaulted within three shots of the lead.
McIlroy’s victory in December 2013 at the Australian Open set the tone for a remarkable 2014 campaign highlighted by four wins worldwide, two of them in the majors. The tournament will be held from August 13-16, 2015, so expect top-quality play from today’s top golfers. He rolled in a birdie from 10 feet on No. 1, and then almost hit the wrong club on the par-3 third.
Jones has not been almost as prolific in major championships as Day, with his best finish a tie for 30 at last month’s Open Championship, but he has been playing solid golf this season and tied for third at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
“It’s good to be up there”, he said, “but there’s a long, long way to go. It really means nothing right now”. He’s one over for the day and four over for the tournament, with just seven holes left to get to the cut mark. “When you try to push and try to make things happen, that’s when you can make some big numbers at the majors”.
“I felt like I was just super-patient, stayed focused all day and I was swinging well”. Go chill?
Advertisement
Then there is Woods’ predicament, not good position. 13 and 14 to slip back to 5-under.
