Still, it may have been the quietest 63 in major championship history. “It just shows you how bad I was around the greens”. That’s fun. That’s the accomplishment of a lifetime even for seasoned pros like them.
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Martin Kaymer of Germany shot a 69 in Friday’s second round to rise into four-way tie for second with Patrick Reed, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina and 18-hole leader Jimmy Walker at 5-under.
Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb made it as far as the practice range before clouds gathered, the sky rumbled and storms dumped more rain on an already saturated golf course at Baltusrol.
Well, let’s see…Jason Day shot 65 with a bogey and a double. It was not almost the best history he made on Friday, witnessed by the sound that accompanied his birdie on the final hole.
“I’m going to go home and play with the kids and get them to bed”.
Maybe Walker or Streb hangs on.
Stenson, who also had a 67 in the first round, had a 3-under 31 on his second nine. I need to have a long hard think about that. “You still have to go perform, it doesn’t matter what the tournament is”.
I wonder if he’ll be singing the same tune Saturday night. The world No. 1 reeled off seven birdies in eight holes in the middle of his second round to vault from out of the television coverage to the first page of the leaderboard in about 90 minutes. Walker played flawless golf with five birdies moving him to 10 under before a bogey at the 18th left him with a four-under-par 66, pegging him back a shot at nine under. He drove the ball with precision, flagged his iron shots and rolled his putts as if they were being laser guided. And all while battling sickness this week!
“On Sunday with a chance to win, it will feel a little bigger, so I look forward to having that chance. I can take a swing at it and catch it solid”. I know I’m going to sleep for a week after the Ryder Cup, there’s no two ways about that. “It’s all about being there for Sunday afternoon, and so far, so good”. He did it in spectacular fashion, too.
However, the 40-year-old eagled the par-5, 554-yard No. 18 and sprinkled three birdies over his final nine. He finished first in strokes gained off the tee and almost last in strokes gained putting. His actual play didn’t get talked about a ton because of the freakish drop he took, but Spieth is just six back and has hit it beautifully this week. He’s T6 in strokes gained on approach shots which has been his weakness all season. Tiger at the US Open with a broken leg. I’ve got a cold. Even his description of it was boring. “It was a great round”, said Streb.
“Happy to join the club that seems to be ever growing”, Streb said. How about Koepka gutting out a 68-67 start on one ankle to get within four of the lead.
With the searing heat 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.
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9. This is Day’s tournament to lose. “They were so smooth, they were pure and they were really nice to putt on”. In that case, all bets are off. But as of right now, Day is in the driver’s seat.
