Woodland coleads, Mickelson contends
Phil Mickelson was 11 shots worse than his previous round at Quail Hollow. Bryson DeChambeau made an 8 on his 16th hole and headed straight for the exit.
Turns out nothing was as bad as it seemed Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship.
Morning gusts gave way to a relentless wind in the afternoon and had just about everyone trying to finish without too much damage. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland had a 2under 69 in the morning and shared the 36hole lead with Matt Wallace (67) and Patrick Rodgers (68).
No one in the afternoon could catch them at 6under 136.
Rory McIlroy will be playing on the weekend for the first time in two months. He shot a 66, and by the end of the day, that was good for a tie for fifth, two shots out of the lead.
As for Mickelson? Never mind that he followed a 64 with a 75.
“I’m excited to be in contention heading into the weekend, and I know I’m playing well,” said Mickelson, who is three shots behind.
DeChambeau had reason to leave. Two balls in the water on the par5 seventh led to his triple bogey and sent him to a 74. He was just inside the top 100 when he left without speaking. And then the wind arrived, the scores shot up and he made the cut on the number at 2over 144.
⏩ Defending champion Steve Stricker birdied the final hole for a 3under 69 to move into a fourway tie for the lead halfway through the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.
Stricker joined Jerry Kelly (70), Alex Cejka (69) and firstround leader Darren Clarke (71) atop the leaderboard in Birmingham, Ala.
Four players were one stroke off the lead, including World Golf Hall of Famer Ernie Els, who carded his second straight 69.
⏩ ANA Inspiration champion Patty Tavatanakit finished with an eagle to take a threestroke lead over Atthaya Thitikul at the halfway stage of the LPGA Thailand tournament in Pattaya.
Tavatanakit moved to 16under 128 at Siam Country Club after a 12foot putt on the par5 18th for backtoback 64s. Despite no spectators because of the pandemic, Tavatanakit and 18yearold Thitikul are playing under high home expectations. A Thai player has never won this U.S. LPGA Tour event.