Kevin Kisner sets daunting target at PGA
Kevin Kisner watches his tee shot on the 13th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club on Friday in Charlotte, N.C.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In the dozen times Kevin Kisner has played in majors, he has learned they are not much fun unless he’s playing well.
He’s having a blast so far in the PGA Championship.
Sticking to a simple plan on a challenging course at Quail Hollow, Kisner holed a 50-foot eagle putt from off the green that carried him to another 4-under 67. That gave him a five-shot lead among those who played in the Friday morning side of the draw.
Kisner was at 8-under 134 as Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and others headed out in the afternoon just as a light rain began to fall. That might be the worst thing that happened all day to Kisner. The notorious greens of Quail Hollow were slick as ever, keeping low scores at a minimum.
“These guys going out in the afternoon, they break 70 they’ve done a hell of a job,” Rory McIlroy said after he suffered another bad stretch and shot 72.
Kisner doesn’t have the length for this 7,600-yard course, but he has golf smarts, a reliable swing and a good putting stroke for the greens. He saw the changes to the course earlier this year on a soft, damp day and wondered how he would manage.
The plan was to make birdie on the par 5s and the two short par 4s, and play for par everywhere else.
PGA Championship Leaderboard at time of suspended play Score Thru -8 F -8 F -6 F -5 F -5 F -5 13 -3 F -3 F -3 F -2 F -1 F -1 F -1 F -1 F -1 F -1 15 -1 14 Kevin Kisner Hideki Matsuyama Jason Day Francesco Molinari Louis Oosthuizen Chris Stroud Rickie Fowler Justin Thomas Paul Casey Byeong Hun An D.A. Points Ryan Fox Grayson Murray Sung Kang Brooks Koepka Scott Brown James Hahn Partial Second Round Kevin Kisner Hideki Matsuyama Jason Day Francesco Molinari Louis Oosthuizen Rickie Fowler Justin Thomas Paul Casey Byeong Hun An D.A. Points Ryan Fox Grayson Murray Sung Kang Brooks Koepka Ryan Moore Chez Reavie Patrick Reed Gary Woodland Bud Cauley Graham DeLaet
67-67—134 70-64—134 70-66—136 73-64—137 70-67—137 69-70—139 73-66—139 69-70—139 71-69—140 68-73—141 75-66—141 68-73—141 70-71—141 68-73—141 71-71—142 72-70—142 69-73—142 68-74—142 69-74—143 70-73—143
It has worked to near perfection through two rounds, particularly on the par 5s: a wedge to 10 feet on No. 10; a wedge to 5 feet on No. 15; and the eagle putt on No. 7 that rolled against the pin and disappeared.
Rickie Fowler tried to do his part. Playing conservative at times to be in the fairway, he avoided a big number early in his round when a 60-foot chip didn’t John Bazemore / The Associated Press quite get up a ridge and rolled all the way back to his feet. He lagged the next shot up to 5 feet and escaped with bogey.
Fowler picked up two birdies and then had to settle for pars the rest of the way for a 70 that put him at 3-under 139.
No one else was closer to Kisner among the early starters.
Ryan Fox of New Zealand posted the low round of the tournament at 66 to reach 1 under overall.
McIlroy, meanwhile, made an amazing escape of his own with a shot that bounced so far down a cart path on the par-5 10th that it was pin-high, 100 yards away. He bounced a 6-iron from 110 yards up the cart path, through the bunker and onto the fringe about 40 feet away, and got upand-down for par.
That was the biggest excitement he had all day.
Still lurking in range, McIlroy fell apart early on the front nine with four bogeys in five holes and had to rally with birdie on the two easiest holes on that side.
“Obviously, Kiz is on fire right now,” McIlroy said. “But take him out of the equation, I feel like I’m still right there in the tournament.”
That’s a practical way of thinking whenever most anyone has a big lead, and the fact it’s Kisner adds to the intrigue. He is tough to beat when he’s hitting it where he’s aiming because of his short game and his fortitude.