Lowry, Fitzpatrick surge to halfway lead at PGA Championship

NAPLES, Fla. — Jason Day and Marc Leishman had 12 birdies, two eagles and finished one shot short of the record for the scramble format, posting a 16-under 56 that gave the Australian duo a one-shot lead Friday in the QBE Shootout. Day is making his first start in the unofficial event since he teamed with Cameron Tringale to win in 2014. Leishman played last year with Cameron Smith. They were one shot ahead of Corey Conners and Graeme McDowell and the defending champions, Harris English and Matt Kuchar. They are trying to become the first team to win back-to-back in 17 years. Lexi Thompson, the only LPGA Tour player in the field, teamed with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson for a 59 … tied for fifth along with Jason Kokrak and Kevin Na. Each of the 12 teams had 62 or lower. The record for a scramble format — players pick the team’s best shot and each plays from there, including putts — is 55. Among those who hold the record are Day and Tringale. The second round will be modified alternate shot — both players tee off and they alternate shots the rest of the way — with fourballs for the final round Sunday.

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A major champion once more. At 50. Wow. Take a bow Phil Mickelson. What a ride. It seems Mickelson isn’t done providing golf fans with the full rollercoaster of emotions even as his 51st birthday rapidly approaches. In the end the greatest threat to him becoming golf’s oldest major champion was the throng of delirious fans who mobbed him before it was over. In scenes reminiscent of Tiger Woods’ epic return to the winners circle in 2018 at the TOUR Championship, spectators couldn’t contain themselves and flooded the scene to be part of it all. It is the sixth major of Mickelson’s career but first since winning the Open in 2013. He jettisoned from 168th to 45th in the FedExCup and from 115th to 32nd in the world. Here are five stories you may have missed from the PGA Championship. 1. Mickelson defied history to become the oldest major champion of all time Even when the lead was five with just six holes to play there was the nagging feeling that the fairytale might not come true. History had shown that old guys don’t win major championships anymore. Julius Boros was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship and that record had stood since. History had also shown Mickelson had a knack for losing tournaments from winnable positions just as he could win tournaments from seemingly unwinnable positions. His flair for the dramatic loomed large as the Ocean Course’s finishing stretch approached. But while Mickelson’s lead did indeed shrink he remained focused and kept his head on and when the final moment of truth came, an approach shot from the left rough on 18 with his lead down to two, he conjured a little more magic to seal the deal and send the crowds into delirium. Get a comprehensive rundown of Mickelson’s incredible win here. 2. In total Phil fashion, the shot of the day came via some short game magic Mickelson opened with a soft bogey on Sunday that relinquished his overnight lead and while he got it back with birdie on the par-5 second another bogey on the third had his fans worried. They remained concerned when his tee shot on the par-3 fifth came up short and left in a sandy waste area. But Mickelson has thrilled golf fans for decades with arguably the greatest short game skills of all-time and this presented another moment for his highlights reel. A perfect escape shot found the bottom of the cup and energized the crowds, and Lefty himself, for the run home. “Certainly it was a momentum builder. Biggest thing was getting it up-and-down. I just didn’t want to throw away another shot and I had fought hard to keep the round in check and I was still 1-over through four,” Mickelson said. “I just needed to get that up-and-down and to have it go in was a bonus but I knew I had a lot of work ahead.” 3. Louis Oosthuizen now has five major runner ups and Brooks Koepka and the PGA remains a good mix Oosthuizen won the 2010 Open Championship title 3,963 days ago. It remains his only major win and he now has five runner ups in golfs biggest tournaments after he came up two shots short of Mickelson’s mark. Oosthuizen was also runner up recently on the TOUR at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with fellow South African Charl Schwartzel and moved to 24th in the FedExCup. “I feel like I’m playing my heart out to get a second major, and I do know I have the game to do it. This was close. My game wasn’t great on the weekend. It was better today than yesterday. So I just need to work harder on it to get myself in contention again,” Oosthuizen said. “It was a slow start. But felt I hit decent iron shots. Every single putt I hit finished right behind the hole… so it was frustrating with that. But you know, another second place, I’ve got to take it. But I feel like I could have probably got two or three more shots out of my game.” And then there was Koepka, who now has two wins and a second out of the last four PGA Championships. Despite his banged-up knee and some uncharacteristic bogeys on the back nine Koepka had a chance on the last hole when down by just two shots. But Mickelson held firm. And Koepka shifted the blame on to his putting. “It felt like tap-ins I was missing. Never felt comfortable, and you’re not going to win if you do that,” Koepka said. “I’m super disappointed, pretty bummed. I’m not happy. I don’t know if there’s a right word I can say on here without getting fined, but it hurts a little bit. It’s one of those things where I just never felt comfortable over the putts. I don’t know why, what happened.” “I spent all the weekend before working on it and it was great, and you know, just over did it. I was trying to get my hands a little lower and ended up getting my hands too far low and under and actually ended up getting further away from the ball. The last nine, I just tried to go back to what I’ve always done and I felt like I was hitting better putts. I just wish I would have done it sooner.” 4. Rickie Fowler found some form and Harry Higgs made an impressive major debut Rickie Fowler was only in the PGA Championship thanks to a special exemption but that won’t be the case next year as he booked a return to the tournament with his first top 10 in 16 months. Fowler has been struggling with swing changes over the last year but feels the hard work is finally starting to pay off. His tie for eighth was the confidence builder the former PLAYERS Champion needs to start the climb back. The effort put him right on the FedExCup playoff bubble at 125th and brings momentum he desperately needs. There was another interesting name high up on the leaderboard. Harry Higgs. There’s a little bit of Phil Mickelson in Harry Higgs. Higgs loves playing to an audience and on major debut he was giving the fans plenty as he fashioned together a top four finish that gave him a ticket to next year’s Masters and a return to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. 5. Two PGA professionals made the cut, headed by 27-year-old Ben Cook who has aspirations to be on the Korn Ferry Tour next season Cook, a 2020-21 PGA TOUR Latinoamérica member who splits time teaching at Yankee Springs Golf Course in Wayland, Michigan and John’s Island Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida, shot a final-round 74 to finish 4 over and win low club professional at the 103rd PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. He made a par putt of just over seven feet to make the cut on the number early Friday evening. “Making a cut in a major you get to skip to the second stage of Q-School in the fall,” he said. “That would be worst-case scenario. I still have Latin American PGA TOUR status. If I finish Top-10 on the Order of Merit or their points list, I’ll get to go to final stage of Q-School, get a card. Depending on how you play, you get better status.” Brad Marek, a 37-year-old club pro from California, also made the cut and was emotional and proud after finishing at 12-over. The experience will help him continue to coach juniors. “I did talk to a lot of the coaches. They were all super, super helpful. I learned a lot from them. Learned that a lot of the stuff that I’m doing with them and a lot of the drills and the way that they’re practicing are what some of the best in the world are doing,” Marek said. “From a teaching perspective that gave me a lot of confidence that I’m doing things right. Picked up a few things that I’ll definitely add to my teaching repertoire.” Read more about the two PGA professionals here. 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