Jordan Spieth makes major charge up PGA Championship leaderboard

PGA Championship 2016: Contenders

Jordan Spieth"s here. After a sleepy Thursday at Baltusrol, the PGA Championship has some life on Friday morning with Spieth making a big charge up the leaderboard on the opening nine of his second round. The 2015 Masters and U.S. Open champion is 4-under on his first nine holes, and now 4-under for the championship and one shot off the lead.

Spieth had to wait around on the 10th tee, where he started his second round with Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia, for about 50 minutes before his round started. The PGA blew the horn just before he was set to tee off, using a stoppage to clean up a course that had taken on too much water. The waiting around didn"t exactly cool Spieth and he opened with three birdies in his first four holes. The work was largely done with approach shots that repeatedly tucked in tight to the cup on a course that"s extremely soft. He used the putter on his fourth hole of the day to pour one in from a moderate length and the Friday move was on.

The start should have been even better! Mixed in with those three birdies was an ugly bogey that won"t show up as a three-putt in the stats but was just that. Spieth was just 17 feet from the cup and blasted his putt from the fringe way past the hole, missed the comebacker and walked off with a bogey that could have thrown him off early in his day.

That mishap is it though for the golden child, who is making an early statement with the 18-hole leader Jimmy Walker still a couple hours from his tee time. With the course playing benign, Walker"s lead could be gone before he ever hits a shot on Friday.

After the quick start, Spieth held the line with a few pars and then feasted where you have to on this Baltusrol setup -- at those two finishing par-5s.

Those birdies capped an outward 32 stripe show that has a soggy crowd chasing the Spieth group early on Friday.

We"ve heard Spieth say his ball striking has been on at these last two majors, that it had come around "beautifully" after some uneven moments this season. That"s been the strength during this Friday round.

His putter just went cold in the opening round at Royal Troon and he caught the wrong side of the draw. Now he"s caught his heater and looks like he"ll be at or near the top of the leaderboard at the midpoint of the PGA.

Spieth has jumped 34 spots so farup the leaderboard. Here"s the top of the board early on Friday:

1--Jimmy Walker---5T2--Jordan Spieth---4T2--Emiliano Grillo---4T2--Ross Fisher---4T5--Patrick Reed---3T5--Webb Simpson---3T5--Harris English---3T5--James Hahn---3T5--Andy Sullivan---3T10--John Senden---2T10--Andrew Johnston---2T10--Martin Kaymer---2T10--Louis Oosthuizen---2T10--Ryan Moore---2T10--K.J. Choi---2T10--David Lingmerth---2T10--Rickie Fowler---2T10--Scott Hend---2T10--Brooks Koepka---2T10--Vaughn Taylor---2T10--Robert Streb---2T10--Jason Day---2T10--Jhonattan Vegas---2T24--Yuta Ikeda---1T24--Russell Henley---1T24--Alexander Noren---1T24--Danny Lee---1T24--Russell Knox---1T24--Marc Leishman---1T24--Kiradech Aphibarnrat---1T24--William McGirt---1T24--Henrik Stenson---1T24--Kyle Reifers---1T24--Bradley Dredge---1T24--Jon Curran---1T24--Hideki Matsuyama---1T24--Chris Wood---1T24--Victor Dubuisson---1T24--Justin Thomas---1T24--Paul Casey---1T24--Lee Westwood---1T24--Jamie Donaldson---1T24--Gregory Bourdy---1

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Source: http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/7/29/12324694/pga-championship-2016-leaderboard-jordan-spieth

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PGA Championship apologizes after somehow giving players a wrong hole location

Jason Day,Jordan Spieth,Branden Grace,Justin Rose PGA Championship Final Round 2015

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

We"ve seen many high-profile screw-ups by the different governing bodies, leagues and institutions that lead golf this year. But this is a new one. Apparently the PGA either forgot to put the hole in the right spot, or just put it in a totally different spot than it had originally told players. The PGA would eventually catch the mistake, but only after the first group of the day played the 10th hole (their opening hole) operating with a pin sheet that had the old information on it. Old information that told them the hole was on the opposite side of the green. Really.

The bad info also may lead to one player, Colt Knost, missing the cut by a shot.

Knost was in that first group and had every right to be ticked off Friday morning when he took tournament organizers to task on Twitter after he set out for his second round of the PGA Championship with the wrong pin sheet.

At the time, we didn"t have the full background of the screw-up and know why Knost was upset. But this is an inexcusable screw-up. The PGA of America recognized its mistake and later apologized for the error.

The following official statement was issued:

"The second round hole location sheet provided to Group 14 the first group of the day to play from Tee #10 listed the hole location as being on the left side of the green (20 paces from the front of the green and four paces from the left edge of the green).

"In error, the hole was actually cut and positioned on the right side of the green (19 paces from the front of the green and five paces from the right edge of the green). The PGA of America Rules Committee did not notice the hole had been cut in the incorrect location until after each member of Group 14 had hit his second shot to the green.

"The hole location played by Group 14 was provided a revised hole location sheet to all subsequent groups, meaning all groups today are playing this same hole location. PGA Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh met with the players in Group 14 (Colt Knost, Joe Summerhays and Yuta Ikeda) after they signed their cards to offer an explanation, express his disappointment and apologize to them."

