Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth are among those who made the cut at the PGA Championship on the number but other notables are going home.
Phil Mickelson birdied his final hole of the day, the 515-yard par-4 ninth, to make the cut on the number. Playing in his 28th PGA Championship, Mickelson has only missed the cut in the event three times.
Justin Thomas, who won last week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, survived a bogey on 12 and a double on 13 by making a birdie on 16 to also make the cut on the number.
Jordan Spieth, Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson and Patrick Cantlay also all made the cut on the number, which was +1.
Several big names, though, were slamming trunks on this Friday night in San Francisco after the second round of the first major of 2020.
Two other golfers who won last week – Jim Furyk on the PGA Tour Champions circuit and Richy Werenski at the PGA Tour’s opposite-field event near Tahoe, the Barracuda Championship – could not carry that momentum over to this week.
Fowler and Furyk along with Marc Leishman all finished at 2 over, one off the cutline.
Werenski was joined at 3 over by Kevin Na and Matt Kuchar.
Sergio Garcia missed the cut, too, as he finished his PGA at 6 over.
Martin Kaymer had the wildest back-to-back days at Harding Park. He opened with a 66 on Thursday, but shot a 43 on the front with a triple bogey and a double bogey on Friday. He then had five more bogeys on the back and ended up shooting a second-round 12-over 82. He finished 8 over for the tournament.
Zach Johnson, who also shot a Thursday 66, followed that up with a 76 on Friday and he missed the cut by a shot.
Also, all 20 of the PGA pros in the field missed the cut.
Tiger Woods struggled to get anything going on Friday at TPC Harding Park for the PGA Championship.
After a smooth and seemingly effortless opening round of 2-under 68, Tiger Woods couldn’t get anything to go his way Friday in his second trip around TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. After a late tee off alongside Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, Woods seemed to struggle for every small victory on the course. He ended the day with a 2-over 72.
He didn’t make his first birdie until No. 10, also the first hole where he dropped a legitimate putt.
Truly, Woods didn’t hole a putt outside of 3 feet on his front nine. This, a day after birdie conversions from 8, 32, 4, 14 and 12 feet in the first round.
Instead, Woods made two bogeys on the front nine. They came at the par-3 third, where he missed a 10-footer after blasting out of the sand, and No. 9, where he was in both a fairway bunker and a greenside bunker.
In fact, Woods found himself in an inordinate amount of bunkers on Friday, and with poor results. He was zero for seven when it came to getting up-and-down from the sand.
Birdies on Nos. 10 and 16 were the highlight of the back nine, but also very necessary. After Woods bogeyed Nos. 13 and 15 – the latter coming off an approach blown over the back of the green – he found himself sitting on the cutline of 1 over.
The birdie at No. 16 was crucial in getting to the weekend.
By the time Woods was trudging through the final holes, his body language suggested both disappointment and fatigue in his lackluster play. Still, he’ll live to play two mores rounds.
Rickie Fowler last failed to play the weekend in a major at the 2016 U.S. Open.
Rickie Fowler’s streak of 14 consecutive cuts made in major championships is in jeopardy, and a sloppy one-handed putting attempt in the second round of the 102nd PGA Championship could be part of the reason.
On the par-4 sixth hole on TPC Harding Park on Friday, his 15th of the day, Fowler faced a six-inch bogey putt and swung his putter at the ball with one hand. The problem is that the putter struck the ground first and then barely touched the ball. He needed another putt to get it in the hole and had to take a double bogey.
He also bogeyed the eighth before posting a 69. But coupled with his first-round 73, Fowler is at 2 over. The projected cut on Friday afternoon was 1 over.
Fowler last failed to play the weekend in a major at the 2016 U.S. Open.
Fowler has missed five cuts in 12 events this year and has just two top-10 finishes, both in January at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the American Express.
He did post a T-15 at last week’s World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Cameron Tringale was disqualified from the PGA Championship for the second time in the last seven years.
