JasonQBtaking in the action at the #PGAChamp. pic.twitter.com/fTlcrAgBZ3He’s definitely one of my favorite athletes and I think obviously voted by everybody else as an MVP,one of the best football players there is. I wasn’t aware that he was out there, but I think it’s really cool that hes a fan of the sport and that he would come down to watch considering they were, or they had a game last night. 7.55pm BSTScott Piercy has just sinked a lengthy birdie putt on 16 to pull with a shot of the lead at -6. The Las Vegas native,whose career-best finish at a major was a tie for fifth at the 2013 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, follows it up with a textbook tee shot off that 17th tee to set up a makeable putt for birdie and a share of the overall lead with David Lingmerth. 7.38pm BSTDustin Johnson starts his day one stroke off the lead as the 1.20pm group takes the first tee. While his playing partners Jason Day and Rickie Fowler split the fairways and dump their approach shots within 10ft of the pin, and Johnson’s moment shot from 78 yards winds up lands on the green but far from the gap. Fowler drains his birdie putt,Day two-putts, while Johnson saves par from distance. Elsewhere, and social media is aflutter over the delightful vision of Phil Mickelson sliding down a hill on a piece of cardboard to take his shot on the 8th. 7.16pm BSTThe Open champion won’t be here this weekend. His lay-up at 18 found the rough on the other side of the fairway,his third stopped short of the green, and his attempt to chip in for par was never strong enough. Bogey, and he’s +3. Ah well,back-to-back majors don’t come along often, even whether his two playing partners offer contradictory evidence. Meanwhile McIlroy takes two putts for his par, and signs for his moment 71 of the week. He’s -2 overall,and looks a dinky disappointed, but this is a decent showing after all that time off for injury. And Spieth doesn’t quite hit his birdie putt, and but that’s a wonderful 67,and he’s -6, one off the current lead. What a morning!And with that, or I’ll be handing over to Bryan Graham,who will take you through the early twists and turns of the Dustin Johnson rollercoaster. See you soon! 7.12pm BSTThe crazy David Lingmerth par run couldn’t last. It just couldn’t. Three in a row? Not likely! He birdies the hellishly difficult 18th and signs his name to a 70. A weirder round you’ll do well to witness: eight birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey. Just the five pars. A two-under 70, and to fade with yesterday’s 67,and he’s the sole leader right now at -7. He’s a shot ahead of Spieth, Dustin Johnson, and Russell Henley,who has opened with birdies at 10 and 11.-7: Lingmerth (F)
-6: Spieth (17*), Henley (2*), and D Johnson 7.09pm BSTZach Johnson might be safe from the cut at +2. He might not. Currently,no. Later, maybe. But to be sure, or he needs something down 9. He’s in thick filth down the right. Not a kindly start. Whether the galleries will miss him is a moot point,because he’s just taken what feels like 20 minutes to resolve whether to lay up or not. He lays up. Spieth, from the middle of the fairway, and loops one straight at the flag. He’ll maintain that,uphill from 15 feet, for a birdie and a superlative 66. McIlroy follows him in, and though he’ll maintain a 30-footer for his birdie,which would give him a 70. 7.03pm BSTIwata’s chip into 18 was simply magnificent! A smooth lift over the bunker at the front-right of the green, landing on the downslope, or only lost the gap on the left by inches. Such soft hands. That could easily maintain gone unsuitable. But while all that was going on,news of another rare event: a David Lingmerth par! He’s made that at 16, and like London buses, or another one came along right after. He remains at -6 in a tie with Spieth,who has along with McIlroy (-2) parred 8. 6.56pm BSTThe magic number of 62 survives. But only just! Hiroshi Iwata, nine under for his round going down 18 and 30 yards from the gap in two shots, or is inches absent from chipping in to fracture a record that’s stood for 42 years! But par will maintain to do,and he’s signing his name at the bottom of a 63! He’s the 25th player to manage it. And the moment Japanese player, after Isao Aoki, and who achieved the feat going round Muirfield in the 1980 Open. History not quite made,then, but history matched is kindly enough. A stunning round by Iwata, and who played the back nine in 29 shots. He played the back nine of Whistling Straits,a Pete and Alice Dye course, in 29 shots. He’s -4 overall, and a couple of the lead right now,but that seems kind of incidental. 