Domo arigato Iwata-san.
That’s thank-you very much Hiroshi Iwata for shaking up the field Friday at the PGA Championship.
Iwata may have pulled a first in major history. It could be that he’s the first player to open a major with 77 then shoot 63, putting himself in the record books with 25 others who have shot 63 in a major.
Iwata plays full-time on the Japan PGA Tour and is ranked 102 in the world but on Friday, he gained the full attention of the golfing world with a 29 on the difficult back nine at Whistling Straits.
“I wish I could have shot one shot less,” Iwata said through his interpreter, a wry smile on his face.
So how did he improve by 14 strokes from his opening round? “Course condition was really different,” he said as he got caught in the high winds on Thursday afternoon, a round that saw him produce no birdies and three bogeys and a double.
On Friday, he caught fire with eight birdies, an eagle, eight pars and the single bogey at the par four ninth that cost him his shot at 62.
Iwata was all smiles, he went from the certainty of missing the cut to a spot that found him within three shots of early leader David Lingmerth, who shot 70 and posted seven-under after the morning tee times.
