Summary Japan's Hiroshi Iwata matched the lowest score ever shot in a men's major championship on Friday.
KOHLER (AFP) - Japan s Hiroshi Iwata matched the lowest score ever shot in a men s major championship on Friday, scorching Whistling Straits for a nine-under par 63 in the second round of the 97th PGA Championship.
Iwata s round at Whistling Straits marked the 27th time a man has shot 63 in a major, with two players -- Greg Norman and Vijay Singh -- doing it twice.
The most recent prior 63 at a major championship was Jason Dufner en route to the PGA Championship title in 2013 -- the 13th time the score was achieved in the PGA Championship.
Iwata had eight birdies and an eagle with one bogey in his 63, which gave him a four-under total of 140 for 36 holes.
The 34-year-old from Miyati, ranked 102nd in the world, needed a birdie at Whistling Straits tough 18th hole to notch the first major championship 62.
His second shot at the par-4, 520-yard hole -- nicknamed "Dyeabolical" after course designer Pete Dye -- came up about 20 yards short of the green.
His pitch bounced and rolled past the hole, leaving him to putt for par.
Iwata, who has never made the cut in three prior major championship starts, is no stranger to stunningly low rounds.
He fired a brilliant 10-under par 62 in the second round of the Thailand Open earlier this year en route to a share of sixth place.
"Just one shot different," he quipped, drawing laughter when asked to compare that round to Friday s. "Nothing else."
But Iwata, currently second on the Japan Golf Tour money list with a win in the Sega Sammy Cup, said he was finding plenty of differences in the game in the United States.
"Japan and America, the course setting is really different," he said "The course here has a lot of distance on the par-fours.
"In Japan, I don t use a long iron a lot, but here I have to use a long iron a lot."
Iwata opened his round with a birdie, and picked up shots at the fourth and eighth before his only bogey of the day at nine.
He really got things going with a 23-foot eagle at 11, which was followed by birdies at 12 and 13.
After that, he said, the thought of shooting 27 on the back nine crossed his mind.
After a par at the 14th, Iwata birdied 15, 16 and 17 before closing with his par.
