American golfer Will Zalatoris took the lead in the PGA Championship on Friday. after a vibrant fight with the Chilean Mito Pereira, while the star Tiger Woods managed to overcome the cut and the number one in the world ranking, Scottie Scheffler, was eliminated.
The Colombian Juan Sebastián Muñoz also made the cut, who was just on the limit to play the last two rounds of the second Major of the year.
Zalatoris, number 30 on the PGA and with no wins to his credit, will start the decisive weekend as the sole leader of this Grand Slam tournament thanks to a birdie on the penultimate hole that gave him a one-shot lead over Pereira.
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Mito Pereira, brilliant performance in the second round
The Chilean, who is only competing for the second time in a ‘Major’ tournament, dazzled at the Southern Hills course (Tulsa, Oklahoma) with a fabulous second round of seven birdies and a bogey to finish with 64 strokes (six under par).
This result equals the best round of Pereira’s career, which he had achieved just last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson, where he finished in 17th place. “I have had good days and bad days, but everything I have lived has served me to come here and play some good golf,” said Pereira, who missed the cut at his previous major, the 2019 US Open.
The 27-year-old golfer from Santiago starred in a frenetic battle with Zalatoris in the second half of their rounds, in which the Chilean accumulated four birdies and the American another four, without either committing bogey.
Myth is well remembered in Colombia: he won the Country Club of Bogotá Championship in 2020 and before, in 2016, he had been second in the Colombian Open, when this event was part of the PGA Tour Latin America.
Zalatoris, runner-up at the 2021 Augusta Masters, had overtaken his compatriot Justin Thomas, who led the tournament in the morning, with three consecutive birdies between the 11th and 13th holes.
The American was caught shortly after by Pereira, who came to hold the lead alone at times, but escaped again with a final birdie on the 17th hole.
Zalatoris leads the table with a cumulative 131 shots (-9), one ahead of Pereira and three of Justin Thomas. Behind was the American Bubba Watson, with -5, and the Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and the Mexican Abraham Ancer, both with -4, on a day with strong winds of up to 64 km/h.
The Colombian Muñoz, who played in the afternoon, had to wait until the 18th hole to ensure his presence in the last two rounds. He delivered a card of 70 shots, par for the court, to make it through the cut with 144 (+4).
In the last holes of his round, after a birdie on the 7th, he had three putts on the 8th and bogeyed. The pair of 9s allowed him to make the cut for the first time in this tournament, in three appearances.
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Tiger Woods made it through the cut
While the unexpected fight for the lead between Zalatoris and Pereira took place, the public of Southern Hills turned to support Tiger Woods to survive the cut.
The American needed to overcome his disappointing opening day, with 74 shots (+4), to avoid elimination in the second tournament he plays after his serious car accident in February 2021.
Tiger had competed on Thursday with pain in his right leg, a consequence of the multiple fractures he suffered in the collision, but this Friday he managed to go from less to more, bringing out his legendary competitive spirit.
Encouraged by a crowd of fans, Woods overcame his worst moment ever with a double bogey on the 11th hole that left him below the cut. Limping visibly on his last few shots, Tiger responded with two final birdies to finish on 69 (-1) and a cumulative +3, one shot short of the cut.
In this way Woods, 46, will play the decisive weekend as he did in his reappearance last April at the Augusta Masters.
Far from the head, the American Scottie Scheffler starred in one of the great disappointments of the tournament when he was eliminated after a second run of 75 strokes (+5). The American had a disastrous end to the round with two bogeys and a final double bogey in the last five holes that left him with a cumulative +6 when the cut was projected at +4.
Playing alongside Scheffler, Spain’s Jon Rahm, world number two, rebounded from his low-key performance on Thursday by finishing with 69 shots (-1) with three birdies and two bogeys. Rahm climbed 36 positions to 42nd place with an accumulated 142 hits (+2).
“I can’t say I played badly. I gave myself a lot of chances. The main thing yesterday was a couple of mistakes, just mental ones,” Rahm said. “Today I can’t ask for much more from myself. It was a good day just tough.”
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The second day of the tournament also saw a dangerous scene when the American Aaron Wise was hit in the head by a ball thrown by the Australian Cameron Smith.
Smith’s 900-foot tee shot on the second hole drifted to the right, pushed by strong winds, and hit Wise, who was identifying his ball on the nearby seventh hole.
Wise was able to finish his last two holes of the day before being checked out by the doctors. “A little sore, but I feel fine,” Wise said.
SPORTS
with AFP
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