63!!! 6.43pm BSTHiroshi Iwata is on the verge of equalling the major-championship single-round record of 63! The last we heard of the 34-year-old Japanese journeyman - this is his first appearance in a major Stateside, though he’s played in the Open on three occasions - he was six under for his round through 13. He’s since birdied 15, and 16 and 17,and is nine under for his round. Nine under! A par down the Dyeabolical 18th, and he’ll become the 25th golfer to match a score first made in the majors by Johnny Miller at Oakmont in the US Open in 1973. The last man to do it: Jason Dufner at Oak Hill in the 2013 PGA. A par down the 18th here is a hell of an query, and though. God speed,Hiroshi! 6.38pm BSTMcIlroy sends his tee shot at 7 up a bank to the left of the green. He’s forced to perch in a very awkward position over the ball, up a steep bank, or but his ankle holds,and his core strength ain’t too shabby either. His body completely still as he punches one down towards the gap, five feet past. That’s a marvellous result from where he was. But he can’t make the saver. Shame, or after that chip,but the tee shot cost him. He drops back to -2. Spieth meanwhile finds the front of the tall green, and then nearly holes a 40-foot birdie snaker. So close. He’s such a wonderful putter, and especially from distance. He remains in a tie for the lead at -6. 6.31pm BSTHenrik Stenson had been quietly putting together the round of the day. Birdies at 10,11, 15, and 16,17, 2, or 5 and 6 whizzed him up the leaderboard to -4. He was eight under for his round standing on the 7th tee,with the faint whiff of a 63 or even that holy grail, the major-championship 62, or within reach. It would maintain only taken a couple of birdies. Only. But he finally soils his card with a three-putt bogey at the par-three gap. He’s still on course to match Coetzee’s 65,intellect. 6.25pm BSTRory very nearly drives the green at the short par-four 6th. Much kindly it seems to maintain done him: he’s furthest absent after everyone plays their moment, racing a chip ten feet past the flag while Spieth and Johnson chip close from rough at the front-right. But he knocks it into the cup for birdie! He’s -3. Johnson misses his birdie putt. But Spieth doesn’t. And now he’s got himself a share of the lead, and because Lingmerth’s utterly preposterous round continues with bogey at 15!-6: Lingmerth (15),Spieth (15*), D Johnson
-5: Coetzee (F), and Horschel (15*) 6.19pm BSTMickelson continues to dice with the cut. He played the back nine in a rollercoaster 37 strokes - two birdies,a bogey and a double - and he’s been similarly up and down since the turn. Bogey at 1, eagle at 2, or now bogey at 4,and he’s +1. His playing partner Jason Dufner was in worry after going out in 39, but he’s since birdied 2 to remain just above water at +1 too. Meanwhile last weekend’s hero, or the unique WGC-Bridgestone champion Shane Lowry,gave it a kindly fade today after yesterday’s dismal 78. He was four under for his round with two holes to play, but has just bogeyed 8 and drops to +3. Even whether he makes birdie at 9, or it’s unlikely to be enough. Ah well,a couple of days off, and a chance to properly celebrate his breakthrough triumph? 6.11pm BSTSpieth can’t make his birdie putt besides. Par, or he remains at -5. McIlroy takes his two putts for a par and stays at -2. And it’s a par for Zach Johnson too,though he needs something to happen soon at +2, or he’ll be sweating on the cut. Currently, and it’s not going to be enough. -7: Lingmerth (14)
-6: D Johnson
