Zalatoris moves to top as wind eases
Change in conditions benefits players who got afternoon starts
TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma wind came sweeping through Southern Hills and then swiftly left town in time for Will Zalatoris, Bubba Watson and yes, even Tiger Woods, to bring a sleepy PGA Championship to life on Friday.
Zalatoris, who was born in San Francisco, hit the ball on the button whether he was in the fairway or the rough, running off three straight birdies in gentler afternoon conditions for a 4-under-par 66 and a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira of Chile.
Pereira missed a 7-foot putt on his final hole and had to settle for 64.
About an hour later, Watson missed a birdie putt from just inside 25 feet on the 18th hole and still delivered the 18th round of 63 in PGA Championship history.
Woods wasn’t that spectacular, yet no less compelling. Outside the cut line with seven holes to play, he made two 15-foot par putts and two birdies on his battered right leg for a 69 to make the cut in his second straight major.
He’s still 12 shots behind Zalatoris, the 25-year-oldwho is built like a 1-iron and probably could hit one flush with his eyes closed. Zalatoris, a premier ball-striker, was quick to acknowledge that timing was everything.
“I lucked out with the draw, for sure. We played 11 on without any wind,“Zalatoris said. “When I got out of position, I got the most out of it.”
He opened with a shot from the rough that tumbled across the length of the green to 2 feet. He hit another through a gap in the trees to 7 feet. Not only did he have a bogey-free card, all five of his birdies were inside 8 feet. Zalatoris was at 9-under 131. And all Justin Thomas could do was watch from the couch of his rental home in Tulsa.
Thomas did the heavy lifting in the morning, when the wind was raging and limbs were swaying. He dropped only one shot on his way to another 67 that set a daunting target for Rory McIlroy and everyone else in the afternoon.
And now Thomas is three shots behind, with Watson right behind him.
Of some two dozen players under par, only five came from the wave that played Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, the two windiest windows of the week.
McIlroy got the good side of the draw and failed to seize on the moment. He didn’t make a birdie until the 13th hole. That was his only one in a round of 71 that left him five shots behind.
Jordan Spieth, playing alongside McIlroy and Woods, finally got back to even par for the tournament until driving into the water on the 18th for a bogey and a 69. He was 10 shots behind in his bid to get the major keeping him from the career Grand Slam.
The weekend will not include Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who stumbled badly down the stretch and finished with a double bogey for a 75 to miss the cut — 4-over par — by two.
Jon Rahm thought he might have worked his way back into the mix with a 69 to get to 2-over 142, and he was skeptical about the forecast of wind abating.
“They said the wind was going to go down this afternoon. No, it’s not. It’s Oklahoma,” Rahm said. “It’s going to stay just as windy as we had.” If only.
Watson had not scored better than 68 in his previous 49 rounds in the PGA Championship. And then he dropped nine birdies and goes into the weekend with a chance.
Zalatoris and Pereira, who led the Korn Ferry Tour a year ago, will be in the final group Saturday, two players still searching for their first PGA Tour title.
Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, a Cal alum, finished the second round at 4-over, on the cut line, as did Stanford’s Maverick McNealy. Max Homa, another Cal alum, is faring better, at 1-under.