TULSA, May 21 (ABC):American Will Zalatoris fired a bogey-free five-under-par 65 to seize a one-stroke lead late in Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship while Tiger Woods grinded his way into the weekend in his amazing injury comeback.
Aided by gusting winds that vanished in the afternoon, late-starter Zalatoris reeled off three birdies in a row starting at the par-3 11th hole then rolled in a birdie putt from just outside seven feet at the par-4 17th to finish 36 holes at Southern Hills on 9-under-par 131.
“I had the luck of the draw. There wasn’t any wind after the 11th hole,” Zalatoris said. “I made the most of it with some good shotmaking.”
That enabled 30th-ranked Zalatoris, last year’s Masters runner-up and the 2021 US PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, to grab a one-stroke lead over Chile’s Mito Pereira, who fired a six-under-par 64 to stand on 132.
Woods overcame a double bogey at the par-3 11th with birdies at the par-5 13th and par-4 16th to shoot 69 and reach the weekend on 3-over 143, 12 shots behind Zalatoris, who has four top-10 finishes in seven major starts.
“I had to grind and go to work and I did and I made it,” Woods said. “It wasn’t pretty.”
World number 100 Pereira, a 27-year-old from Santiago who missed the cut at the 2019 US Open in his only prior major start, took full advange of diminished afternoon wind to make seven birdies against a lone bogey.
“I’ve had good days and bad days but everything I’ve experiencd has helped me to get here and play good golf,” Pereira said.
American Justin Thomas, the 2017 PGA Championship winner, fired a second consecutive three-under-par 67 in gusting morning winds to stand third on 134.
“Very pleased,” Thomas said. “I played really well today. The conditions were obviously very difficult. I stayed very patient… and I’m glad to have a good round to show for it.”
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson matched the course record with a seven-under-par 63 to stand fourth on 135. He made nine birdies, his most in any major round, against two bogeys and only missed matching the all-time low major round of 62 when he missed a 23-foot birdie putt at the 18.
The biggest crowds, however, followed Woods, the 15-time major winner in his second comeback event after severe leg injuries suffered in a February 2021 car crash.
“Hopefully this weekend I get a hot weekend, some tough conditions and you never know,” Woods said. “The mission is to go ahead and win this thing somehow.”
Woods struggled to a 74 on Thursday and for most of the Friday was flirting with the cut line as he battled alongside Rory McIlroy, the 18-hole leader with an opening 65, and Jordan Spieth, trying to complete a career Grand Slam.
Woods made a five-foot birdie putt at the par-5 fifth and a bogey at the par-3 eighth, then began the back nine with a 10-foot birdie putt.
But a double-bogey disaster at the par-3 11th saw Woods go over the green, then into a greenside bunker and blast out to eight feet but miss his bogey putt.
“Started the back nine the way I wanted, then I had a double bogey,” Woods said. “I was over the cut line. It wasn’t pretty.”
Spieth also shot 69 and stood on 141 after 36 holes, 10 off the pace.
McIlroy fell back with a 71 to stand on 136, five adrift.
The world’s three top-ranked golfers were grouped in a major for the first time since the 2013 US Open but all were over par overall.
Spain’s second-ranked Jon Rahm, the reigning US Open champion from Spain who could return to number one with a victory, shot 69 to stand on 142.
“I can’t ask much more of myself,” Rahm said. “It was a good day. It was good golf. Just tough.”
Third-ranked American Collin Morikawa, the reigning British Open champion, fired his second 72 to stand on 144.
Top-ranked Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who has won four of his past eight starts, fired a 75 to miss the cut on 146 with two-time major winner Dustin Johnson.