Jason Day makes a move at PGA, as Robert Streb (63) and Jimmy Walker share lead
On the scale of illness and injury to overcome when entering a major golf championship, Jason Day this week fell somewhere between the sniffles and a mangled body part.
“Tiger won the U.S. Open on a broken leg,” Day said with a grin late on Friday evening at Baltusrol Golf Club. “I’ve got a cold. It’s not the same.”
Day was enough under the weather after playing in Canada last week that he didn’t practice here for the 98th PGA Championship until Wednesday. He had never seen the golf course. He had no idea what kind of game he’d produce.
There’s the lesson: Beware of the great player with low expectations.
After giving himself a heated tongue lashing upon making a double bogey on the seventh hole Friday, Day went on a stunning tear. The defending champion poured in seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch from Nos. 8 through 15 and shot five-under-par 65 to be tied for third at seven under with Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.
They are two shots behind Robert Streb, who made eight birdies in becoming the 28th player to score 63 in majors history, and Jimmy Walker (66). At nine-under 131, the pair tied the 36-hole record for the PGA.
The weekend is set up for a cattle drive of a finish. Ten players are within five shots of Streb and Walker, including Henrik Stenson (67), coming off his British Open win, alone in fifth at six under. Two-time major winner Martin Kaymer (69) is among three at five under.
As the world’s top-ranked player, Day was expected to contend, but his expectations were altered by the illness he picked up from his kids. That now seems unfortunate for the rest of the field.
“A lot of the expectation came down,” Day said. “I think being able to kind of voice where I’m at mentally and physically with my health takes a lot of expectations off my shoulders and lets everyone know that I don’t have a lot of expectation coming to the week.”
In his first round at Baltusrol, Day shot a respectable 68, but he seemed to be going in the wrong direction early in the second round when he butchered the 478-yard seventh by needing four shots around the green after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker.
He walked off the green chattering under his breath.
“A few swear words inside my head,” Day said.
Day’s recovery started with a birdie at No. 8 in which he punched a low shot from 86 yards to within three feet of the pin. His playing partner, Phil Mickelson, raved about the shot later.
“To take a club that usually goes about 125, hit it 40 yards less than normal and skid it in there — his power and his wedge play coupled with his putting are combinations you don’t see very often. He’s a very gifted player.”
What Day failed to do was make a birdie at either of the closing par-fives. He has only pars on each so far.
“I’m just trying to save them for the weekend,” he said with a smile.
Streb, a 29-year-old from Oklahoma whose lone PGA Tour victory came in the 2015 McGladrey Classic, didn’t seem like a prime candidate to tie for the lowest score in a major. He has a 71.39 scoring average this season and has a best finish of a tie for 18th in the Farmers Insurance Open.
But starting on the 10th hole, Streb spread out the eight birdies, never making more than two in a row. When Streb birdied No. 7 by making a 42-foot putt he had a chance to shoot the all-time major low of 62 if he birdied the final two. It didn’t happen when he missed a 14-foot birdie at No. 8. He finished by making a 20-foot birdie on the par-three ninth.
“Happy to be a part of the 63 club,” Streb said.
It was the third 63 shot in a major in the last 16 days, following Stenson and Mickelson doing it at the British Open.
The tournament came to an end for a couple of big names, the most startling being reigning U.S. Open champion and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson, who missed the two-over cut by seven shots. No. 4 Rory McIlroy struggled badly on the greens, bogeyed the last hole and missed by a stroke at three over.
tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com
