Streb shoots 63 to lead with Walker
In a major championship season of endless theatre, the PGA Championship lived up to its end of the bargain yesterday.
American Robert Streb led the way, even if hardly anyone noticed.
As thousands of fans crammed into the closing holes at Baltusrol to see if Jason Day could finish off his amazing run and Phil Mickelson could make it to the weekend, Streb hit a six-iron to 20 feet on his final hole at the par-three ninth for a shot at 63.
He made the birdie putt during a TV commercial break, making him the 28th player to shoot 63 in a major, and the third in the last 16 days.
‘‘It was pretty people that were said. noisy for the 15 out there,’’ Streb
No matter where anyone was Baltusrol, there was no shortage entertainment.
Mickelson hit his opening tee shot off the property and onto a side street and made triple bogey, only to rally to make the cut. Rickie Fowler finished birdie-eagle to get back into the picture. Rory McIlroy only needed to birdie the par-5 18th, the easiest hole on the course, to make the cut. From the fairway, he made bogey and was headed home to figure out what was wrong with his putting. Kiwi Danny Lee is tied 34th after an even-par 70, eight shots adrift of the leaders.
A second round that began in rain with one group given the wrong hole location on No 10 ended with Streb and Jimmy Walker sharing the lead and becoming the eighth and ninth players to match the 36-hole record at of in the PGA Championship at 131.
Walker had to settle for a fourunder 66, right when he had the 36-hole record for all majors (130) within his reach with two par fives remaining. But he hit into the hospitality area well left of the 17th and scrambled for par, and then his tee shot narrowly missed its mark and found the water on the 18th, leading to bogey.
Even so, he was tied point of a major.
‘‘It’s going to be a new experience, and it will be fun,’’ Walker said. ``You still have to go perform. Doesn’t matter what tournament it is.’’
Day dropped to even par with a double bogey on No 7, and that appeared to wake up the world’s No 1 player. Day went on a tear with seven birdies over his next eight holes, two of them from 18 at the halfway feet, one of them from 35 feet. Suddenly, he was on the verge of a shot at 63 until he hooked his tee shot to the base of the hospitality area on the 17th, and pushed a driving iron into the right rough on the 18th. He settled for pars at both for a 65.
Day was right where he wanted to be, three shots behind going into the weekend, his name high on the leaderboard for everyone to see. At stake is a chance to join Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back PGA champions since the strokeplay era began in 1958.
Day was joined at 7-under 133 by Emiliano Grillo, the talented young Argentine who worked hard on his putting at Baltusrol and watched it pay off. Grillo got this afternoon of birdies going by making five of them in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine until he cooled on the front and had to settle for a 67.
By the end of the day, it was easy to overlook a familiar figure – Henrik Stenson, the British Open champion who made eagle on the 18th at the turn and polished off another 67. He was only four shots behind in his bid to match Ben Hogan as the only players to win two straight majors at age 40.
The biggest surprise was Streb, who became the fourth player with a 63 at Baltusrol, after Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf in the 1980 US Open, and Thomas Bjorn in the 2005 PGA Championship.
Meanwhile, Lydia Ko potted birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to ensure she made it through to the weekend at the Women’s British Open. Ko’s two-under round of 70 at Woburn left her at even par for the tournament, one shot above where the eventual cut was made and in a tie for 56th.