WHILE WE WERE busy avoiding having to step out into a typical Irish summer’s afternoon, the morning starters at the USPGA Championship were trying to take advantage of perfect scoring conditions before temperatures at Atlanta Athletic Club soared above the hundred-degree mark.
With little over a round of play completed, tournament paramedics had already treated over 120 spectators for heat-related ailments.
Judging by the standards set this morning, however, the scoring on Friday will be significantly more modest than yesterday. With the greens running that little bit faster and a number of penal pin positions further complicating the course management process, most of the day’s starters have found themselves slipping inexorably backwards.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who after sustaining a wrist injury during his first round, waited until just minutes before his tee-time to confirm his participation in the second round, fell to a three-over 73. Though his right forearm was heavily bandaged, his errors appeared elementary rather than due to any lingering discomfort.
The youngster’s playing partner, Darren Clarke, carded a 76 to match his opening 78. Enough for a fouteen-over-par aggregate total, the Open champion’s USPGA Championship was notable only for his failure to record a single birdie.
While few on the leaderboard have succeeded in building any significant forward momentum, a trio of players have succeeded in pushing their way into the reckoning.
D.A. Points, who won his first Tour event this year in the company of comedian Bill Murray, is four-under-par through sixteen holes of his second round, leaving him on five-under-par and tied with Jerry Kelly for a share of second place.
Denmark’s Anders Hansen, the highest-ranked European in the field, is three-under-par after firing a 69.
Also creeping into contention is big-hitting fan favourite Jhonattan Vegas. In spite of bogeys on the treacherous fifteenth and eighteenth holes, the affable Venezuelan succeeded in carding a two-under-par 68, vaulting him from a share of 23rd place overnight into a tie for sixth place.
Aside from the presence of the relatively unheralded Anders Hansen and Italian wunderkind Matteo Manassero in the upper reaches of the leaderboard, hopes of Europe claiming a third major in a row look to be fading. The defending champion, Martin Kaymer, has slipped to six-over-par for the tournament, the same total as last year’s US Open champion, Graeme McDowell.
Overnight leader Steve Stricker will tee off in a little over an hour’s time, likely with his two-shot lead still intact.
