Oklahoma’s strong winds subsided Friday afternoon, giving players a chance to make their mark on the 104th PGA Championship. Will Zalatoris was the man to rise to the challenge, the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year throwing dart after dart at South Mountain and putting his name on the line in his second major of the year Pushed to the top of the leaderboard.
Playing 66-65 rounds, Zara Torres found himself at 9 under and once again played his part in the majors. Still looking for his first career win, the 25-year-old will have his job cut as countless big names, Grand Slam champions and crafty veterans wait in the shallows for the moment he slips. good news? All seven of Nanshan’s major champions are leading or tied after 36 holes, like Zara Torres this year.
Among those looking to beat him was Justin Thomas, who summed up the morning’s performance in the second round. The 2017 PGA Championship winner is one of two players in the top 10 looking to lift the trophy for the first time in more than a year. Thomas’ game has been trending for the better part of three months, as has first-round leader Rory McIlroy. Unable to follow up with his opening 5-under 65, the 33-year-old now finds himself five shots ahead of Zara Torres, but not without a chance to win his fifth career major. .
There’s still a lot of action to touch, and that’s what we plan to do. Below is a summary of the leaderboard after round 2.
1. Zara Torres (-9): Peas and carrots. Peanut butter and jelly. Will Zara Torres and Grand Slam conditions. The Wake Forest product excelled on the biggest golf stage of his young career, racking up four top-10 finishes in just seven games. He seems to be doing a good job of adding to that total, and he’s serious. Zara Torres always hit the ball, well, this week, the putter decided to cooperate, and he led the field in putts. He’s made 18 of 18 putts from within 10 feet so far in this tournament. A major weekend is an entirely different animal, so if the jitters are up, it’s likely to be on the greens.
2. Mito Pereira (-8): There are many similarities between Zara Torres and Pereira. Their stats are strikingly similar, with neither winning on the PGA Tour, despite many calling it a couple. The Chilean was a field finisher on the Korn Ferry Tour last summer and looked easy on his PGA Championship debut. In his second major start, Pereira shot a 6-under 64 and will have his final tee time on Saturday with Zara Torres.
3. Justin Thomas (-6): The first two days were impressive for Thomas, who made just nine birdies and three bogeys. His second-round 67 will get all the hype, and rightfully so, but I can’t help but go back to his 18th on Thursday. Thomas made a birdie on the difficult par-4 to grab a shot on the course, and he capitalized on that late momentum heading into Friday morning’s round. For the past five years, he has been vocal about his desire to add another Grand Slam title to his résumé, and now he’s working hard for his second Wanamaker trophy.
4. Bubba Watson (-5): The round belongs to the two-time Masters champion, as Watson made a career-best nine birdies in the majors Friday afternoon. Signing a 7-under 63, Watson not only matched the course record held by Tiger Woods and Raymond Floyd, but more importantly, shot 2 in a disappointing first-round Then put yourself back into the competition. On a court that requires creativity and shooting, should we really be surprised that Watson’s name is on the first page of the leaderboard?
T5.Rory McIlroy, Abraham Ancer and Davis Riley (-4): McIlroy was in better shape in the weather tie, so his second-round over 1 was even more disappointing. Still, the four-time Grand Slam champion remains in limbo, despite his troubles on Friday. He continued to tee off like a stallion, but the irons and putters gave up on him because they couldn’t get any momentum.
T8. Matt Fitzpatrick and Stuart Cink (-3): Cink missed a short bogey putt on the 72nd hole of the 2001 U.S. Open to pull out of a playoff with Retif Goosen and Mark Brooks. Now, 21 years later, the 49-year-old is back at Nanshan as the most likely candidate to follow in Phil Mickelson’s unlikely footsteps a year ago.
T10. Cameron Smith, Sam Burns and five others (-2): That’s probably the furthest I go to find a potential winner because this is a team with a lot of firepower. Burns moved up the leaderboard at 3 under on Friday, alongside Cameron Young, who also shot 71-67.
T30. Jordan Spieth and 10 others (+1): No matter how faint the heartbeat may be, the grand slam dream still exists technically. Spieth will look back on his first round with disdain because he simply couldn’t get any results on the greens. He fought back bravely on Friday, but unless something catastrophic happens to the leaders, he’ll have to wait until next year’s PGA Championship for another chance to join golf’s elite ranks.
T53. Tiger Woods and 10 others (+3): It was satisfying that a 46-year-old 15-time Grand Slam champion struggled to advance late Friday. Beyond the par-3 11th, Woods looked strong on his 1-under 69, even better than his rival Rory McIlroy. His body is definitely sore, but I think he’ll make a better effort over the weekend than the 2022 Masters.