For Cameron Tringale, Friday at the PGA Championship was a case of deja vu all over again, as baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once memorably put it.
During the 2nd round of the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, Tringale signed for a score lower than he actually made on the par-3, No. 8. He signed for a 3 but made a 4.
After his scorecard was officially certified, he then left the scoring area, but later returned to notify the Scoring Referee of his mistake. He was subsequently disqualified for violating Rule 3.3b(3).
As rule 3.3 – Wrong Score for a Hole – states, if a player returns a scorecard with a wrong score for any hole:
Returned Score Higher Than Actual Score. The higher returned score for the hole stands.
Returned Score lower Than Actual Score or No Score Returned. The player is disqualified.
Tringale, 32, had signed for 2-under 68 and was going to be sweating out the cutline the rest of the day.
But this isn’t the first time Tringale was disqualified from the PGA Championship for a scoring violation.
In 2014, a guilt-ridden Tringale called the Tour and disqualified himself after finishing T-36 and earning $53,000. He claimed to have missed a stroke when attempting to tap in on the 11th hole of the final round.
“Realizing that there could be the slightest doubt that the swing over the ball should have been recorded as a stroke, I spoke with the PGA of America and shared with them my conclusion that the stroke should have been recorded,” Tringale said in a statement after the 2014 PGA.
Haotong Li is looking to make history, as no player from China has ever held a lead or co-lead after a round at a major championship.
Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.
Those are usually the names that dominate the news during the week of one of golf’s majors but on Friday, Haotong Li is among those making the headlines.
On Friday, Li posted the lowest score in a major by anyone from China. He’s looking to make history, as no player from his home country has ever held a lead or co-lead after a round at a major championship.
Just 25, Li has yet to really hit it big but he’s shown flashes.
He does have three PGA Tour China Series wins as well as three international victories, most recently in the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
In 2017, he closed with four birdies to shoot 63 to finish third in the Open Championship.
First to breach new rule
Li’s name is already in the history books for other reasons.
Early in 2019, he became the first player penalized under the rule which prohibits caddies from standing on or close to an extension of the line of play.
This happened about four weeks after the new Rules of Golf were rolled out. Li was handed a two-shot penalty at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic when it was determined that caddie Mike Burrow breached rule 10.3b(3) while Li was putting on the 18th green. The penalty dropped Li from a tie for third to 12th and cost him close to $100,000 in prize money.
Four eagles in one round
Li shook off the penalty a week later by posting a 62 during the third round of the Saudi International, a round that included four eagles.
Remarkably, three of the four eagles came on par 4s.
Li’s eagle-fest didn’t get the attention it probably deserved because on that same day, Sergio Garcia was thrown out of the tournament for wilfully damaging putting greens.
International acclaim
Last December, Li became the first player to represent China in the Presidents Cup. He was also in the 2016 Summer Olympics. He turned pro in 2011 when he was 16.
Follow Tiger Woods’ second round at the PGA Championship with shot-by-shot updates from TPC Harding Park.
Tiger Woods at a major will always turn heads (even if there aren’t all that many heads on property this week at TPC Harding Park to turn). When Woods showed up at the PGA Championship on Thursday, he looked fit, fluid and sharp – and pain-free – from the get-go.
Woods opened the first round with a birdie, added another on the 13th and then offset his three bogeys with three more birdies. His opening 2-under 68 left him very much in the conversation.
Woods drew an afternoon tee time for Friday, and once again will play alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. We’re tracking his second round, shot for shot, so keep with us here.
We saw some shades of old Tiger on Thursday at TPC Harding Park, but if you’re interested in how his swing has evolved over the years, take a look at this montage and get fired up for his Friday round.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were caught discussing baseball and Manchester United during the first round of the PGA Championship.
No golf fans on courses has meant those of us watching at home have gotten so many hot mic gifts, including Brooks Koepka joking about ants after Bryson DeChambeau complained about the insects, Nick Faldo reacting to Rory McIlroy’s audible F-bomb, and Adam Hadwin’s “screw you, but thanks.”