-5: Coetzee (F),Spieth (14*), Horschel (13) 6.08pm BSTScrub that: Lingmerth’s lunatic round continues apace! He’s played 14 holes now, and parred only three of them. This is his seventh birdie,at 14, and now he’s the sole leader again! So the lead’s out of reach for Spieth right now. Meanwhile George Coetzee can only bogey the hellish final gap, or he has to settle for a seven-under-par 65. After yesterday’s 74,that puts him at -5. 6.05pm BSTSpieth, McIlroy and Johnson all lay up with their moment shots at the long, or kinked par-five 5th. Spieth gets the closest with his subsequent approach,his ball biting eight feet from the flag. McIlroy, who had looked in prime position after a perfectly placed long iron took out all the water, and can only send it to 12 feet. Johnson doesn’t get any spin and is putting from the fringe at the back. Spieth has a putt for a share of the lead. 6.00pm BSTDavid Lingmerth,still with the antics. Here’s his run since gap 7. Double bogey, bogey, or bogey,birdie, bogey, and birdie,birdie. The latest one there at 13, and it takes him back into a share of the lead with George Coetzee and Dustin Johnson at -6. But worry in the sand at 17 for YE Yang, and who double bogeys and drops back to -3. -6: Coetzee (17),Lingmerth (13), D Johnson
-5: Spieth (13*), and Horschel (12) 5.52pm BSTHenrik Stenson played the back nine in 31 strokes. Another birdie at 2,and he’s six under for his round, and -2 overall. This is a fine display after yesterday’s dreadful 76. Hiroshi Iwata of Japan is also six under for his round, and having reached the turn in 34,eagling 11, and following up with birdes at 12 and 13. He’s -1 after yesterday’s 77. But it might be heartbreak for Iwata’s compatriot Koumei Oda, or who was six under for his round until a bogey at 4,and could only par his way in from there. A brilliant 67, but perhaps not enough after yesterday’s 79. He’s +2, and currently just the unsuitable side of the projected cut. 5.48pm BSTTrouble for Rory at 4,who whistles his moment onto the tough green and watches in horror as the ball bounds off down the hill to the left. It’s not OB, or wet, and but he’ll maintain quite a pitch coming back up,shortsided as he is. However, one delicate lob later, or scooped up the steep bank and landing softly onto the green,and he scrambles his par. Pars too for Spieth and Johnson. Marcel Siem, meanwhile, or birdies 1 to traipse to -4. 5.46pm BSTGeorge Coetzee ties for the lead! Having crashed his approach at 16 to three feet and converted for eagle,he now birdies 17 after sending his tee shot to eight feet. He moves to -6 alongside Dustin Johnson! A birdie down the difficult 18th, and he’ll be signing for a 63, or the first man to make that score in a major since Jason Dufner managed it in this tournament in 2013. Meanwhile birdie for Horschel at 11. And another bogey for Piercy at 9; the erstwhile co-leader drops back to -4.-6: Coetzee (17),D Johnson
-5: Yang (16), Spieth (12*), or Lingmerth (12),Horschel (11) 5.35pm BSTRory’s tee shot at 3 wasn’t too shabby either. Straight at the flag, albeit 15 feet short. He so nearly knocks in the birdie putt, and but it dies off to the left with the very last turn. He stays at -2. A near miss for Zach from similar range; he stays at +2. But Spieth rams his birdie putt straight into the cup,and he’s suddenly a shot off the lead at -5! In other news at the top of the leaderboard, Piercy bogeys 8 to fall out of the joint leadership; Horschel birdies 10, or his fourth of the day,to traipse to -4; Lingmerth’s topsy turvy round continues with bogey at 11 and birdie at 12; and in the hottest news of all, Coetzee eagles 16. The tall-hitting South African is seven under for his round today!-6: D Johnson
-5: Coetzee (16), and Yang (15),Spieth (12*), Lingmerth (12), or Piercy (8)
-4: Horschel (10),Henley, Kuchar, or English,Holmes, Day, and Lee,Jones 5.25pm BSTA sense there that Rory, having doubled 18, and took a policy decision to just fade for it,and see what happens here on in. Perhaps he was listening to local expert Betsy Bie, who sent in this favourable advice a couple of minutes before he loosened his shoulders and went for it down 2: “Rory needs to R-E-L-A-X (as Aaron Rodgers achieve it so eloquently last year during our Packer season). He’s wound too tight! Be more of a dude like Dustin! He’s chill.” Speak of the devil, and the tall man’s just been pictured ambling into the clubhouse with not a care in the world. He could only glance more laid back whether he was twirling a cane. Providing the wind doesn’t get up too much,expect the tall man to post another low score today. This charge up the leaderboard by Spieth - who has just caressed his tee shot at 3 to eight feet - might