Knost made a bogey-5 on the hole and finished his round on the projected cut line at 2-over. He was not pleased.

Knosts earlier tweet, of course, referred to the way the USGA screwed up a penalty call on Dustin Johnson in the final round of the U.S. Open.

Making matters worse: the bogey from that hole could be the difference between Knost missing the cut. He"s at 2-over and the cut line is jumping all around that number. It just jumped to 1-over, meaning Knost would go home if things hold.

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/7/29/12326220/pga-championship-pin-sheet-colt-knost-apology

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Jason Day ready to defend PGA Championship title

Jason Day,Jordan Spieth,Branden Grace,Justin Rose PGA Championship Final Round 2015

Matthew Florjancic, WKYC 4:59 PM. EST July 28, 2016

Australia"sJason Day is ready to defend his PGA Championship title. (Photo: Eric Bolte, Custom)

Australias Jason Day is the reigning champion for the first time in his career, and the veteran PGA Tour pro is anxious to defend his crown at the PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, this weekend.

After winning the PGA Championship, his first major tournament win, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, Day is ready to see if he has what it takes to become the first back-to-back titlist since Tiger Woods accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007.

The PGA is the first time I"ve ever defended a major championship, so I"ll try and soak up the experience of what that entails with regards to the start of the week going to the champion dinner and having to defend that and go to the media and the press room and all that stuff, Day said. But once Thursday comes around, you have to go out there and execute and play good. Excited about that.

Day comes into the PGA Championship on the heels of a 22nd-place finish in The Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in South Ayrshire, Scotland, where putting, typically a strength in his game, proved to be more difficult than in tournaments in America.

The back nine is difficult, but you"ve just got to play good, Day said. If you don"t play good on the back side, you"re not going to win the tournament. Obviously, I came here to try and win the tournament, and I obviously didn"t do that.

I"m just used to the 12, 13, 14 on the Stimp, and then, we get here and it"s nine. Obviously, understandable because of the conditions and the elements that you have to battle out here, how windy it is, you have to keep them at a certain speed or else they"ll blow off and it won"t be fair for anyone. So I tried to get in early, tried to get used to the greens. It just feels like I"m hitting it with a sledgehammer and it"s going nowhere.

It"s something you have to get used to, and unfortunately, I just didn"t putt really good.

The key moving forward for Day is to focus on his putting and be in contention during the final round of the PGA Championship.

Obviously, I need to improve the short game, Day said. I think the short game let me down. I didn"t hole the putts that I needed to out there, and obviously, when I put myself in opportunity situations with regards to driving greens and getting around the greens, I didn"t get up and down for birdies. When I missed greens, I didn"t really save myself a lot.

Source: http://www.wkyc.com/sports/golf/jason-day-ready-to-defend-pga-championship-title/283470932

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Looking at Friday in the PGA Championship

PGA Championship 2016: Contenders

AP 3:39 a.m. EDT July 29, 2016

(Photo: The Associated Press)

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) When the first round of the PGA Championship was over there was plenty to talk about and a whole lot to look forward to.

There was the heat temperatures in the low 90s with no cooling breezes until late Thursday. There was the surprise leader in Jimmy Walker who posted a 5-under 65 in the morning and the shocking round of 77 from U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and the rather surprising 74 from Rory McIlroy.

The course stayed true to its reputation as one where you better drive the ball in the fairway but it still gives players a chance to move up the leaderboard late with closing par-5s on 17 and 18.

Walker was far from a runaway leader with three golfers one stroke back and four more two behind including British Open champion Henrik Stenson. Among the crowd at 68 was defending champion Jason Day and Jhonattan Vegas, who didn"t qualify for this tournament until winning last week"s Canadian Open.

Some things to look for in Friday"s second round:

DYN-O-MITE: Walker, who missed the cut twice in his four events, matched his best round in a major and is leading one of the big four tournaments for the first time.

CHANGING TIMES: The players, including Stenson, who played in the afternoon when the wind kicked up and the greens dried out and got bumpy, will get a chance at Baltusrol in the morning when most of the good first-round scores were posted. Look for someone like two-time major champion Martin Kaymer to come out looking to post a number even better than his opening 66.

SLIM CHANCE: The cut of low 70 and ties will be a target for those who struggled in the opening round. Players like Johnson and McIlroy will be looking for something in the mid-60s just to give them a solid chance of playing on the weekend.

DAY LIGHT: Day is looking to become just the second player since the PGA went to stroke play in 1958 to repeat as champion. Thursday"s 2-under 68 was a good sign for the Australian. He failed to break 70 in the opening round of the three other majors so he has a chance at putting himself in a good position for the final two rounds.

CHASING HISTORY: Stenson can put himself in rare company as he is trying to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win back-to-back majors at age 40.

HANG ON: The best chances to make up some ground will be the closing par-5s of 17 and 18. They played as the two easiest holes on the course Thursday. Eighteen players went birdie-birdie or better on the two holes with Lee Westwood going one shot better with a birdie on the 649-yard 17th and an eagle on the 554-yard 18th. There was a total of five eagles on 18.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2016/07/29/looking-at-friday-in-the-pga-championship/87696028/

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