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 held by American Jimmy Walker, with the halfway cut predicted to fall at one over.
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Mickelson looked stunned as he trudged to the second tee but settled down and had only one further blemish, a bogey at the 16th, before closing with a birdie at the par-five 18th to make the cut with nothing to spare.
Walker stayed in contention for his first major.
Two strokes back at 7-under is Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (67) and defending champion Jason Day, who fired a 5-under 65.
Streb, the world’s 74th-ranked player, sank eight birdies opposite a bogey on No. 16. After faltering on his second nine, he missed the cut. 5 to 14 and finished with a 66. “Doesn’t matter what tournament it is or where you’re at”.
Henrik Stenson won the Claret Jug at Royal Troon with the best major performance in history (at least as far as raw numbers go). I learned the hard way that you have to start over again.
Stenson made soft bogeys with his putting on the 12th and 13th holes, and he narrowly avoided another bogey at the 14th.
“Made some good putts on the front nine and I was able to hang on on the back nine”, said Grillo, who made four birdies including a 40-footer before the turn, and then dropped one shot coming home.
The biggest struggle for Stenson was coping with an awkward start. He is tied for sixth at 5 under.
Johnson, the U.S. Open champion with a chance to go to No. 1 in the world ranking, was in the trees, in the water and couldn’t get out of a bunker.
He wasn’t as fortunate on the seventh, where he took double bogey on the opening round from a wild tee shot into the trees.
He scrambled to make par on the five-shot 17th, before parring the final hole to finish his round at 65.
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) – Jordan Spieth warmed up on the range, rode the side streets in a van to get to the 10th tee and was ready to go Friday in the PGA Championship when he had to stand around for almost an hour because of a rain delay.
McIlroy struggled badly on the greens and missed making the cut by a stroke.
“Right now he’s just so tentative through impact; he’s just not confident”, Mickelson said.
He said his drive “had a nice, tight little draw and I thought it was actually going to catch the first cut or the fairway”.
NOTES: Overnight rainfall (measured at 1.1 inches) and early morning showers caused a almost 30-minute suspension of play Friday.
Walker will play in the afternoon wave.
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While others made hay, Rory McIlroy failed to take advantage of a rain-softened Baltrusol Golf Club as the two-time champion crashed out of the PGA Championship with bogey at the last hole, writes Simon Lewis. It’s a busy stretch from now until the first week in October, but Stenson is hoping he can manage day-by-day until then. The sheet was corrected for other groups and PGA chief championships officer Kerry Haigh apologized to Knost, Summerhays and Ikeda.
