Malnati has narrow lead at Quail Hollow
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Peter Malnati and Tiger Woods both had reason to celebrate on the ninth green at Quail Hollow Club at the end of their rounds Friday.
Malnati was coming off two straight birdies to take the lead in the Wells Fargo Championship when his 5-iron shot put the ball in a deep bunker to the right, with the green running away from him. He was trying to blast out to 15 feet from the hole, but he got the club too much under the ball and feared the worst until it cleared the lip by inches to set up a par save.
Malnati emphatically wiped his hand across his brow, made the six-foot putt for a 3-underpar 68 to move to 7-under 135 overall and had a one-shot lead over Jason Day (67) and Aaron Wise (68) after two rounds. Paul Casey (68) and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (67) were another shot back.
“Pretty scary when I hit it,” Malnati said of bunker escape. “I got away with it, looked like a genius.”
Hours earlier, Woods stood over an 18-foot putt on No. 9, his final hole of another ordinary round that had no birdies. He finally made one — and stretched out both hands in mock celebration when it dropped.
“I’m on a hot streak right now,” he said. “I made the last putt.”
Never mind that it was the only putt he made longer than five feet. Or that he was nine shots out of the lead in a tie for 48th, his worst position through 36 holes in his past five tournaments. He at least knew he would be around for the weekend at a course where he had missed the cut his previous two trips. This time he made it with one shot to spare.
Three of the four former Baylor School golfers on the PGA Tour were in the field, and both Keith Mitchell and Luke List advanced to the weekend. Mitchell, who was tied for second after an opening 67, shot a 74 and was tied for 20th at 1 under. List was tied for 28th at par after a 72.
Stephan Jaeger (72) was 6 over and missed the cut by six strokes. It’s the former Red Raider’s third straight missed cut and eighth in 16 tournaments in his rookie season.
Like Woods, former major winners Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson had to sweat it out.
McIlroy, the only two-time Wells Fargo winner in the field, celebrated his 29th birthday by matching his worst score at Quail Hollow with a 76, including three bogeys over the last five holes. He was in the same spot as Woods, nine shots out of the lead.
“Struggled with my game, struggled to get my ball in the fairway, made some pretty bad mistakes, didn’t birdie any of the par 5s,” McIlroy said. “It just was one of those days where I just couldn’t get anything going.”
Mickelson wasn’t that wild — three bogeys, two birdies — for another 72 as he made the cut with one shot to spare.
Malnati rarely is without a smile, even though this is the last year of his PGA Tour exemption from winning the Sanderson Farms Championship in November 2015. He had reason to celebrate the par, if for no other reason than it was the first time he has led after any round except the final round of that tournament.
Wise, the former NCAA champion from Oregon, shot 32 on the back nine with three birdies over the last five holes. He made the turn and was looking to stay in the lead until a sloppy bogey on the par-5 seventh, the second-easiest at Quail Hollow.
Day, a former No. 1 in the World Golf Ranking who is now 14th, had three birdies and followed his eagle on the par-5 10th with a bogey. He wasn’t complaining about the challenge Quail Hollow provides.
“I think everyone else is obviously having a tough time with it, too,” he said. “It’s a major championship golf course, so you’ve got to come out and be patient with yourself and take your chances when you get them.”
Langer goes low
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Bernhard Langer played his best round on the PGA Tour Champions in more than two years, shooting a course-record 9-under 63 at The Woodlands Country Club for a three-stroke lead after the first round of the Insperity Invitational.
Seeking his first victory of the year after seven wins in 2017, the 60-year-old Langer birdied the first two holes and played the first nine in 32 strokes. He added birdies on five of the next seven holes to get to 9 under.
The German star won the Houston-area event in 2007 for the first of his 36 victories on the 50-and-older tour. He repeated as champion in 2008, its first year at The Woodlands, and won again in 2014.
Friday’s 63 was Langer’s best round since a 10-under 62 at the 2016 Chubb Classic, which he went on to win.
Scott Dunlap and Jeff Maggert were tied for second. Six golfers were tied for fourth at 67.
Tourney shortened
THE COLONY, Texas — Celine Boutier shot a 1-under 70 to grab the lead among the 12 golfers who finished the rain-delayed first round of the LPGA Tour’s Texas Classic.
After Thursday’s play was cancelled and Friday’s began after an 8 1/2-hour delay because of rain, the tournament was cut from 72 holes to 36. All 144 golfers will play both rounds, with the payout limited to the top 70 and ties.
Half the field got on the course Friday at Old American Golf Club. Sung Hyun Park was 6 under through 14 holes, with Jenny Shin and Sei Young Kim at 4-under through 14 and 12 holes, respectively.
The first round was postponed from Thursday after only 34 golfers completed one or two holes because of morning rain and afternoon wind.
This will be the LPGA Tour’s first 36-hole event since the flood-affected Bahamas-LPGA Classic in May 2013.