- McIlroy narrowly made the cut to stick around for the weekend at Quali Hollow
- The Masters champion finished bang on the cut line on the second day
- McIlroy heads into the weekend nine strokes behind leader Jhonattan Vegas
With the prospect of an almighty embarrassment averted, Rory McIlroy has earned himself another couple of days at the PGA Championship. Only he will know if that’s a blessing or a burden on the back of the past two.
For now, his relief will be that he didn’t follow the career-defining high of the Masters by missing the cut at a major he was everyone’s favourite to win. Make no mistake, it was a close run thing.
To explain how close, let’s cut straight to the 18th hole, a monstrous par four of 474 yards. He stepped on the tee at level par, one inside the dotted line and having just missed a three footer to bogey the previous hole. His progress relied on not making a mess of it.
And then, as he had done so often a day earlier, he hit a horrible drive, clattered the hospitality stand up the left and his ball came to rest on the bank of a creek, a yard or so from being wet. From that reprieve, he hacked his way to greenside rough, hit an ugly chip and two-putted for bogey to survive bang on the cut line.
A glorious charge in the afterglow of his Masters triumph? This was not that. But in signing for a 69, featuring a club toss on the 13th for good measure, he reached the clubhouse nine strokes behind Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas.
The fact this leaderboard is largely populated by the rank and file means a weekend surge should not be discounted. But of the many names ahead of him, it is impossible to ignore Scottie Scheffler on five under and Bryson DeChambeau, who sits at three under.
Rory McIlroy will be relieved to have made the cut at the PGA Championships at Quali Hollow
Masters champion McIlroy finished right on the dotted line to remain around for the weekend
McIlroy is nine strokes behind Venzuela’s Jhonattan Vegas, the clubhouse leader
The rest? They are a more surprising bunch, topped by Vegas, the world No 70, and especially Matt Fitzpatrick in the cluster at six under. The former US Open champion has had a dire 12 months, best shown by his number of cuts outweighing his top-20 finishes by six to two.
But he has been superb here, and with a second straight 68 built on five birdies and only two bogeys, with no shots dropped on the fiendish back nine. Given he sacked his caddie Billy Foster in exasperation two months ago, the recovery has been heartening. So too the placing of 52-year-old Richard Bland on three under, where he was joined by Aaron Rai.
A fourth Englishman was also trending towards an elevated spot before suffering a massive meltdown. As ever, Tyrrell Hatton remains committed to startling moments.
Having started on the 10th and reached five under with two bogeys in his first eight holes, a triple bogey on the 18th killed the card.
That collapse also generated his latest piece of viral footage when he held his driver to his face, having just fired into a creek, and shouted: ‘Piece of s*** c***.’
He wilted further from there and finished with a 73, leaving him one under for the tournament. There might well come a point when golf’s most combustible character gets his hands on a major, but it is highly unlikely to come here.
Hatton said: ‘Yeah, I was running hot in the moment. I’m pretty good at sometimes saying the wrong thing. I’ll leave it at that.’
As ever, a debate will be had over whether this talented 33-year-old is his own worst enemy, and there is more merit in that conversation than po-faced ones around disgracing the game. Like him or not, he makes for compelling viewing.
Scottie Scheffler is ominously poised with the American lying just three shots off the lead
Tyrrell Hatton had a meltdown on after a triple bogey on the 18th killed his card
Hatton added: ‘If you take those dropped shots, you’re in a nice position going into the weekend. Whereas now I need to have two very good rounds without putting a foot wrong.
‘I’ve had some decent scores around this course in the past, so yes I can go out and play a decent round of golf.’
As for Vegas, the Venezuelan 40-year-old will have mixed feelings about his round of 70 as it concluded with a galling double bogey. He will also know he had some absurd luck a hole earlier when a horribly loose tee shot hit a bunker rake and rebounded at a right-angle towards the flag and allowed a par.
The list of prominent players to miss out included Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry and Dustin Johnson. Defending champion Xander Schauffele shot 71 to survive at one over.
