PGA Championship’s scoring record in danger
ST. LOUIS – One’s built like a linebacker, bombs it 300-plus yards off the tee and was a lipped-putt away from tying a major championship scoring record Friday.
Funny thing was: Brooks Koepka didn’t have a clue. Not before the putt, at least. He was walking off the 18th green at Bellerive Country Club after authoring a sparkling 63 in the second round of the PGA Championship when his caddie mentioned how close he’d come to history. That putt drops, and Koepka joins Branden Grace with the only 62s shot in a major.
Instead, it burned the edge. Sixtythree’s not bad, though.
“I didn’t even think of it,” said Koepka, the twotime U.S. Open champ. “I’ve been so in the zone you don’t know where you are or where you’re at.”
Another stands just 510 and knows his game’s limitations: Kevin Kisner is not overpowering a golf course like Koepka is. But he seems cool with it. Kisner’s Southern swagger is all his own. He just rolls with it.
“It’s golf, man,” Kisner said through his thick Carolina drawl Friday after firing a 64. “It’s all I’ve ever done. I won everywhere I ever been.”
As for his plans for the weekend, Kisner was appropriately succinct: “If I shoot the lowest score, I win.”
Throw in Gary Woodland, blessed with Koepka-like power off the tee and a revitalized putting stroke, and that’s the top of the early second-round leaderboard at the 100th PGA Championship. Woodland’s at 10 under. Kisner’s at 9 under. Koepka’s at 8 under.
Bellerive’s wide fairways and softened greens were no match for the three of them Friday morning. One by one, they picked this place apart.
Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Pieters are all three shots back.
A day after firing a pace-setting 64, Woodland backed it up with a 66 on Friday. His total of 130 is the lowest 36-hole score in tournament history.
Kisner went 67 on Thursday, then made a run at Grace’s record 62 before bogeying the 18th hole and settling for his 64. He played a blistering back nine, racing off six birdies on his way to a 29.
“Just kept throwing darts” was how Kisner put it. “And holing the 8-, 10-footers I needed to make birdies.”
Then there’s Koepka, who along with Schwartzel on Friday fired the lowest round of the tournament. Their 63s tie the best round in PGA Championship history (it’s been shot 16 times now) and this is just the second time in major championship history there have been two 63s shot on the same day.
For Schwartzel, it’s progress. Lots and lots of progress. The 2011 Masters champ hasn’t made a cut in a major all year. He’s tied for fourth heading into Saturday.