Woods starts strong, stumbles, but stays in hunt at rain-delayed major
Tiger sitting at 3 under, 7 strokes back of leader
ST. LOUIS — The roars began at the second hole at Bellerive, where Tiger Woods rolled in a putt for birdie, and they grew in volume when he stalked another putt toward the hole for a birdie at the third.
But just as Woods was picking up momentum, another rumble brought him to a halt.
It came as an ominously dark cloud that settled over the PGA Championship, bringing thunder and heavy rain that washed out the rest of the second round. It left Woods pondering his third shot into the par-5 eighth hole the rest of the night — not to mention his place on the leaderboard.
When play resumes today, Woods will still be 3 under for the championship and seven shots back of Gary Woodland, who played his second round early and was done long before the storms.
“It was fine. I’m 3-under par, so I felt I was headed in the right direction,” Woods said after the PGA of America announced play was suspended for the day. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day for a lot of us and try and get back at it early.”
Woods arrived for his tee time Friday knowing full well Woodland and others had gone low earlier in the day. The tees had been moved up, the hole locations had been made accessible, and the classic Robert Trent Jones design was ripe for the taking by the world’s best players.
For as long as he was one the course, Woods proved he’s still one of them.
He missed a birdie putt at the first but came through at the second, then stuck his approach shot close at the par-3 third, where water guards the right front. Woods knew he’d made that putt when it was still on the way, beginning his confident walk to pluck the ball from the hole.
Woods showed even more emotion at the long, difficult par-4 fourth. He had driven it into the right rough, then hit a low, screaming fade that dodged the greenside bunkers and ended up on the fringe. He popped a bump-and-run chip toward the hole and thought he had made it, beginning his famous fist-pump before the ball just skirted the cup.
“I almost got a fist-pump on video!” one fan screamed.
Woods kept the fist-pump in the holster when he poured in his third birdie of the round at the fifth, this time rolling in a 10-footer that got him to 3 under for the championship.
With more massive crowds watching his every move, Woods curled in a long putt to save par out of the bunker at the sixth, and nearly holed another chip before making par at the seventh.
His drive at the eighth landed in the thick rough, and he hacked his way out to set up a short approach to the par 5. It was then that the skies darkened and the horns sounded, and it’s there that Woods will place his ball when he arrives at Bellerive to resume his second round today.
Woodland set the 36-hole record after a round where his driver wasn’t as reliable, he didn’t see many putts drop and he didn’t hit the ball quite as well as the day before.
“I can live with that,” he said Friday after a 4-under 66. That put him at 10-under 130, breaking by one the PGA Championship record and tying the 36-hole score for all majors.
And it was only good for a one-shot lead over Kevin Kisner.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford was at 3-over par for the second round through nine holes and 4 over for the tournament — putting him in a tie for 111th.