And from the first round of the 2020 PGA Championship, we have an exchange between Tiger Woods and McIlroy, in which Woods comments on the colors of McIlroy’s bag, which are meant to be a tribute to the San Francisco Giants (they’re playing at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco).
Woods is a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, so he explained it to McIlroy — who admitted he didn’t know about baseball — in soccer terms, that it would be like McIlroy (who roots for Manchester United) putting Liverpool colors on his bag.
Here’s a little clip of the conversation between Tiger and Rory about the Giants, ManU and sports.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was hit by an errant shot Thursday at the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.
Just because social distancing is being enforced at TPC Harding Park, that doesn’t mean there’s no danger.
From rogue golf balls, that is.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was hit by an errant tee shot Thursday at the PGA Championship, but appeared in good spirits after the surprise, according to a report by the Associated Press.
“One hop off the shoulder,” Monahan said of the shot hit by Matthew Fitzpatrick.
According to the report, it was the first time Monahan had ever been hit by a ball on the course in all his years working in the sport.
Monahan told Golfweek’s Steve DiMeglio on Friday that he has a bruise from the incident.
The errant shot perfectly summed up the day Fitzpatrick had at the season’s first major as the 25-year-old finished the day 4-over 74 and T-129.
The PGA Championship is being held in San Francisco without patrons due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Sportsbookwire takes a look at the live betting odds for Round 2 of the 2020 PGA Championship.
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Jason Day and Brendon Todd lead the 2020 PGA Championship at 5-under par through 18 holes. Tiger Woods is lurking three shots off the pace after an impressive opening round 68.
Below, we look at the live betting odds for Round 2 of the 2020 PGA Championship and make our picks and best bets at each value tier at BetMGM.
Todd shares the lead after shooting an opening 65 in the tougher afternoon conditions at TPC Harding Park, and he is getting significantly higher odds than Day’s +900. The three-time PGA Tour winner won in back-to-back starts earlier in the 2019-20 season. He was in contention at last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational up until a final round of 75 to finish T-15.
Todd ranked third in the field Thursday with 3.42 Strokes Gained: Putting, according to Data Golf, but he also gained 2.70 strokes tee-to-green and 2.29 on approach. He has winning pedigree in weaker fields and look for him to learn from last week’s experience against the world’s best. He’s the co-leader but ranks fifth by the live odds heading into Friday.
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Tony Finau (+3300)
Finau continues to be undervalued with his Sunday disappointments overshadowing his other strong play since the PGA Tour’s restart. He sits two shots off Thursday’s lead at minus-3 after an opening 67. It was the third time in eight events since the restart he opened with a 67 or better.
He ranks second in the field with 4.52 SG: Tee-to-Green and first with 4.02 SG: Approach through 18 holes. The 19th-ranked golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings has just one PGA Tour win on his resume, but he has finished in the top 10 in five of his last eight majors for plenty of experience with the pressure on.
2020 PGA Championship Round 2 betting picks: Long shot
Patrick Reed (+5000)
Reed, a former Masters champion, sits three strokes back in pursuit of his second career major win. He led the field Thursday with 1.84 SG: Off-the-Tee and is tied for 20th despite losing 0.24 strokes on approach.
He had just a ho-hum putting performance in Round 1 with 1.12 strokes gained with the flat stick. He mastered the incomparable greens of Augusta National once before and will be up to the more difficult weekend conditions of TPC Harding Park.
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Jason Day is atop the leaderboard alongside a resurrected Brendon Todd after the first round of the 102nd PGA Championship.
SAN FRANCISCO – Hindered by an assortment of injuries since his reign as the best player in the world back in 2015 and 2016, Jason Day has struggled at times to keep his spirits up while his body’s well-being has been down.
