Will Zalatoris is an elite ball-striker who knows how to play in major championships and he’ll have a great chance to win his first this weekend at the PGA Championship.
Zalatoris followed up with opening 66 with a five-under par 65 on Friday at Southern Hills and he’s the 36-hole leader at nine-under par.
Southern Hills has been kind to halfway leaders. At the seven previous majors at this Tulsa golf landmark, the eventual winner led or was the co-leader after 36 holes.
Zalatoris hopes to keep that string going but understands what’s in front of him this weekend.
“I knew it was going to calm down a little bit in the afternoon,” said Zalatoris, who turned out to be on the lucky side of the draw — early on Thursday, late on Friday as the strong Friday morning winds died down and left the afternoon guys with great scoring opportunities. “I didn’t think it was going to calm down this much. We lucked out with the draw, for sure. I played the last eight holes with not much wind, but take it when you can get it,” Zalatoris pointed out.
But he was cautious. “I’ve got a long 36 holes ahead of me,” Zalatoris said. “I think history to me, it is what it is, but I’m going to go out and do my job, and hopefully it’s enough at the end.”
The first time Zalatoris practiced at Southern Hills, he was quick with his assessment: “This place is sweet!”
After his round on Friday, his theme was the same. “I love this course — it’s all right in front of you but it’s tough.”
Zalatoris will play in the final pairing Saturday with Mito Pereira, who grew up in Chile playing against Joaquin Niemann. Pereira’s 64 got him to eight-under par, just a shot off the lead of Zalatoris. They will go off a 2:50 EDT.
Zalatoris and Pereira set a hot pace but two big names will play just ahead of them. Justin Thomas was on the tough side of the draw but managed to grind out a second straight three-under par 67 and was the early leader from the morning wave at six-under par. J.T. hit 16 of 18 greens in winds that gusted up to 30 miles per hour.
As for Bubba, he had a chance to shoot 62 but wound up with 63 and became the 17th player to shoot 63 in a PGA Championship. Bubba went driver-crazy on Friday and hit it 14 times and missed just one fairway. Bubba had a whopping nine birdies on the day. Watson’s 63 got him to five-under after his opening round of 72. But to listen to him, you think he shot 73:
“I don’t think I learned how to attack the golf course,” Bubba said afterward. “If you really want to go through my round, I was nervous on every single shot. I was nervous on every single putt. I had no clue. The greens are bumpy. Let’s just call it like it is. They’re bumpy and they were a little bit hairier today. It was tough. My putts bounced my way and they went in today.”
Thank-you Bubba.
First round leader Rory McIlroy had the calm conditions but couldn’t take advantage of them an struggled his way to a 71. McIlroy fell back into a group at four-under par with Abraham Ancer (67-69) and Davis Riley (68-68).
Heavy rains fell overnight and softened the course, which should make for some good scoring conditions on moving day.
PGA Championship Scoreboard and Tee Times:
