PGA alters playing status guidelines due to coronavirus

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Here are nine tidbits from the incomplete second round of the 100th PGA Championship gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis plays 7,316 yards to par-70. Pain or Gain These were the top-10 selected golfers (plus one) in the PGA TOUR Fantasy One & Done presented by SERVPRO: Play was initially suspended at 3:35 p.m. local time and then for the day altogether at 6:35 p.m. The players will be back in place Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. to complete Round 2. Playing in threesomes off two tees, Round 3 will commence 30 minutes after the conclusion of the completion of Round 2. Here’s what we know: Good Night’s Sleep Part II Gary Woodland had never led after any round in a major championship but gamers couldn’t tell by his performance in the morning wave of Round 2. He backed up 64 from Round 1 with 66 in Round 2 and has a one-shot lead over Kevin Kisner on 10 under par. After making a career-best 152 feet of putts Thursday his putter naturally cooled in Round 2. His ball-striking picked up as he circled four birdies and an eagle against two bogeys for a very solid loop. His best finish in a major is T12 so there are plenty of goals yet to attain this week. People’s Choice Justin Thomas was the No. 1 choice in both PGA TOUR Fantasy formats this week as he looks to join his playing partners this week with at least two wins at the final major of the season. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have six titles between them and Woods is the only player to successfully defend. He’s currently 1 under and bogey free on his second round thru seven holes and 2 under for the week. He’s hardly out of it. Amber Wave of Pain For the second round running, Bellerive Country Club was ripped to pieces by the best in the business. The PGA Championship record was equaled TWICE in the morning wave as Brooks Koepka and Charl Schwartzel added their name to the event’s history book. It’s the first time that two players have posted 63 at the PGA Championship since 1980 at Baltusrol. Tom Weiskopf and Jack Nicklaus were the record-setters that year. The morning wave also conceded NINE rounds of 65 or better, the best since 1983 at Riviera. Now with more rain on the course I can’t imagine scores getting higher tomorrow. Big-Game Hunter Not only did Brooks Koepka’s 63 move him up 30 spots to solo third, it was also bogey-free. The two-time and reigning U.S. Open champ hasn’t made a bogey in his first two rounds as his only blemish was a double in Round 1 on Hole No. 5. He’s played his last 26 holes in 10 under so I think he’s figured it out. Finding 23 of 28 fairways and 29 of 36 greens should provide all the clues necessary as to why he’s in contention. The last player to win the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship was Woods in 2000. South African Second Home Gary Player won the career grand slam at Bellerive in the U.S. Open in 1965. Nick Price, born in South Africa, won the 1992 PGA Championship on this track. Charl Schwartzel matched Koepka’s 63 and puts his name into the PGA Championship record book. Gamers who paid attention last week will tell you he closed with that same score at the South Course last Sunday. His last three rounds (63-70-63) include 19 birdies, 12 this week, and an eagle. Alarmed Rory McIlroy will have 11 holes, including two par-5 chances, to secure his place in the second half of Saturday. With a strain in his forearm lingering he’s been quiet in conditions that gamers thought he would destroy. He’s also thru seven holes (playing with Woods and Thomas) but is yet to circle a birdie and sits T64 (E). After just two birdies were wiped out by two bogeys in Round 1, EVERYONE is waiting for his fuse to light. His record on long, wet courses is immense and here’s to hoping it continues tomorrow! MC HOF Every major there is always plenty of top-ranked golfers that are heading home early. As it stands Friday evening, these top players are not going to be around for the final two rounds unless something changes drastically Saturday morning: No. 12 Patrick Reed (+3) No. 14 Bubba Watson (+8) No. 15 Paul Casey (+8) No. 17 Henrik Stenson (+4 thru 9) No. 23 Sergio Garcia (+1) No. 26 Kyle Stanley (+1) No. 28 Matt Kuchar (+1) Study Hall The Round 1 scoring average was 71.378 (+1.378) as the AM/PM splits were almost identical. The scoring average in Round 2 at the time of the suspension of play was 69.685 (-0.315). … There were five bogey-free rounds from the morning wave as Thomas Pieters (-7), Jon Rahm (-5), Jordan Spieth (-3) and Russell Henley (-1) kept their cards clean.  … The only PGA Professional that looks on track to make the cut is Ben Kern (E), unless the line moves Saturday morning.

