Champions line-up at Kiawah Island

Second Major in full swing with cheering crowds

The 103rd PGA Championship is back on track with last year’s early season date of 20-23 May. Won by the refreshing young American, 23-year old Collin Morikawa, the postponed September 2020 edition saw him shoot rounds of 69, 69, 65 and 64. Yes, that’s 13-under par and highly inspirational during the zero-crowd circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. As I write, the history books are opening up again with South Africa’s Branden Grace leading the field of this year’s event at the Ocean Course of Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, USA with a score of 5-under par after 11 holes on the second day. More good news: golf fans are leaping around in joyful abundance.

So who was the best European at this point? Englishman Ian Poulter. After holing out his bunker-shot at the seventh hole, the Ryder Cup fanatic pulled his way up the leaderboard to become tie second with five others on 3-under par after ten holes. Friday is all about making the cut, especially in a Major. The leader on day one was a Canadian, Corey Connors who shot a 5-under par 67. Only thirty golfers made it into the red on Thursday. The remaining 124 struggled to keep their scores black. But things were about to change.

The 50-year old American multi-champion Phil Mickelson eased his way to the top getting to 5-under par after 36 holes. Another old favourite Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) eclipsed him at one point only to finish in a tie for first place with Mickelson on 139. American Brooks Koepka, now playing with a beard, was in third place a shot behind. And what about Branden Grace? Well, he finished in a tie for fourth along with fellow South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and the 2021 Masters winner from Japan, Hideki Matsuyama on 3-under par.

The cut actually came at plus 5 leaving some big names like Major winner Dustin Johnson and Masters Champion Sergio Garcia just out of the field by one shot.

So who are the best Brits? Paul Casey (England) is in a tie for seventh on 2-under. Seven players then share twelfth spot and six gather on tie 19th among them Ian Poulter and Matt Fitzpatrick (England), together with Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry (Ireland) on level par.

The wind and the heat took their toll on the first two days. In defending his title, Collin Morikawa successfully made the cut. At a score of plus one, the talented player from Los Angeles is in a tie for 25th place with a whole weekend of golf ahead of him. Who knows what the next 48 hours will bring…?

Wendy Hoad