Live updates | Bubba Watson shoots 63 to match PGA record
May 19, 2022, 5:28 PM | Updated: May 20, 2022, 5:12 pm
Mito Pereira, of Chile, hits from the fairway on the ninth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Tulsa, Okla. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — The Latest on the second round of the PGA Championship (all times local):
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7 p.m.
Bubba Watson matched the lowest round in PGA Championship history and climbed into contention during the second round at Southern Hills.
Watson shot an opening 72 that left him well off anyone’s radar, but he began to pick up steam Friday with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 and another at the ninth. Watson added five more birdies on the back side, giving him nine for the round. He had a chance to shoot 62 but missed a 23-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th.
It was the 18th round of 63 at the PGA and the third at Southern Hills. Raymond Floyd did it in the first round of his wire-to-wire win in 1982 and Tiger Woods did it in the second round on his way to the 2007 PGA title.
Mito Pereira shot 64 on Friday, missing a 7-footer for birdie on his final hole.
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6:30 p.m.
Will Zalatoris shot a bogey-free 65 in the PGA Championship on Friday, leaving him at 9 under for the tournament and giving him a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira heading into the weekend.
In the seven previous majors at Southern Hills, the leader after the second round went on to win.
Another good omen for Zalatoris is that he’s won at the venerable Perry Maxwell layout before. That came as a 17-year-old amateur in 2014, when severe storms wiped out the final day of the Trans-Mississippi with him on top.
Tiger Woods made two birdies over his final six holes to shoot 1-under 69, leaving him 3 over for the championship and safely inside the cut line.
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6 p.m.
Mito Pereira of Chile missed a 7-footer for birdie on his final hole at the PGA Championship on Friday that would have matched the lowest round in its history.
Pereira wound up tapping in for par and a round of 64 at Southern Hills that left him tied for the lead with Will Zalatoris.
There have been 17 rounds of 63 at the PGA, including two by Brooks Koepka, who went on to win both times. Two others happened at Southern Hills: Raymond Floyd in the first round in 1982, when he went wire-to-wire, and Tiger Woods in the second round in 2007, when he went on to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy.
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5 p.m.
Tiger Woods has hit the homestretch at Southern Hills with the weekend on the line at the PGA Championship.
Woods was one shot under the projected cut of 4-over par when he took double bogey on the par-3 11th hole. He pulled his tee shot and it caromed hard off the bank and into high grass framing a tiny stream. His flop shot ran through the green and into the bunker.
He missed an 8-foot putt and took his first double bogey of the tournament. That moved him to 5 over, and he did well to stay there. Woods had to make a 15-foot par putt on the next hole.
He was 13 shots behind Will Zalatoris, who is bogey-free for the second round and at 8-under par. Mito Pereira of Chile is another shot back. Justin Thomas shot 67 earlier in the day and was two behind.
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4:15 p.m.
Cameron Smith hit a wild tee shot to the right on the par-4 second hole at the PGA Championship and hit someone in the head. And not just anyone.
The ball struck Aaron Wise, who was in the adjacent seventh fairway at Southern Hills.
Wise was seen holding a water bottle on top of his head, and later after he signed for a 72. He managed to par the seventh and eighth holes before taking bogey from the bunker on the final hole. He was at 1-over 141.
His management teams said in a statement that Wise was doing well and in good spirits. Doctors will monitor his condition overnight but he expects to play on Saturday.
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4 p.m.
There were two Chilean flags on the first page of the leaderboard at the PGA Championship on Friday.
The relatively unknown Mito Pereira played the back nine at Southern Hills in 2-under 33 to reach 4 under for the championship, leaving him two back of clubhouse leader Justin Thomas as he teed off on the first hole.
Pereira’s countryman, Joaquin Niemann, stitched together a rollercoaster round that included five birdies and six bogeys to shoot 71. That left him 1 under heading into the weekend.
Pereira and Niemann are among a record six Latin American players in the PGA Championship.
