Talk about a 360 degree turnaround. As benign as conditions on the Ocean Course were on Thursday, they were windy on Friday
8 players shot 80 or worse on Thursday, Friday there were 41. Only 4 players broke par and while star players like Sergio, Rickie and Hunter are done there are plenty of the biggest names right in contention. led by Tiger Woods..
The average score was 6 shots over par, 78.1
Joost Luiten didn't finish Friday, and will play the 18th hole at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The third round will begin at 8:00 a.m. The cut will be at 6 over par
It was a joy to watch, and I was reminded what an American manufactured version of a true links this track is. It is so lush and green, watered and spoiled rotten compared to the originals like St Andrews, Troon, Turnberry etc..
In a relentless wind that began at sunrise, par never looked better in this championship. There were more rounds in the 90s two of them by club pros than in the 60s. More than 40 players failed to break 80, including Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan.
The greens are elevated, so the ball has to be played in the air. And the wind, gusting to 30 mph, came out of the southeast to create a crosswind on virtually every hole. Even holes with the wind at the back made it tough to play because the shots didn't stay on the green
It was the toughest scoring day in the PGA Championship since it switched to stroke play in 1958, Tiger Woods shot a 1-under 71 on Friday to take a share of the lead with Vijay Singh and Carl Pettersson (74) going into the weekend all at -4.
"It was tough out there wow," Woods said. Along with birdie putts of 15 feet and 40 feet on the opening two holes, there was a collection of big par saves, from 20 feet on the third hole, a pair of 8-foot par putts a few holes later. There were even two short par putts that swirled 360 degrees around the cup and dropped. He may not be that fortunate today.
It's the second time this year that he has had a share of the lead in a major going into the weekend. He missed one chance at Olympic Club in the U.S. Open, when he stumbled to a 75-73 to tie for 21st. He was in the penultimate group at the Open Championship until a triple bogey on the sixth hole of the final round took him out of the mix.
Singh, a three-time major champion who hasn't won in nearly four years, scratched out five birdies in a remarkable round of 3-under 69. Only three other players managed to break par in the second round Michael Hoey of Northern Ireland at 70, and Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter at 71.
Hoey was later disqualified, after he was to go into the weekend of the final major eight shots out of the lead. But only after he signed for a 2-under 70 did he realize he failed to re-create his lie on the ninth hole after removing his ball from an embedded lie to make sure it was his.
Hoey wiped away sand on the ninth hole. His mistake was not replacing the sand on his ball. He was disqualified for not including the two-shot penalty, and thus signing an incorrect scorecard. Hoey is the one who brought the oversight to the attention of rules officials.
With the wind blowing across most of the holes, and with the help of the TV shot tracker, watching these guys start a shot 40 yards off line and letting it fly with the wind and curve back onto the fairway or green, or the opposite watching them hook it against the wind, trying to "hold it up" is fun viewing, and playing when they pull it off !!
Rory is at -2 after 75, Adam Scott -1 75, Mickelson E, 71, GMac E 76, Bradley and Daly +1 77, Ernie is at +3 and Luke at +6..
live scoring click here http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/scoring/leaderboard
round 3 tee times TBA
Weather for Saturday
Wind at 12mph SSW, 89*F, scattered thunderstorms
Special Note.. Congratulations to MacKenzie Hughes
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., carded a final round even-par 72 to capture the 108th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at Camelot Golf and Country Club in Cumberland, Ont.
Hughes, a member of Team Canada’s National Squad, finished at 12-under par 276 for the championship, besting Brian Churchill-Smith of Oakville, Ont. and Chris Hemmerich of Kitchener, Ont. by one stroke. Churchill-Smith and Hemmerich both posted a four-day tally of 11-under par 277 to finish T2
With the victory, Hughes became the first competitor to capture back-to-back Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship titles since Cam Burke of Kitchener, Ont. accomplished the feat in 2008 and 2009
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com and hosting daily 7-9am at www.nextsportstar.com
(notes from pgatour.com were used in this blog)
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