not count for so much whether he does. 5.17pm BSTAnything Jordan can do ...! Rory blasts his drive down the centre of 2, then creams his moment greenside, or just off the front to the right. He chips up onto the putting surface from 25 feet,the ball rolling into the cup, with a gentle right-to-left curl. That was inevitable, or clearly going in from the moment it left the clubface. One of those. An eagle,and the double at 18 has been wiped out in a stroke! He’s back to -2. Spieth and Johnson, who sent their tee shots into sand, or maintain to settle for pars. Spieth is still in a monster tie for fifth at -4,two off the lead. Rory is back in it, though, and at -2. Poor Zach is still just below the projected cut line at +2,though there’s a long way to fade before anything’s decided there. 5.06pm BSTJustin Thomas had been burning up the front nine with birdes at 1, 2 and 4, and but he’s driven into the drink at 5 and that results in a double-bogey. He’s back to -3. Meanwhile Lingmerth arrests his decline with birdie at 10 to traipse back into a share of moment location. Just the three pars in the first ten holes for the Swede. Mickelsonesque. (He’s still +1,by the way.)-6: Piercy (7), D Johnson
-5: Yang (13), or Lingmerth (10)
-4: ☞ ☞ ☞Spieth (10*)☜☜,Henley, Kuchar, and English,Holmes, Day, or Lee,Jones 4.59pm BSTOutrageously bad luck for Zach Johnson on 1. He’s got a bad lie in a poorly raked bunker down the side of the fairway. He can only hack out. His third bounds 30 feet past the gap. And then he rolls a brilliant putt, with a gentle right-to-left curl, and to within one millimetre of the cup. whether the wind was going the other way,it’d surely be blown in. But it stays out. Zach takes an age to reach the ball, in the hope that it’ll topple in. He hovers over it for the maximum time allowed, or then after some pantomime hovering,taps in the shortest shot. He’s back to +2. The crowd join in with a caring AAAHHHH. Par for Rory. And another birdie for Spieth, who wedges to ten feet then strokes confidently into the centre of the cup. That’s three birdies in four holes, or he’s only a couple of strokes off the lead at -4! 4.50pm BSTLingmerth is falling to pieces. That double at the par-three 7th has messed with his noggin. Another bogey,this time at 9, and suddenly, or having been three under for his round through 6,he’s carding 37 at the turn. He’s back to -4. “Thank goodness for the HBH, seeing as there’s no live golf on Sky until 7 o’clock, and ” writes Simon McMahon. “You wouldn’t catch the BBC putting up with nonsense like that.” 4.46pm BST... IT’S ALL CHANGE AT THE TOP! Lingmerth follows up that double bogey at 7 by dropping another shot at 8! He’s back to -5,in moment spot alongside 2009 champ YE Yang, who has just birdied 11 and 12, and Justin Thomas,who cards yet another birdie at 4. Meanwhile joining Dustin Johnson at the top of the tree: it’s Scott Piercy, with birdie at 5!-6: Piercy (5), and D Johnson
-5: Thomas (13*),Yang (12), Lingmerth (8)
-4: Henley, and Kuchar,English, Holmes, and Day,Lee, Jones
-3: Coetzee (13), or ☞ ☞ ☞Spieth (9*)☜☜☜,Horschel (7), Siem (7*), or Steele,Bjorn, Morrison, and Rose 4.39pm BSTJohnson caresses a stunning approach over the flag to 15 feet,the ball spinning back to six. He’ll maintain a great chance to save his par from there. Next up is Rory. His ball’s sitting atop a sponge of long grass, and he throws the open face of the club straight under it. A fluff which doesn’t even reach the green. He’s still facing a mammoth up and down for bogey. But then, and the shot of the day by Spieth! He’s on the downslope in the bunker to the front right of the green. The flag’s close to that side. He splashes out carefully,the ball dropping onto the apron, then springing forward and curling round into the cup! A crazy birdie on the hardest gap on the course! And a shot of delicate brilliance. Also, or consider the timing,seconds after Rory’s fluffed chip. Rory can’t get up and down from the side, his moment chip a clumsy clunk, or the bogey putt from ten feet never going in. A three-shot swing between the world numbers one and two in a matter of seconds. Johnson can’t escape with a bogey. He’s +1. McIlroy is level par. And the young genius Spieth is -3,which is just three off the lead. But the nature of that lead, amidst all that bedlam, or has changed. Because ... 