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Bryson DeChambeau opened his 2018-19 season pretty much how he finished the last one, firing a final-round 66 to reach 21 under and secure his fifth PGA TOUR victory and fourth since June at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where DeChambeau held off a hard-charging Patrick Cantlay (65) by one to recall his form in the FedExCup Playoffs last fall. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Everything changed in a matter of minutes. Some tournaments are hard to encapsulate with any sort of turning point. Not this one. Playing behind Cantlay, DeChambeau had just lost the lead when he rolled in an eagle putt of 57 feet, 7 inches from just behind the green at the par-5 16th hole. Meanwhile, Cantlay was up ahead making bogey from the greenside bunker at the par-3 17th. Just like that, DeChambeau had gone from one behind to two ahead and in the driver’s seat. Two more pars to close it out and he was left to talk about his reaction to the eagle, capped off with a Tiger-like fist pump. “Yeah, when I hit it it’s like, all right, it’s pretty solid speed off the start,â€� DeChambeau said. “Then I saw it about halfway down there and I was like, ‘Ooh, that might be a little fast.’ For whatever reason the slope gradually declined and went to about like a 2 percent slope and the ball started just rolling perfectly to the right just like I had envisioned. “Just held straight that last little bit and was able to trickle in,â€� he added. “I haven’t given a reaction like that in a while. That was pretty cool.â€� 2. Cantlay ran out of holes. Vying to become the first to successfully defend his title in Vegas since Jim Furyk (’99), Cantlay was just 1 under for his first 27 holes, but 19 under for his final 45. “I really got off to a slow start Friday, or Thursday and Friday, and that was too much to overcome,â€� he said. “Played really well this weekend and I’m proud of that.â€� He did well to birdie the par-5 16th after yanking his tee shot left, and closed with a clutch birdie on 18. A poor bunker shot at the par-3 17th, his ball barely escaping the sand, led to a bogey. “It was just a poor shot at the wrong time,â€� Cantlay said. 3. Sam Ryder is knocking on the door. Ryder’s pants, which showed a lot of ankle, got a lot of commentary on the telecast, but it was his play that spoke loudest. His final-round 62 was another suggestion that a win is coming. “I knew it was going to have to be silly low if I was going to have a chance,â€� Ryder said. “I just wanted to have a good day and take it hole by hole, shot by shot, play well, and that’s kind of what I did. Just made maybe the best ball-striking round of my life.â€� As good as it was, it could have been even better had he not found the water in front of the green at the par-5 16th hole, where he had to scramble for a par. “Wish I could have had the one back on 16,â€� he said. “I mean, I want to go laser that after the day’s over. I said, ‘Be right,’ and I thought — I mean, I thought that was perfect. I could not have hit it better. Came up a little short. “All in all, happy with it. Few too many 5s on the scorecard, but good day.â€� 4. Rickie Fowler is in form heading to Mexico. Fowler’s 63 (T4) was his best final round in an official TOUR event, although he closed with a 61 to win the unofficial Hero World Challenge a year ago. Now he heads to the Mayakoba Golf Classic, where he was runner-up last year. “It seemed to get better and better,â€� said Fowler, who worked with his Vegas-based swing coach, Butch Harmon, last week. “I think we continued to shake some rust off every day. Putter felt a lot better today. I’m looking forward to (Mayakoba).â€� Fowler’s 63 marked the fourth time he’s shot 63 or better on TOUR, with his career low still the 62 he shot in the second round of the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open. 5. Jordan Spieth saw both good and bad. A T55 finish was nothing to write home about for 2015 FedExCup champion Spieth, who was making his first fall start in the U.S. But that’s not to say there weren’t some highlights. First among them was perhaps his chipping and putting as he opened with a 5-under 66, then chased that with a second-round 68. Alas, struggled on the weekend, signing for 71-72 to fall way back. What happened? He was using a new driver and 3-wood, which he said didn’t work out. “I’m going to go back to my old stuff (at Mayakoba) next week,â€� he said. He added that he had suffered some lousy breaks (plugged lies, balls in divots), and lost his swing on the weekend. All of that notwithstanding, it’s still early in the new season as Spieth tries to bounce back from a winless 2017-18, when he finished 31st in the FedExCup. And he said he would take some poignant memories away from the Shriners. “The hospitality and really the way that the kids from the hospital we really incorporated into the week was fantastic,â€� Spieth said. “I thought it was incredible to have standard-bearers from the hospital and the way that they were able to incorporate it on the range and then throughout the practice rounds, the pro-ams, really makes it a special week for sure.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. DeChambeau was a monster on the back nine, going 16 under compared to just 5 under on the front. He was one of three players (Bud Cauley, Richy Werenski) to go bogey-free on the back nine the entire week. He hit 34 of 36 greens in regulation on the back nine over the weekend, when he was +4.81 in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. 2. More dialed-in from tee to green than in any of his previous four wins, DeChambeau was sixth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and third in SG: Approach-the-Green. He led the field in SG: Tee-to-Green (+13.550), was fourth in fairways hit (44/56), T4 in greens in regulation (60/72), and took 115 total putts. Which of those stats stood out? “I drove it incredible,â€� DeChambeau said. 3. Abraham Ancer (66, T4) notched his second top-5 finish in three starts this season (T5 CIMB Classic) and now heads to his native Mexico for the Mayakoba Golf Classic (T9 last year). 4. There were five bogey-free rounds Sunday: Ryder (62), Fowler (63), Brandon Harkins (64), Joaquin Niemann (66), and Alex Prugh (69). Ryder’s 62 marked his career low and second top-four finish in his last three starts, and his third-place finish moved into 10th in the FedExCup. 5. Newly minted 2017-18 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise led the field with 27 birdies, one more than Cantlay, whose nine on Sunday tied his career best for one round. WYNDHAM REWARDS The top 10 players at the end of the FedExCup Regular Season will benefit from the Wyndham Rewards program. Xander Schauffele maintains the top spot while Bryson DeChambeau jumps to fifth after winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Runner-up Patrick Cantlay moved from 26th to sixth, while third-place Sam Ryder jumped from 31st to 10th.

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