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1:45 p.m.
Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have teed off along with Jordan Spieth in the second round of the PGA Championship.
McIlroy was the first-round leader after shooting 65 during the morning wave Thursday, but he found himself a shot behind Justin Thomas as he teed off Friday. Thomas shot a second straight 67 to leave him 6 under for the tournament.
Spieth began the day 2 over while Woods was at 4 over, leaving him hovering around the cut line.
Woods acknowledged after Thursday’s opening 74 that the right leg he severely injured in a car crash 15 months ago caused him problems. His limp was evident as he walked down the fairway after his opening tee shot Friday.
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12:45 p.m.
Justin Thomas shot a second consecutive 67 at the PGA Championship, relying on some superlative iron play to handle windy Southern Hills and move ahead of first-round leader Rory McIlroy at 6 under for the tournament.
Thomas made birdie at the par-4 10th, his first hole of the day, and was still 1 under for the round when he reached the par-5 fifth. He made birdie there, then made three straight pars, before another birdie at the difficult par-4 ninth.
That left him a shot ahead of McIlroy, who began his second round with Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods an hour later.
Two-time champion Brooks Koepka also shot 67 during the early wave Friday, bouncing back from a disappointing 75 in the opening round to get within the projected cut line. Cameron Tringale shot 68 and was 2 under for the championship.
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11 a.m.
The hardest hole at the PGA Championship all week has been the brutal par-4 18th, which surrendered just four birdies in the opening round, and it could be play even tougher Friday with winds up to 35 mph whipping across it.
It’s already a brute at 490 yards with an uphill approach to a green guarded on all sides by bunkers. But there’s also a creek down the right side that swallowed up tee shots by Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa early in the second round, and rough running down the right that snared drives by Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay.
The hole could make for a thrilling finish if the leaders are close on Sunday.
Upon seeing it earlier this week, Matt Kuchar said: “I have to think the members must dread 18. I try to envision how they play it. I don’t know that they can tee off enough forward to enjoy that golf hole.”
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10:10 a.m.
Early charges by Justin Thomas and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann in the second round of the PGA Championship have them joining a group one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy.
Thomas briefly earned a share of the lead at 5 under at windy Southern Hills with two birdies in his first four holes before giving a shot back on the fifth. Thomas won the PGA Championship in 2017.
Niemann is one of six Latin Americans playing in this year’s tournament, the most in its history. Niemann birdied his first and third holes of the day to quickly get to 4 under.
McIlroy plays in the afternoon. The Northern Irishman is chasing his fifth career major and first since the 2014 PGA Championship.
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8:45 a.m.
World No. 1 and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler has started his second round at the PGA Championship after posting a 1 over on a difficult opening day.
Scheffler’s group includes world No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Collin Morikawa. All struggled with over-par rounds in the heat Thursday afternoon. They face windy conditions this morning in their chase to make the weekend. The morning forecast at Southern Hills includes wind gusts up to 35 mph.
The group started on No. 10. Scheffler’s round just missed a big start when his first putt on the par-3 11th from 72 feet just skimmed over the left lip of the cup.
Justin Thomas birdied his first hole of the day at No. 10 to join a group at 4 under, one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy.
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7:30 a.m.
Rory McIlroy takes a one-shot lead into the second round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills, where a crowded leaderboard will be giving chase and Tiger Woods will be fighting to make the cut.
Woods tees off in the morning along with McIlroy, who opened with a 5-under 65, and Jordan Spieth, who had struggles of his own during a 72 on Thursday. Woods shot 74 after five bogeys during an eight-hole stretch and two more to finish.
Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge begin the day one shot behind McIlroy, who is trying to add a fifth major and third PGA title, eight years after his last in a memorable 2014 season in which he raised both the Wannamaker Trophy and Claret Jug.
Others on the first page of the leaderboard include former PGA champion Justin Thomas, who is seeking a second major five years later, and Cameron Smith, who won The Players Championship in March.
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