Woods falls by wayside as rookie stakes claim
Mito Pereira skidded out of control just like so many other contenders in the wind and cold of Southern Hills but he got back on course at just the right time in the PGA Championship yesterday.
Pereira steadied himself with three birdies over the last six holes, the final one from just outside 25 feet for a one-under 69 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That gave the 27-year-old from Chile a three-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris.
For Tiger Woods, his slide on a battered right leg seemed to last all day in what turned out to be his last round. Woods withdrew for the first time in a major as a pro. He limped around Southern Hills for a 79, his worst score ever in the PGA Championship.
Woods looked pained as ever in the morning after a half-hour delay from rain, making five straight bogeys, hitting two balls in the water and having to hole a five-foot putt on the final hole to break 80.
The only other time he withdrew from a major was when he injured a wrist in the 1995 US Open when he was an amateur.
At stake for the 27-year-old Pereira is a chance to become the first PGA Tour rookie to win a major since Keegan Bradley in the 2011 PGA Championship.
‘‘I was playing really good and suddenly I made four bogeys in five holes. It was a tough place to be at that moment,’’ he said. ‘‘But just found myself from 13 on. Those holes are pretty tough. So really happy how I ended up playing. The birdie on 18 was a bonus.’’
There were missed opportunities for so many others on a rough day featuring a wind out of the north that made Southern Hills play entirely different.
Former PGA champion Justin Thomas went 12 holes without a
birdie, and then he gave it back with a bogey on the closing hole for a 74. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson looked shaky as ever on the greens, making three bogeys over his last four holes for a 73. They went from the cusp of contention to seven shots behind.
Rory McIlroy had a six-hole stretch around the turn that he
played in six-over – and that even included a birdie – for a 74 to fall nine shots back.
Zalatoris had his problems, too. He dropped four shots in the opening seven holes and went from a one-shot lead to a five-shot deficit until he crawled his way back into the game.
‘‘I was pretty frustrated with