Xander Schauffele said he played the best golf of his life after his opening 62 at the PGA Championship Thursday. Although Friday’s round was not quite of the same caliber, the leader will have no problem with it.
While he lapped the field with his first bogey-free affair with nine birdies, Schauffele was faced with the task of giving chase on Friday.
As Schauffele waited to finally take the course, Collin Morikawa had thrown down the gauntlet thanks to a flurry of five straight birdies.
And it was a challenge Schauffele accepted. If there were any questions about whether he could finally hold on and close out a major out, he quickly answered them with his tenth birdie of the tournament on the second Friday.
Two more followed on the front nine to reach the turn at 12 under for the tournament and sink another on the 10th. He didn’t buckle under the pressure. Not yet anyway.
Xander Schauffele watched as Collin Morikawa made a run at Kentucky on Friday
But Schauffele returned to the course he broke off on Thursday and maintained his lead
The first crack started to show on the par-three 11th when he left his birdie putt attempt on the par-three short and failed to save par. His first unforced error and his first bogey of the week.
But he stayed over it for the rest of his round with solid pars, carding a three-under 68 for the halfway wire-to-wire lead at 12 under.
It wasn’t quite the nine birdies from the opening round before, but it was still enough to protect his lead and fend off Morikawa’s threat.
“When you play one of the easiest nine-unders you’ve ever seen, you feel like you’re shooting a million,” Schauffele’s playing partner Justin Thomas had said after his opening 62 Thursday.
Morikawa, watching from the clubhouse, is said to have sympathized with the Louisville native when his 65, with a lone birdie, wasn’t enough to topple Schauffele from the top.
The 2020 champion birdied five consecutive holes before finishing with a bogey on his final six holes to card a six-under 65 and sit one shot behind Schauffele at 11 under.
“Look, the little bird of five runs was me just playing solid golf, and sometimes when the putts fall, that’s what happened,” Morikawa said.
Morikawa had thrown down the gauntlet thanks to a series of five consecutive birdies
After missing out on Scottie Scheffler at the Masters, Morikawa is chasing another major title
“But for the most part, that’s the kind of golf I’m going to ask for myself for the next two days and 36 holes is just stay present, hit your shots, execute them, and when the putts fall, the putts fall.
‘But don’t really force anything. I didn’t force anything there, especially throughout the day.”
Morikawa has been the odd man out at the top of the major championship standings since his 2021 Open victory. Until he called a familiar face.
After a difficult period earlier this year, the 27-year-old reunited with Rick Sessinghaus, the coach who helped him win two major championships.
He competed at The Masters in April and is now Schauffele’s biggest challenger. He tamed the tougher conditions in Valhalla on Friday to prove he can once again give his best on the big golf stage.
“I know I still have it in me, and the exciting thing is that after Augusta it was bad to end like that and it was bad to lose to Scottie, but at the end of the day I knew there were three more majors coming. to prepare for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong,” he said. ‘It’s obviously nice to get started like this.’