During the afternoon session at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods (69) was forced to share the spotlight with the young Will Zalatoris (65) and with a player in a good moment like Mito Pereira (64). Even with a Bubba Watson, who always comes back and made 63 strokes, thus equaling the lowest card in the history of the tournament, a record that he now shares with Woods.
History says that whoever is the solo leader of the PGA after two days wins the tournament. We’ll see if Zalatoris is able to hold on to this stat.
Bubba Watson record
From Tiger we can say that he took several hits that dazzled the public and that on the greens he showed a very good level.
He could be seen more concentrated and he held up better physically than the first day. With his delivery and based on sparks, Woods continues to excite the legion of fans who follow his game. He set out to make the cut and he did.
After two days, a very dangerous golfer like Justin Thomas is still up, with his double 67. McIlory (71) did not suffer excessively, but was unable to produce birdies like the first day and is at 136 total. The number one in the world, Scottie Scheffler, did not make the cut, nor did Sergio García or Pablo Larrazábal.
The weather undoubtedly favored those who played in the afternoon, something that Adri Arnaus took advantage of, another of the surprises in Southern Hills. The Catalan made 68 and accumulates 140. His best level has not only emerged in Europe, but he is showing it in a big way.
What’s more, Arnaus had many birdie options and was even successful on the greens. If he had had a little more luck with the putt, he would have scored a scandalous round. In the morning, Jon Rahm was one of the few players who was under par.
The Basque left very satisfied with his return of 69, even without knowing that in the afternoon a good squad of players was going to begin to mark the distances in the tournament. With 142 overall, he’ll need two magical rounds to qualify for the PGA win.
Zalatoris once again remembered the one he dazzled at the 2021 Masters. He is a player with many resources, a very complete golfer and almost always recovers after a failure. When it’s his turn to tackle, he nails it, and in Southern Hills his game is coming together perfectly.
Another who has found his sweet spot in Tulsa is the Chilean Mito Pereira, who like Zalatoris played with pen and almost equaled the tournament record.
