Liguori: You Got A Little Bit Of Everything At Whistling Straits On Friday
By Ann Liguori
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SHEYBOGAN, Wis. (CBSNewYork) -- The weather was ripe for scoring -- hot, humid, very little wind.
That is, until a huge storm rocked Whistling Straits at 6:28 p.m. and suspended the second round of the PGA Championship.
Strong winds and rain pummeled the media tent, shaking it violently. The leaderboard at the entrance gate was flattened. Leaves and branches from trees littered the grounds.
Play will resume on Saturday morning. The third round is scheduled to begin approximately 30 minutes after the completion the second round. In all, 57 players have yet to complete their second round.
Before play was suspended, a birdie-fest moved two Aussies, Jason Day and Matt Jones, into the lead at 9-under, one shot ahead of Justin Rose. Day was on a roll with birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13. Jones had five birdies and no bogies through 12 holes.
Jordan Spieth didn't drive the ball well, but he was able to work his way to 6-under, regaining his consistent putting stroke on his way to a second-round, 5-under 67.
"I made a couple of putts today," said 22-year-old Texan, who's hoping to win his third major championship this season, something that hasn't been done since Tiger Woods in 2000. "With a couple chip-ins for the week and really smart course management and good speed control, we have been able to hold ourselves in there.
"But in order to keep shooting the rounds like today, I'm going to need to drive the ball a little bit better and make a few more putts, which are really the two keys for me this weekend."
Dustin Johnson, with three bogies in his last four holes, dropped back to 5-under through 14 holes.
David Lingmerth, the 28-year-old from Sweden who won a Swedish national championship in hockey when he was a teenager, recovered from several ugly holes (his tee shot found Lake Michigan on the par 3, 7th and led to double bogey. He then bogied the 8th and 9th). to finish at 7-under.
Harris English and Tony Finau are also 7-under.
"The wind was down a little bit, beautiful day," said Lingmerth, who played early. "The greens are at a firmness right now where you can throw some darts in there at a few of the holes. So scoring conditions are pretty good."
Rory McIlroy shot another 1-under 71, with "so-so iron play." McIlroy is 2-under for the championship.
Phil Mickelson shot a 1-over, 73 and is 1-over for the championship, but not without first entertaining his fans when he slid down one of the dunes on his bottom.
Tiger Woods is 4-over for the championship through 13 holes. The projected cut is 2-over.
John Daly, frustrated with his terrible round, threw a club into Lake Michigan. A kid on a boat was thrilled after he recovered the club close to the shore. Daly was 11-over after the first two rounds
Saturday promises to offer plenty more story lines.
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