Unheralded Australian Matt Jones birdied two of his last six holes to seize a two-shot lead when the storm-delayed second round of the US PGA Championship was completed at Whistling Straits on Saturday.
Making only his eighth appearance in a Major, Jones sank a 15-foot putt at the par-four sixth before draining a 50-footer at the eighth on the way to a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 on a glorious sun-splashed morning by the shores of Lake Michigan.
That left him at 11-under 133 and two ahead of his compatriot Jason Day, who briefly held the outright lead at 10 under before he bogeyed the tricky par-four 18th to card a 67.
“I played great,” said journeyman Jones, a 35-year-old who won his first PGA Tour title at last year’s Houston Open.
“I putted really well. My speed on the greens has been really good.
“It’s amazing to be in the lead at a Major. I’ve been in the lead on a Tour event, but a Major’s a different story. I’m going to have fun with it. I’m pretty relaxed on the golf course.”
World number five Day, still seeking a first Major title after several close calls, was pleased after recording seven birdies and two bogeys in the second round.
“I gave myself opportunities on the greens, didn’t really hit it close on 17 and 18, but overall I feel pretty happy with the position I’m in going into round three,” said Day.
England's Justin Rose, among the 57 players still out on the course when play was suspended for the day on Friday after a thunderstorm rolled through the area, was at eight under after parring his final hole for a 67.
“Nice to wrap up the second round,” said Rose, the 2013 US Open champion. “A bunch of birdies, which was nice. From today’s point of view, nice to finish with a strong par at the last.”
Much of the focus, however, remained on the remarkable Jordan Spieth who carded a 67 on Friday and was five strokes off the pace when the second round was completed as he bids to carve out another slice of golf history and join an elite club.
Masters and US Open champion Spieth is seeking to join fellow Americans Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods as the only players in the modern era to win three majors in a single year.
Hogan was the first to complete the hat-trick, in 1953, and Woods followed suit in 2000.
“I feel good, I got a chance to win a Major championship,” said Spieth, who fell agonisingly short in his quest to land the year’s first three Majors when he tied for fourth in last month’s British Open, one shot shy of joining a play-off.
World number one Rory McIlroy, back in action to defend his US PGA Championship crown after five weeks out due to an ankle injury, was at two under after carding a 71 on Friday.
McIlroy, who will begin his third round alongside America's Brooks Koepka at 6.33pm Irish time, is the only Irish golfer to make the final two rounds after the cut came on two over.
Former champion Pádraig Harrington and Bridgestone Invitaltional winner Shane Lowry were both one shot outside the cut, while Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke also missed out.
Four-times winner Woods plunged new depths when he missed the cut in a third successive Major for the first time in his career after carding a one-over 73 in the second round.
The former world number one had left himself with plenty to do after putting poorly on the way to an opening 75 and despite improved play in the second round, he finished two strokes outside the cutline.
Also among those failing to advance were British Open champion Zach Johnson and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott.
SECOND-ROUND SCORES AND TOTALS
(USA unless stated, par 72):
133 Matt Jones (Aus) 68 65
135 Jason Day (Aus) 68 67
136 Justin Rose (Eng) 69 67
137 Tony Finau 71 66, David Lingmerth (Swe) 67 70, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 70 67
138 Brendan Steele 69 69, Scott Piercy 68 70, Jordan Spieth 71 67
139 Dustin Johnson 66 73, JB Holmes 68 71, Russell Henley 68 71, George Coetzee (RSA) 74 65, Harris English 68 71
140 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 70 70, Branden Grace (RSA) 71 69, Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 70, Matt Kuchar 68 72, Charles Howell III 70 70, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 77 63, Hunter Mahan 72 68, Paul Casey (Eng) 70 70, Billy Horschel 72 68
141 Brandt Snedeker 71 70, Kevin Chappell 73 68
142 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 69, Brooks Koepka 73 69, Webb Simpson 71 71, Cameron Smith (Aus) 74 68, Justin Thomas 72 70, Rory McIlroy (N Irl) 71 71, Ernie Els (RSA) 71 71, YE Yang (S Kor) 70 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 72 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 76 66
