Will Zalatoris surges into lead at PGA Championship

Round 2

Will Zalatoris opened up a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the PGA Championship, as Rory McIlroy failed to build on his overnight advantage and Tiger Woods battled into the weekend.

Zalatoris benefitted from the massive improvement in conditions for the afternoon wave to card a bogey-free 65 at Southern Hills, posting five birdies to move the 25-year-old to nine under and ahead of Chile’s Mito Pereira.

Pereira – making just his second major appearance – missed a birdie chance on his final hole to post a 63 and equal the lowest round in the tournament’s history, a feat Bubba Watson managed after mixing nine birdies with two bogeys during a remarkable second-round display.

“I got away with murder a few times today for sure, especially starting off the day hitting the left trees and hitting it to a kick-in,” Zalatoris said. “We lucked out with the draw for sure. I played the last eight holes with not much wind, but take it when you can get it.”

Justin Thomas is three strokes back in third after overcoming strong winds earlier in the day to card a second successive 67, with Watson in fourth and McIlroy five off the pace after following his opening-round 65 with a one-over 71 on Friday.

McIlroy’s overnight advantage had disappeared before he had even teed off, with the Northern Irishman losing further ground when he followed a dropped shot at the second with a three-putt bogey at the seventh.

The two-time PGA champion registered a first birdie of the day when he holed from 10 feet at the 12th, with a run of pars along the closing stretch leaving him on four under heading into the weekend.

Matt Fitzpatrick posted a one-under 69 to move to three under and Tyrrell Hatton sits a further shot back alongside Cameron Smith, who hit Aaron Wise with an errant drive early in his round, while Jordan Spieth is 10 shots off the halfway lead as he chases the career Grand Slam.

Woods matched Spieth’s 69 to make the cut in just his second competitive start back from last February’s car crash, recovering from a double-bogey at the 11th to birdie two of his last six holes and make it through on three over.

World No 3 Collin Morikawa and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama both stuttered into the weekend on the cut mark, while two-time major champion Dustin Johnson joined Scottie Scheffler in suffering an early exit.

Scheffler looked well placed to make the cut and keep his hopes alive of a fifth victory of the season, only to post four bogeys after the turn and double-bogeying his final hole to sign for a five-over 75.

Among those early cursed to tee off in high winds were Shane Lowry and Seamus Power, both of whom made the weekend albeit in differing fashions.

Power may be content with his second round of 69, birdies on the 2nd, 10th and 13th alongside two dropped strokes helping him to even-par for the competition. The Waterford man, who made an impressive major debut at Augusta in April, is tied-23rd alongside names like Victor Hovland, Tom Hoge and Ryan Fox.

It was a different story for Lowry, who may be frustrated after a sloppy inward nine which saw him drop from two-under to two-over by Friday’s end.

Starting on the 10th, the 2019 Open Champion was going smoothly, with birdies on 13 and 14 taking him into the top-10.

He bogeyed the 2nd (his 11th) but it was the 4th that really rocked him backwards, a greenside bunker shot tumbling down the slope and rolling back to his feet, ultimately resulting in a double-bogey. A three-putt on the par-3 17th left him at +2.

The other Irish player in field, Padraig Harrington, also missed out on the weekend, failing to repeat the heroics of his fourth-placed finish at Kiawah Island last year. The 50-year-old Dubliner – winner back in 2008 – admitted to suffering from rare chipping woes earlier in the week and wound up on 12-over par after carding rounds of 77 and 75 respectively.

American Aaron Wise escaped serious injury after he was struck by a wayward tee shot from Cameron Smith during the second round of the PGA Championships.

Wise, ranked 91 in the world, was examining his ball on the fairway of the seventh hole when he was hit in the head by a shot from Australian Smith, who was playing the adjoining par-four second. The ball left a mark on Wise’s hat and the 25-year-old applied an ice pack to the injury before recovering to card a two-over 72 and make the cut. Smith also made the weekend after finishing even-par for the round.

“I was walking down seven, surprised my ball was in the fairway, and then next thing you know, I mean there’s a little bit of ringing in my head,” said Wise.

His management agency later said he was in good spirits.

“We’ll be monitoring his condition overnight but he looks forward to competing tomorrow,” the agency said in a statement.