Louisville (United States) (AFP) – Xander Schauffele kept his one stroke lead after Saturday’s conclusion of the second round of the PGA Championship, where a major-record 78 players made the lowest cut in tournament history.
Reigning Olympic champion Schauffele fired a three-under par 68 on Friday to seize the lead on 12-under 130 after 36 holes.
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Third-ranked Schauffele, seeking his first major title, was one ahead of Collin Morikawa and two better than Sahith Theegala as the American trio prepared to start in Saturday’s last third-round group off the first tee at 1:40 p.m.(1740 GMT).
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, arrested Friday morning after jumping a curb to avoid stopped traffic at the entrance to Valhalla, returned from jail to shoot 66 to share fourth on 133.
Reigning Masters champion Scheffler and will start in the penultimate third-round group off the first tee at 1:29 alongside fellow American Mark Hubbard and Belgian Thomas Detry, also on 133.
The accident that caused the traffic congestion outside the course, in which a pedestrian was killed, also delayed the start by 80 minutes and led to 17 players being stopped by darkness and forced to finish round two on Saturday.
The best among those players was South African Dean Burmester, who eagled the par-5 18th hole to reach 134 for 36 holes, four off the pace.
“I’m just glad that we got those two holes done and can get round three in,” LIV Golf’s Burmester said.
“This is probably the best position I’ve been in going into the weekend (of a major) so it’s nice to have a chance.”
Forecasts are dry to the finish but rain-soaked Valhalla proved receptive to aggressive shotmaking in the first two rounds and it showed in major cut records.
A total of 78 players, the most of any major ever contested, made the cut to low 70 and ties on one-under 141, which matched the lowest cut line in major golf history.
The only other majors with sub-par cutlines were at one-under in the 1990 British Open at St.Andrews and the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool.
The 78 players making the 36-hole cut broke the old major mark 71 from the 2006 British Open.
Among those who missed the cut were 15-time major winner Tiger Woods, six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, reigning US Open champion Wyndham Clark and sixth-ranked Ludvig Aberg of Sweden.
Spain’s Jon Rahm also missed the cut, ending what had been the longest active streak of cuts made at the majors at 18 in a row. The longest active major cut streak now belongs to Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who made his 16th consecutive cut by shooting 135 for 36 holes.
Heavy fog delayed Saturday’s restart by more than two hours and 20 minutes to alter the grouping format for round three.
Players were going to start in pairs from the first tee in round three but now will be sent off from the first and 10th tees in groups of three to try and ensure the round is completed before sunset.
© 2024 AFP
