TULSA, Okla. — Rory McIlroy might have let one get away on Friday.
McIlroy, who hasn’t won a major since 2014, failed to build on the 5-under 65 he posted Thursday in the opening round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. He shot a disappointing 1-over 71 in the second round to stand five shots out of the lead held by Will Zalatoris.
Making McIlroy’s mediocre round so egregious was the fact he was playing in the afternoon wave of tee times after the severe morning winds had died down, which made for great scoring conditions.
“I didn’t get off to the best of starts,’’ he said. “That bogey on 2, and then I guess from there, it was not really giving myself enough realistic chances for birdies. After that, I played solidly on the way in there. After the second bogey on 7, to play the last 11 holes in 1-under was respectable.’’
McIlroy did close his round with three up-and-downs for par after missing the green.
“Those up-and-downs on 16, 17, and 18 I think are going to be really important,’’ he said. “It just keeps me a little closer to the lead and doesn’t really feel like I’ve got such a mountain to climb if I had have maybe dropped one or two over those last three holes. There’s a long way to go, a lot of golf left.’’
None of the four New York Met Area club pros in the field made the cut. Alex Beach, an assistant pro at Westchester Country Club, followed his first-round 73 with a 78 to finish 11-over. Paul Dickinson, from Atlantic Golf Club in Eastern Long Island, followed his 78 with a 77 to close at 15-over. Dylan Newman, from Brae Burn in Purchase, finished 13-over. And Casey Pyne, from Stanwich in Greenwich, Conn., finished 17-over. … Cameron Young, out of Sleepy Hollow in Briarcliff Manor, is having a terrific tournament. He shot 67 on Friday to get to 2-under and a tie for 10th.
Some high-profile players missed the cut, beginning with Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 and reigning Masters champion who had been on a bender since February, winning four times. Scheffler, who was quoted as calling Southern Hills as one of his “favorite’’ courses, finished 6-over after shooting 75 on Friday.
Dustin Johnson also finished 6-over and went home. Patrick Cantlay finished 11-over and failed to make the weekend. In the battle of the current Ryder Cup captains, Europe’s Henrik Stenson finished 5-over, while Zach Johnson of the U.S. finished 11-over.
Matthew Fitzpatrick didn’t have positive expectations entering this week’s PGA Championship. The 27-year-old Englishman, however, is 3-under and in contention entering the weekend at Southern Hills and, after shooting 69 on Friday he sounded a bit surprised by it.
“My dad called me on Monday and he was asking how is the course looking, and no offense to the PGA here, but I was like, ‘It’s a typical PGA, it’s long and tough and just not really my cup of tea,’ ’’ Fitzpatrick said. “I’ll be honest, this year I’ve got a lot longer, and it showed a lot the first two days, the guys that I played with, the clubs that I’ve been hitting into holes. I don’t know, hopefully it’s a sign of things are changing a little bit for me and open a few more doors on other golf courses.’’
The rally of the week to date belongs to Brooks Koepka, who followed his first-round 75 with a 3-under 67 Friday. Koepka looked to be well on his way to a missed cut on Thursday as he made the turn in 5-over 40. He fell to 6-over with a bogey on 14, but headed to the weekend at 2-over.
Asked what it’ll take to get back into contention, Koepka said, “Probably one more good round, maybe one deep round. It’s going to take more than that just to come close, but yeah, definitely need one really good round.’’