Zalatoris seizes PGA lead while Bubba shoots 63
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Zalatoris fired a bogey-free five-under-par 65 to seize a one-stroke lead in the PGA Championship.
TULSA (AFP) - American Will Zalatoris fired a bogey-free five-under-par 65 to seize a one-stroke lead late in Friday s second round of the PGA Championship while Tiger Woods grinded his way into the weekend in his amazing injury comeback.
Aided by gusting winds that vanished in the afternoon, late-starter Zalatoris reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the par-3 11th hole then rolled in a birdie putt from just outside seven feet at the par-4 17th to finish 36 holes at Southern Hills on 9-under-par 131.
"I had the luck of the draw. There wasn t any wind after the 11th hole," Zalatoris said. "I made the most of it with some good shotmaking."
That enabled 30th-ranked Zalatoris, last year s Masters runner-up and the 2021 US PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, to grab a one-stroke lead over Chile s Mito Pereira, who fired a six-under-par 64 to stand on 132.
Woods overcame a double bogey at the par-3 11th with birdies at the par-5 13th and par-4 16th to shoot 69 and reach the weekend on 3-over 143, 12 shots behind Zalatoris, who has four top-10 finishes in seven major starts.
"I had to grind and go to work and I did and I made it," Woods said. "It wasn t pretty."
World number 100 Pereira, a 27-year-old from Santiago who missed the cut at the 2019 US Open in his only prior major start, took full advange of diminished afternoon wind to make seven birdies against a lone bogey.
"I ve had good days and bad days but everything I ve experiencd has helped me to get here and play good golf," Pereira said.
American Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, fired a second consecutive three-under-par 67 in gusting morning winds to stand third on 134.
"Very pleased," Thomas said. "I played really well today. The conditions were obviously very difficult. I stayed very patient... and I m glad to have a good round to show for it."
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson matched the course record with a seven-under-par 63 to stand fourth on 135. He made nine birdies, his most in any major round, against two bogeys and only missed matching the all-time low major round of 62 when he missed a 23-foot birdie putt at the 18.
- Tiger fights through -
The biggest crowds, however, followed Woods, the 15-time major winner in his second comeback event after severe leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car crash.
"Hopefully this weekend I get a hot weekend, some tough conditions and you never know," Woods said. "The mission is to go ahead and win this thing somehow."
Woods struggled to a 74 on Thursday and for most of the Friday was flirting with the cut line as he battled alongside Rory McIlroy, the 18-hole leader with an opening 65, and Jordan Spieth, trying to complete a career Grand Slam.
Woods made a five-foot birdie putt at the par-5 fifth and a bogey at the par-3 eighth, then began the back nine with a 10-foot birdie putt.
But a double-bogey disaster at the par-3 11th saw Woods go over the green, then into a greenside bunker and blast out to eight feet but miss his bogey putt.
"Started the back nine the way I wanted, then I had a double bogey," Woods said. "I was over the cut line. It wasn t pretty."
Spieth also shot 69 and stood on 141 after 36 holes, 10 off the pace.
McIlroy fell back with a 71 to stand on 136, five adrift.
- Scheffler over cut line -
The world s three top-ranked golfers were grouped in a major for the first time since the 2013 US Open but all were over par overall.
Spain s second-ranked Jon Rahm, the reigning US Open champion from Spain who could return to number one with a victory, shot 69 to stand on 142.
"I can t ask much more of myself," Rahm said. "It was a good day. It was good golf. Just tough."
Third-ranked American Collin Morikawa, the reigning British Open champion, fired his second 72 to stand on 144.
Top-ranked Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who has won four of his past eight starts, fired a 75 to miss the cut on 146 with two-time major winner Dustin Johnson.
