It’s been a major championship devoid of much star power.
Scottie Scheffler can change that.
Scheffler carded a 3-under 68 Friday at Quail Hollow Club to move into a tie for fifth at 5 under, just three shots back of leader Jhonattan Vegas at the midway point of the 107th PGA Championship.
Unsettled with his golf swing for much of the day, Scheffler missed four of his first five greens in regulation, yet he still played that stretch without a bogey. Scheffler reckoned that he didn’t make many good swings until the drivable par-4 14th hole, where he drove it into the right greenside bunker and converted an easy up-and-down birdie. He birdied the next, a par-5, for his fourth of the round and nearly had a fifth after throwing a dart to 3 feet at the par-3 17th hole. He missed the shortie, otherwise Scheffler would be joint-second entering the weekend.
“I think most of me is just glad to be close to the lead,” Scheffler said. “If you’re going to play a 72-hole golf tournament, there’s going to be days and stretches of golf where you’re not swinging it your best. Over the course of a tournament this long and on a major championship setup, there’s going to be, like I said, some bumps in the road. It’s all about how you respond to those.
“I did a good job of responding to those mistakes today and keeping myself in the tournament.”
Vegas, Las not Johnny, would argue that Scheffler isn’t just in this championship; Scheffler is the current favorite, at +220, ahead of Bryson DeChambeau (+875 and five shots back) and the player Vegas (+1200).
Perhaps that’s a testament to Scheffler’s ability.
That the first page of the leaderboard looks more like the 3M Open doesn’t hurt Scheffler’s chances either.
Out of the 26 players at 3 under or better, just three rank inside the top 25 of the Official World Golf Ranking – No. 1 Scheffler, No. 15 DeChambeau and No. 22 Robert MacIntyre. Even worse for the championship is that six top-10 players missed the weekend, and Nos. 2 and 3, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, made the cut on the number at 1 over while playing alongside Scheffler.
McIlroy bogeyed each of his final two holes, lipping out a short par save at the par-3 17th and then hooking his drive into the chalets on the par-4 18th, his ball ricocheting back into a thick lie on the bank of the creek that runs along the left side of the treacherous hole, which played over a half-shot over par.
Through two rounds, McIlroy has hit just 10 fairways. McIlroy didn’t speak to reporters on Friday evening, but SiriusXM PGA Tour reported earlier in the day that McIlroy’s driver was deemed non-conforming by the USGA, which conducts the testing, on Tuesday, so he’s been using a replacement.
Si Woo Kim cut some lumber into the fourth green, playing 252 yards from the tee, and watched his ball track all the way into the hole for the improbable ace. That spurred him to a 7-under 64, tied for the round of the day, as Kim is tied for second at 6 under with Matthieu Pavon (65) and Matt Fitzpatrick (68). Max Homa (64) is level with Scheffler at 5 under.
Fitzpatrick, a recent U.S. Open champion, and Homa, a recent Ryder Cupper,
Homa has plummeted to 78th in the world, missing five straight cuts earlier this year and having still not posted a top-10 finish anywhere since his T-8 finish at last year’s Wells Fargo, played at Quail Hollow. But he’s been showing glimpses of a rally, including a few weeks ago at the Masters, where he tied for 12th. Homa’s 64 Friday was his best major round by three shots.
“I’ve hit a lot of golf balls in the last seven months, like an absurd amount of golf ball,” Homa said. “So, you get these stretches that you might just groove it well. … It felt more like my old golf swing.”
It’s been a season of change for Max Homa, and one that hasn’t produced good results or consistency — until Friday at the PGA Championship.
Fitzpatrick’s struggled have arguably been worse, as he’s dropped to 85th in the world. “It’s not just putting, it was my whole game,” said Fitzpatrick, who doesn’t own a top-20 showing since last year’s FedExCup playoff opener in Memphis. Fitzpatrick has done a bit of everything this week, a big reason why he’s carded only four bogeys, two each day.
“If I can just keep doing that and not get myself in trouble, I can give myself a chance,” Fitzpatrick said.
They’re all chasing Vegas, the world No. 70, who admitted he got what felt like only three hours of sleep on Thursday night, following an adrenaline-pumping, five-birdies-in-six-holes finish to his first round. Vegas’ sleepy start included just one birdie on his opening nine but also just one bogey. He strung together three birdies in five holes to kick off his back nine to find double digits at 10 under and stretch his lead to four shots. He left his tee shot at No. 17 well off to the right, only for his ball to take a fortuitous bounce off a bunker rake and kick to 30 feet, setting up an easy par.
Vegas closed in double bogey, his third shot from the right greenside bunker coming out heavy and riding the false front down off the green, followed two strokes later by a shocking short miss for bogey. But afterward, Vegas’ glass was half full; he was still leading a major championship.
Majors, after all, haven’t been kind to the 40-year-old, four-time PGA Tour winner from Venezuela. In 16 previous major starts, Vegas registered no top-20s and 10 missed cuts. He completed the season trunk slam in 2017, posting MCs at each of the four majors.
Tee times and pairings for the third round of the 107th PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club.
“You put all those hours to give yourself chances like this,” Vegas said. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do it throughout my career, but you never know. You got to keep the pedal down, keep your head down, and keep working hard. You never know when things are going to turn your way. I’m enjoying the process.”
With Vegas listed at a generous 6 feet, 3 inches, and 230 pounds, Scheffler, a former basketball player in high school, is probably glad that he doesn’t have to play defense on Vegas this weekend. All Scheffler need worry about is locking down this mammoth of a golf course.
There aren’t many guys left at the top of the leaderboard who can keep Quail, at a wet and muddy 7,600 yards and change, in check for four quarters.
Scheffler is unquestionably the best among them.
