US PGA: Aussie duo lead the way

BY JOHN HUGGAN AT WHISTLING STRAITS

For those enamoured of spice in life, the second round of the 97th US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits was not lacking in variety. Everywhere but the top of the leaderboard, that is. Up there, a lack of diversity is immediately apparent as two proud Australians, Matt Jones and Jason Day, lead the charge to claim the fourth and final major of the year.

Sydney's Matt Jones waves to the gallery after making a birdie on the 2nd hole. PHOTO: David Cannon/Getty Images.

Both are nine under par, Day after the 14-holes he completed before an amazingly intense electrical storm in northern Wisconsin halted play at 5.33pm local time, and Jones through 12 holes of his second round. Englishman Justin Rose is the nearest contender, one shot back of the leaders, with Swede David Lingmerth’s seven under the best of those who completed 36-holes.

Jason Day hits his shot on the 7th tee. PHOTO: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

It was, to say the least, an eventful end to what had already been an eccentric day on the links. Just about anything that could happen did happen. The highlights:

We saw Phil Mickelson sliding down a hill on his backside en route to his ball.

A young man sitting on a boat in Lake Michigan became the proud owner of an iron thrown by 1991 champion John Daly, who had just hit three shots off the 7th tee with said club.

For the 27^th time in major championship play, a score of 63 was returned – by someone called Hiroshi Iwata.

Another guy by the name of Ryan Kennedy shot just 27 more than Iwata.

Japan's Hiroshi Iwata watches his tee shot on the during the second round. PHOTO: Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images.

Adam Scott – using an anchored-putter for the last time in any of golf’s four most important events – missed the cut along with another five members of the original nine-strong Aussie contingent.

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And, oh yes, for the first time since 2011, a club professional, Brian Gaffney of Quaker Ridge, qualified for the weekend.

Apart from all that, just about the only thing occurring was the now almost inevitable presence of Jordan Spieth. The Masters and US Open champion is three shots behind the two leaders.

Elsewhere, there was more good news for Australia in the shape of Cameron Smith. Tied for fourth in the US Open two months ago, the 21-year old Queenslander shot 68 to move to two under par for the championship, which sounds good until you hear that he was playing alongside Iwata.

“I only knew how he was going on the last tee,” said Smith. “My caddie told me he needed a birdie to shoot the lowest score ever in major championships. It was pretty impressive. He helped me too. All day I was watching a guy hitting good shots and good putts. That builds confidence.

“I’m happy with how I played. I knew I needed something in the 60s to make the cut. I’m starting to feel like I belong out there. I’ve played a few events now and every week I’m getting better.”

Less happy, of course, was former Masters champion Adam Scott, who added a pedestrian 75 to his opening 76.

“I just played poorly,” was his honest verdict. “It’s as simple as that. I wasn’t able to recover from the doubles and triples I made when I was out of position. The penalties around here can be severe. And I made too many errors. You can get away with a couple but I was making four or five each day.

Adam Scott walks to his ball on the 14th hole, with the writing on the wall for his PGA campaign. He and five other Australians missed the cut.
PHOTO: Jamie Squire/Getty Images.

“This week has been like this season. I’ve just been inconsistent. There hasn’t really been any one thing dragging me down. I did get the tough end of the draw and my luck wasn’t great. I had two shots that really weren’t too bad kick off into juniper bushes. Suddenly, a bogey became a triple. The course is extreme. But you just have to play well. I did not. And the course found me out.”

There was a mixed message too from the other Jones in the field, Matt’s elder brother Brett. The New Jersey-based club professional – playing in his first major championship – shot 78 for a nine-over par aggregate of 153, well outside the cut-line.

“My big mistake today was trying to do too much,” he said. “I chased some shots when I should have been more patient. I was even through ten holes and had two reachable par-5s to come. But I made a couple of dumb mistakes before I even got there.

“I know that my ball-striking is just about where it needs to be. I played with two guys who have won in Europe and the US (Chris Wood and Sean O’Hair) and I wasn’t much worse than them. The distance is there too. But my putting let me down. And my poor decision-making.”

Never mind, all in all, this was still Australia’s day.

* The second round will resume at 8am local time (11pm AEST).