Friday At The 107th PGA
Vegas continues to lead and Scheffler moves into contention. Plus, McIlroy's driver woes may have an explanation, epic shots from Homa and Kim, This, That, Pairings, Odds and Weather.
Round Two By The Numbers
-8: Score of leader Jhonattan Vegas (64-170-134)
64: Low second round by Max Homa, Si Woo Kim
84: High round by Rupe Taylor
72.419: Round 2 scoring average (+1.419)
7,555: Round 2 actual yardage (-41 from round one)
185: Par 3 17th hole yardage (-41 from round one)
3.329: 17th hole scoring avg (2nd ranked)
4th, 2nd, 1st: Ranks in difficulty of the 16th-18th holes
4.542: Par 4 18th hole scoring avg. in round two
19: Major cut streak for Hideki Matsuyama (+3) that ended Friday
151: Score of John Somers and Tyler Collet, low “Corebridge Financial Team” members (aka the club pros)
T124: Top position of the co-low Corebridgers
Following yesterday’s opening round, it looked like we’d be making chili this weekend with a pot of carburetor fluid, gently smoked roadkill, and garbanzo beans left over from 2017 PGA media dining.
Don’t get too hungry yet. But the ingredient options improved a bit Friday. There is even hope we may be working with better stuff by Sunday between an intriguing arrival of wind for the Saturday leaders. Still, Hollywood types are not lining up to buy film rights to the 2025 PGA just yet. But Friday’s second round at least moved some recognizable types into contention. This glorified Wyndham Championship could still turn tasty.
First-round leader Jhonny Vegas showed little sign of stress or fatigue from the short turnaround following Thursday’s 64 to post a 70 for a two-stroke lead. The world No. 70 entered the week as a 500-1 long shot and reached double digits under par before finishing eight-under-par. The 40-year-old Venezuelan leads Matthieu Pavon, Matt Fitzpatrick and Si Woo Kim by two.
Among those moving into contention: Max Homa (-5/T5), Scottie Scheffler (-5/T5), Robert MacIntyre (-4/T7) and Bryson DeChambeau.
There are just two major champions among the top 10 (Scheffler and Fitzpatrick).
The last time a PGA Championship featured two or fewer major winners among the top 10 after 36: 2017 at Quail Hollow. Funny, I would have guessed that every time.
Notables to miss the +1/143 cut include Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose.
Masters champion and Quail Hollow master Rory McIlroy finished +1 to make the cut on the number. His driving was uncharacteristically awful by his ridiculous standards. Big stick trouble started last week and has not improved at the course where he’s won four (Bank Name Here) Championships. After hitting just nine fairways on the weekend at Philadelphia Cricket Club, McIlroy hit only 10 of 28 fairways (T73). His approach play was also loose, finding only 19 of 36 greens in regulation (T72).
Late in Friday’s round, SiriusXM’s Jason Sobel reported a possible explanation for the tee shot struggles: McIlroy’s TaylorMade Qi10 driver failed a COR test on Tuesday and he reportedly was forced to switch out his “gamer” for round one. According to GolfDigest.com’s Joel Beall, the USGA was conducting pre-tournament random testing for the PGA of America. Isn’t that rich?
McIlroy did not address media after either round and the PGA of America has not confirmed the accuracy of the SiriusXM report. If true, the situation is similar to Xander Schauffele’s driver failing at the 2019 Open Championship after hitting one-too-many on the sweet spot.
For those wondering at the lack of disclosure or if McIlroy used a juiced driver to win The Masters, let me explain the likely scenario given that we have no information to work with.
The manufacturers deliver drivers with shallow faces close to the line of demarcation because, well, they can. They want max driving distance numbers to sell their cheaply made pieces of $800 huge-profit margin big sticks. One problem: cheaply made stuff will, at a certain point when struck by an elite player at today’s speeds with incredible consistency on the sweet spot, see the face deteriorate enough that the “Coefficient of Restitution” can change.
Most of the companies—at least the smart ones—test the player clubs weekly to avoid the embarrassment of a failed test. The PGA Tour regularly tests drivers and balls throughout the year, but in this week’s case the USGA was conducting the driver exams to keep the PGA Championship consistent with other majors.
If the McIlroy driver report is accurate, it might be the second time that Taylormade has let their star player down. There was speculation, but never any confirmation, that McIlroy switched drivers after round one of the 2023 Genesis because his driver was inching close to the line.
We’ll see if any of the parties—the PGA of America, McIlroy, or Taylormade—clear the air on Saturday.
Elsewhere at Quail Hollow, Friday saw two brilliant rounds with two highlight-reel classic shots by Homa and Kim (covered below).
Friday’s cloud cover kept the forecasted heat from getting the best of the field. Yet the expected record crowds touted by the PGA of America appeared smaller than expected and the thousands there seemed dulled by the heat and star-deficient leaderboard. So much so that 2023 PGA star and Arroyo Trabucco pro Michael Block (75-82) suggested the quiet hurt his game.
“The funny thing is, I actually play better when there’s a big crowd on every hole—that’s when I hit my shots,” Block said. “When there’s no one around, that’s when I hit my worst ones. I’ve realize I need that more people watching. I just need to play a bit better so I can earn that. I can only imagine how things might have gone if I had been playing well this week.”
On that note, let’s get to the shots hit by players who found a way to overcome the lack of crowd energy.