PGA Championship Rd. 2 notebook: Puig makes early move

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – News and notes from Friday’s second round on the LIV Golf players competing in this week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.

PUIG MAKES EARLY MOVE

Fireballs GC’s David Puig climbed up the leaderboard Friday afternoon, playing his first nine holes in a bogey-free 2 under. He made the turn at 1 under for the tournament and inside the top 20 of the leaderboard.

Puig ranked second in the 156-man field in Strokes Gained Off the Tee in the opening round, but his putter was the key club in his opening nine holes Friday. He made an 18-1/2 foot birdie putt at the second and twice saved par with lengthy putts, at the 7th (21 feet) and 8th (17 feet).

Puig is making his sixth major start and is on pace for his best result; his current best is a tie for 39th at the 2023 U.S. Open in his first major start.

KAYMER’S TOUGH STRETCH

After claiming a share of the first-round lead with an opening 3-under 67, 2010 PGA champion Martin Kaymer suffered five bogeys in his first seven holes before playing even-par golf the rest of the way. His 5-over 75 dropped him down the leaderboard but he stayed inside the cutline with a 2-over total. It’s the second time in his last seven starts in the PGA Championship that he’s made the cut.

“It was super, super hard this morning,” Kaymer said. “I played OK, but I missed a couple of tee shots here and there. Had some shocking lies and couldn’t get to the green, and obviously you collect some bogeys. Couple of 3-putts, more bogeys. All of the sudden you’re 4 or 5 over and I didn’t feel like I did much different than yesterday. Every time I missed the fairway, I had a bad lie. Yesterday I got away with it almost every single time. Today was the complete opposite.”

With an early tee time Friday, Kaymer faced gusty and cold winds on his front nine. By the time he finished his round, the winds had subsided and the sun was out for the afternoon wave.

“We talk about LIV being fair since we all play in the same conditions,” the Cleeks Golf Club captain said. “Look at this now. Now it’s beautiful to play. But that’s what the majors are about – if you’re lucky and you have a good draw. It was still playable today, especially the back nine. The front nine, I thought, was brutal.”

Kaymer expected the afternoon leaders to build on their advantage, which will leave him with a big deficit going into the weekend. But if he can repeat the kind of performance he displayed in the opening round, perhaps he can still make noise.

“If you have one of those 4-, 5-unders, it’s a great round on this golf course,” he said. “I was close yesterday. I need one of those rounds tomorrow or Sunday to creep up there. 5-over today hurts. If I’d been around par today, it would’ve been nice.”

DJ’S EARLY START

4Aces GC Captain Dustin Johnson was in the first group Friday and was 2 over through his first eight holes. But he regained both strokes while playing bogey-free the rest of the way, leaving him inside the cutline with a 2-over total through 36 holes.

LATE BOGEYS COSTLY FOR SMYLIE

Elvis Smylie, the first-year LIV Golf player who won the season opener in Riyadh after joining Ripper GC, was inside the cut line with four holes to play. He had played his first 14 holes at 1 under and was on a streak of 11 bogey-free holes.

But his tee shot at the par-4 15th found the rough and he had to lay up with his approach, missing a 17-foot par putt. His tee shot at the par-3 17th dribbled off the back edge; he followed with an excellent birdie attempt from 67 feet that ran past by 4 feet but unfortunately missed that short par putt.

That left him tied for 70th at the time and sitting firmly on the cutline at 3 over when he played the 18th. His tee shot found the right rough, and his approach found the greenside bunker, and he couldn’t get up-and-down. The final bogey knocked him outside the cut line at 4 over.