143 Steve Stricker 71 72, Brendon De Jonge 72 71, Bubba Watson 72 71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 72 71, James Morrison (Eng) 69 74, Robert Streb 70 73, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 73, Jim Furyk 73 70, Sean O'Hair 75 68, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 72, Sergio Garcia (Esp) 72 71, Rickie Fowler 73 70, Ryan Moore 73 70
144 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 73, Chesson Hadley 73 71, Danny Willett (Eng) 74 70, Kevin Streelman 73 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 73 71, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 75, Brian Gaffney 71 73, Troy Merritt 74 70, Patrick Reed 75 69, Lee Westwood (Eng) 72 72
145 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 73 72, Phil Mickelson 72 73, JJ Henry 75 70, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 72 73, Marc Warren (Sco) 72 73, Bill Haas 73 72, Boo Weekley 75 70, Danny Lee (NZ) 68 77, Jason Bohn 74 71
146 Keegan Bradley 76 70, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 76 70, Nick Watney 78 68, Koumei Oda (Jpn) 79 67, Jason Dufner 71 75, Morgan Hoffmann 72 74, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 76 70, Nick Taylor (Can) 73 73
MISSED CUT
147 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 76, Zach Johnson 75 72, Ryan Palmer 75 72, John Senden (Aus) 71 76, David Hearn (Can) 76 71, Shaun Micheel 74 73, Marc Leishman (Aus) 79 68, Shane Lowry (Irl) 78 69, Martin Laird (Sco) 76 71, Kevin Kisner 75 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 75, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 76 71
148 Tiger Woods 75 73, Richie Ramsay (Sco) 81 67, Ryan Helminen 76 72, Daniel Berger 74 74, Kevin Na 74 74, George McNeill 71 77, Jimmy Walker 75 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 73 75, Russell Knox (Sco) 77 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 75 73
149 Pat Perez 74 75, Shawn Stefani 74 75, Graeme McDowell (N Irl) 73 76, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 75 74, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 74 75, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 74 75, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 77 72, Matt Dobyns 76 73, Brendon Todd 76 73, James Hahn 75 74
150 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 78, Grant Sturgeon 77 73, Andy Sullivan (Eng) 78 72, Ross Fisher (Eng) 76 74, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 78 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 76 74, Ian Poulter (Eng) 75 75, Camilo Villegas (Col) 75 75
151 Chris Wood (Eng) 76 75, Adam Rainaud 74 77, Adam Scott (Aus) 76 75, David Howell (Eng) 73 78, Bob Sowards 75 76, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 79 72
152 Ben Polland 76 76, Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 76 76, Joost Luiten (Ned) 80 72, Davis Love III 79 73, David Toms 77 75, Brian Harman 78 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 74 78, Cameron Tringale 78 74
153 Ben Martin 76 77, Alexander Levy (Fra) 77 76, Brett Jones (Aus) 75 78, Eddie Pepperell (Eng) 78 75
154 Rich Beem 76 78, Matt Every 74 80, Johan Kok (Rsa) 77 77
155 John Daly 73 82, Brent Snyder 76 79
157 Fabian Gomez (Arg) 79 78, Charley Hoffman 79 78
158 Steven Young (Sco) 77 81
159 Omar Uresti 77 82, Darren Clarke (N Irl) 78 81, Charles Frost 76 83
160 Sean Dougherty 79 81
161 Jeff Olson 79 82
162 Mark Brooks 84 78
163 Austin Peters 82 81
164 Brian Cairns 83 81
165 Daniel Venezio 89 76
169 Alan Morin 87 82, Ryan Kennedy 79 90
THIRD ROUND TEE-TIMES
(Irish times)
3:15 Morgan Hoffmann
3:24 Keegan Bradley, Carl Pettersson
3:33 Nick Taylor, Victor Dubuisson
3:42 Nick Watney, Jason Dufner
3:51 JJ Henry, Koumei Oda
4:0 Marc Warren, Tyrrell Hatton
4:09 Mikko Ilonen, Danny Lee
4:18 Boo Weekley, Bill Haas
4:27 Phil Mickelson, Jason Bohn
4:36 Lee Westwood, Francesco Molinari
4:45 Thomas Bjorn, Vijay Singh
4:54 Brian Gaffney, Chesson Hadley
5:03 Troy Merritt, Danny Willett
5:12 Patrick Reed, Kevin Streelman
5:21 Rickie Fowler, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
5:30 Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk
5:39 Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Moore
5:48 Sergio Garcia, James Morrison
5:57 Sang-moon Bae, Robert Streb
6:06 Brendon De Jonge , Steve Stricker
6:15 Emiliano Grillo, Sean O'Hair
6:24 Charl Schwartzel, Ernie Els
6:33 Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka.
6:42 Luke Donald, Henrik Stenson
6:51 Webb Simpson, Cameron Smith
7:0 YE Yang, Justin Thomas
7:09 Kevin Chappell, Brandt Snedeker
7:27 Martin Kaymer, Branden Grace
7:36 Paul Casey, Hunter Mahan
7:45 Charles Howell III, Matt Kuchar
7:54 Marcel Siem, Hideki Matsuyama
8:03 Hiroshi Iwata, Billy Horschel
8:12 Dustin Johnson, JB Holmes
8:21 Russell Henley, Harris English
8:30 Brendan Steele, George Coetzee
8:39 Jordan Spieth, Scott Piercy
8:48 Tony Finau, Anirban Lahiri
8:57 Justin Rose, David Lingmerth
9:06 Jason Day , Matt Jones
