Woodland up stroke at PGA

ST. LOUIS — Gary Woodland followed up a great start with a round good enough to get him in the record book Friday at the PGA Championship.

On a record day of scoring, it only gave him a one-shot lead.

And with more rain that pounded Bellerive and wiped out golf for the rest of the afternoon, Woodland wasn’t even sure he would be leading.

Woodland had a 4-under 66 and set the PGA Championship record with a 36-hole score of 130. That was barely enough for a one-shot lead over Kevin Kisner, one of three players who came to the final hole with a shot at becoming the first to post a 62 in the PGA.

Kisner, playing in the same group as Woodland, came up short of the green at No. 9 and made bogey for a 64.

Just ahead of them, two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 9. He had to settle for being the 15th player in PGA Championship history to shoot a 63.

And then Charl Schwartzel made it 16 players with his eight-birdie round of 63.

“They key is to get the ball in the fairway and attack from there,” Woodland said.

Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and the late starters Friday had the same idea and were on the same track until the sky darkened, thunder rumbled and storms arrived to stop play for two hours, until it rained so much the PGA called it a day.

The second round was to resume at 7 a.m. local time Saturday, and the third round — weather permitting — was to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the second round, with threesomes starting on both sides.

No one from the afternoon side of the draw finished more than 12 holes. Woods made three birdies in five holes and was seven shots behind. Fowler overcame an early bogey with three birdies through 10 holes. He was at 7 under, three shots behind Woodland with eight holes to play.