Chief among his pains have been chronic back issues that have forced him to miss tournaments and severely cut into prep work in the weight room and on the practice ground. After winning 10 PGA Tour titles from 2013 through 2016, he’s won twice since – both coming in 2018. In 32 starts since the onset of 2019, he doesn’t have a top-3 finish. Earlier this year fell to No. 63 in the world and he recently he split with mentor and longtime coach, Collin Swatton.
But heading into the first major of the year, Day awoke and his body healed a bit. In his most recent three starts coming into this week’s PGA Championship, Day posted ties for fourth, sixth and seventh.
Now he’s at the top of the leaderboard alongside a resurrected Brendon Todd after the first round of the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.
“There was definitely a lot of momentum coming in off the previous finishes that I’ve had,” said Day, who won this championship in 2015, his lone major. “The game feels like it’s coming around. I’m pleased with it.”
Day shot a bogey-free, 5-under-par 65 while Todd, a two-time winner this season, negated his two bogeys with seven birdies. The two were one shot clear of a group that includes four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, two-time major winners Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson, and 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose.
Todd is riding some momentum, too. He’s held two 54-hole leads in the last four tournaments before falling back in the final round. But he has risen from the abyss with two wins in the fall after contemplating quitting the game a couple years back as he battled driver yips and missed 37 of 41 cuts. He has missed the cut in four of the eight majors he’s played, with a tie for 17th his best finish.
“I don’t really compare rounds, but it was one of my better rounds today,” Todd said. “I have a lot of confidence. I’m playing the game of golf really well, not a lot of golf swing going on. That’s the key for me.”
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Koepka has won four of the last 10 majors he’s played and is trying to become the first to win the PGA Championship in three consecutive years since the tournament went to stroke play. Koepka has battled a left knee injury for more than a year (he had a stem-cell procedure last September) but looked fit and his usual powerful self in the first round.
“It’s only 18 holes right now. I feel good. I feel confident,” Koepka said. “I’m excited for the next three days. I can definitely play a lot better, and just need to tidy a few things up, and we’ll be there come Sunday on the back nine.”
Tiger Woods, seeking his fifth Wanamaker Trophy and 16th major, looks like he could be there on the back nine, too, after his 68. Woods has played just one tournament in nearly six months but looked spot on and pain-free. And he looked just fine with a new putter – a Scotty Cameron prototype – that he used instead of his Scotty Cameron that he’s used to win 14 of his 15 majors.
“I made some good putts,” Woods said. “For the most part of the day, I missed the ball on the correct sides. This golf course, you have to hit the ball in the fairway. You get a ball in the rough, into the grain, there’s no chance you can get the ball to the green. I felt like I did a decent job of doing that, and the golf course is only going to get more difficult as the week goes on.”
Getting better
Day has gotten better as the year has gone on. After a stretch of four missed cuts, one withdrawal and a tie for 46th in six starts, he reeled off his trio of top-10s.
“I shouldn’t say I’m not excited,” Day said. “I am excited to come out and play every day, but I know that I can improve, and mainly my putting can improve a little bit more.
Jason Day on the 10th green during the first round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
“I feel like I’ve been working very hard in the off-weeks and especially when I come to a tournament to be able to get my putting back to where it is because it’s always been a strength of mine, and I feel like the game is slowly coming around, the confidence is coming around because I’m starting to see the results.”
And he’s starting to look forward to the next day. During his painful stretch, which has been mentally draining as well as physically uncomfortable, it’s been tough to get out of bed or off the couch. Now he can’t wait for the sunrise.
“I finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself, and it’s easy to do that in this game because it is so mentally tough,” he said. “You can start blaming everything else but yourself. Sometimes you’ve just got to pull your pants up and just move on, you know.
“I feel like the momentum that I’ve had over the last three starts has kind of seeped into this week. The funny thing is that every day I’m excited to go back to the golf course and play, whereas before I was struggling to get up and going, oh, do I want to kind of put myself through this again. To be honest, I’m excited to get out and play every week now.”
