Jason lurks, 2 back
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — A double-bogey on the par-4 seventh at Baltusrol on Friday dropped world No. 1 Jason Day to even, and it appeared as if he’d have to scratch and claw just to stay above the cut line at the PGA Championship.
That wasn’t going to do for the defending PGA champion. Something awoke in Day after that double-bogey as the Australian caught fire and birdied seven of his next eight holes to charge up the leaderboard, finishing the second round in a tie for third at 7-under with Emiliano Grillo. Robert Streb, ranked No. 74 in the world, tied a major record by becoming the 28th player to shoot a 63 to pull into a tie with Jimmy Walker for the lead at 9-under.
“Kind of gave myself a little kick in the bum, especially with the doublebogey on seven,” said Day, whose PGA win last year was his first major victory. “It was a bit of a mess there. With that said, being able to come back and birdie 8 and 9 really made things a lot better for me on the back side.”
Day badly bungled the seventh hole as his second shot went into the bunker before he ultimately two-putted to fall back into a tie for 43rd. What was he thinking?
“A few swear words inside my head, like ‘What are you doing?’” Day said. “I played that hole so bad, it was so frustrating for me.”
Day parred the final three holes to shoot 5-under 65 for the round while also shooting 5-under on the back nine once he got into a groove with his putter.
He followed the double-bogey with three straight birdies, and after a par on the 11th he had four straight birdies, including a 37-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th.
“If it was on a Sunday it’d be the best,” Day said. “But since it’s on a Friday it’s just a good, solid round.”
The 28-year-old, who had top-10 finishes this year at the Masters and U.S. Open, said he began the week at Baltusrol feeling under the weather and thus lowered expectations for himself. He’s feeling better now after he said he “sweated it out” over the first two rounds, but didn’t want anyone shedding tears for him.
“Guys have won on worse. Tiger at the U.S. Open on a broken leg,” Day said, referencing Woods’ 2008 U.S. Open victory. “I’ve got a little cold. It’s not the same. I’ll be fine for the weekend.”
Streb and Walker tied the best 36-hole score in PGA Championship history with 131, a distinction shared with seven others.
Streb’s best major finish came in last year’s PGA Championship when he tied for 10th. A 21-foot birdie putt on the par-3 ninth tied the major record and gave Streb a share of the lead. He said he first thought about the possibility of 63 after birdieing the par-4 seventh. After his birdie putt on No. 9 finally broke enough at the end, the small gallery following him around erupted.
“It was pretty noisy for the 15 people that were out there,” Streb said. “They knew what was going on. They made a little racket when the putt went in.”
Henrik Stenson, who won The Open Championship two weeks ago, is 6-under. Patrick Reed is 5-under after shooting a 65 and Rickie Fowler shot 2-under 68 to get to 4-under.
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — There are upand-downs in golf and then there is what Jordan Spieth experienced Friday in Round 2 of the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club, gaining ground following a 45-minute rain delay in the morning and yielding it by noon. The span included a lengthy rule interpretation, a slap of the head and a late-round kick of grass in anger. At day’s end, his 3-under tied him for 13th place, six shots off the lead. He recognized the divide. “A tale of two nines,” he said. Hole by hole, birdie by birdie, Spieth, a sprite Texan, had sped up the white leaderboards that line the greens at Baltusrol. He proved to be as efficient as he is precocious, lowering his score by four strokes in his first nine holes to ascend as high as second behind Jimmy Walker. Regression was coming, though. It had to be. He did not know that part of his afternoon fall would include four drops and a toe or two in muddy water.
“It was really weird,” he said, “as complicated as I’ve ever really had it.”
Plenty plagued Spieth. He noted that