Shane Lowry, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy all failed to survive the cut, with a closing bogey proving extremely costly for McIlroy, who missed out by one stroke.
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Three weeks after shooting a 64 in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open, the 25-year-old South Korean player made the last of her 10 birdies on the par-3 17th and closed with a par.
He wanted relief from the casual water, not the gravel cart path, because it kept an opening to the hole.
World number three Jordan Spieth was surprised to face questions about a possible rules violation after a second round of 67 in the US PGA Championship. “I’d have to look that up”.
The five-time major victor set about steadying himself, writing the triple bogey on the scorecard and leaving it behind. With four birdies the rest of the way and only a slip-up on 16, Mickelson managed an even-par 70 to advance to the weekend. Among the crowd at 68 was defending champion Jason Day and Jhonattan Vegas, who didn’t qualify for this tournament until winning last week’s Canadian Open. Mickelson was the one who pulled it off, to the joy of fans.
Two-time major champion Martin Kaymer of Germany fired a one-under par 69 on Friday (Jul 29) to reach the clubhouse with a share of the lead in the second round of the PGA Championship. It appeared to hang a left on Baltusrol Drive, possibly on its way to the Hudson River.
Playing a provisional on the 478-yard hole, Mickelson messed up once more, the ball landing far from the fairway, nestling near a path. His next shot nearly landed in the backyard of a home adjoining the golf course. “Once that comes and my putting gets back, then I’m firing on all cylinders”.
They were at 131, matching the 36-hole record first set by Hal Sutton in 1983 at Riviera and then repeated by Jason Dufner in 2013 at Oak Hill, according to a report by ESPN. He said he had “never been in this situation”, and was “not afraid of it”.
Then he let out a major sigh of relief.
“I’m having a hard time right now managing my expectations, because I know how well I’m playing”, he said, “and I’m so result oriented that I’m not playing very relaxed, free golf like I did at the British, like I did in the preparation here”.
The other members of his group, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson, weren’t able to get their rounds going. “Obviously I didn’t come close, but at least someone did it for me”. He made his first birdie of the tourney on No. 4 and birdied 6, but bogeyed the ninth.
Walker was flawless on the front nine, birdieing the fifth and eighth holes and he continued to post birdies after the turn, picking up shots at the 12th, 13th and 14th. Two of them were shot from 18 feet and one of them from 35 feet. “I just need to figure out what to do on the greens”, McIlroy said. It was a tough lie.
“I played that hole so bad that it was really frustrating for me”.
He felt most betrayed by his putter.
“I must say I have some frustration because it does happen often that it softens up and it’s costly if you take all day to make the adjustment”.
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“It was too easy out there today and that was kind of the worst I should have shot”.