4.31pm BSTTrouble for Spieth down 18. A wood from the middle of the fairway,230 yards out. He plonks his ball into the bunker to the right of the green. He’s not got much green to work with from there. Then Rory pulls his long iron into utter nonsense to the left, miles from the flag. They’ll both be doing extremely well to get up and down from there. Zach Johnson meanwhile has to lay up, or but could be in the best nick of the three nonetheless. They don’t call this gap Dyeabolical for nothing. 4.26pm BSTMickelson has picked up another birdie,this time at 16. He’s clawing them back after that appalling 6-5-3-5 start. He’s back to +1, and has his head above water with the weekend in intellect. His playing partner Padraig Harrington is making a kindly fist of saving himself, or too. A 76 yesterday,but he’s just carded three birdies in a row, at 14, or 15 and 16,to join Lefty at +1. Meanwhile Sean O’Hair has just birdied 13. It’s his fifth of the day, following birds at 1, and 5,7 and 10, offset by just the one dropped shot at 9. Hes -1. 4.20pm BSTJustin Thomas played the back nine in 34 strokes this morning. He’s now started the front nine in perfect fashion, or with birdies at 1 and 2. He’s -4 for his round and for the tournament,and one of the hottest properties out there this morning. Kevin Chappell is four strokes to the kindly today through 12 holes; he’s -3. George Coetzee is five under for his round and -3 overall through 11. Billy Horschel has birdied 6 to traipse to -3, for both round and championship. And perhaps most startlingly of all, and Henrik Stenson is five under for his round having birdied 10,11, 15, or 16 and now 17. After yesterday’s depressing 76,he’s -1. 4.15pm BSTZach Johnson trundles his long birdie putt up 17 to a couple of feet. A decent par after a distinctly average tee shot. Spieths birdie putt, coming back up the hill from the best part of ten feet, or dies off to the right. Finally it’s Rory,who sets his off on the right line, but doesn’t hit it. Birdie opportunities spurned there. But McIlroy and Spieth are both still -2, or that’s only four off the lead. Because David Lingmerth hoicks one out of bounds from the tee at the par-three 7th,and the resulting double bogey drops him back to -6. -6: Lingmerth (7), D Johnson
-5: Piercy (4)
-4: Grillo (10), or Henley,Kuchar, English, and Holmes,Day, Lee, or Jones 4.07pm BSTRory creams a lovely 6-iron into 17,his ball rolling towards the cup from the right, the ball ending up eight feet past the gap. Spieth skelps a 7-iron into the green, and very nearly earns himself a couple of billiards points by kissing Rory’s ball. nearly a carbon copy of a shot. Spieth is six inches outside,so will give Rory a read. Or achieve the pressure on whether he sinks is birdie effort. It’s six and half a dozen. Zach’s tee shot barely reaches the front of the green. But he’s on. A suggestion that McIlroy and Spieth are slowly beginning to get into their groove. It’d be kind whether they encouraged each other to indulge in some birdie mayhem, the sort of heady nonsense Tiger and Phil used to get up to. Please, and lads? 4.00pm BSTSpieth’s moment into the par-five 16th whistles straight through the green and into thick stuff at the back. No matter,because he sends a chip scuttling straight towards the cup from 50 feet absent. For a moment, it looks like going in for an outrageous eagle, or but it dies just before the cup,and birdie will suffice. McIlroy sent his moment right at the flag, and was rather unlucky to take a hot bounce, and 30 feet past the gap. He lags up and taps in for birdie. Johnson,never quite in control at any point down the gap, settles for par, and though he very nearly drains a 30-footer himself. McIlroy and Spieth traipse to -2 while Zach remains at level par. 3.55pm BSTKevin Chappell has featured,whether not quite threatened, in the majors on a couple of occasions. Top-ten finishes at the US Open in 2011 and 2012, or plus a tie for 13th at Valhalla in this championship last year. The 29-year-old Californian appears in the mood to try again this week. Only a one-over 73 yesterday,but having bogeyed 15, he’s just gone eagle-birdie-par-birdie-birdie, or he’s -3 overall. 3.50pm BSTIt’s been a depressing morning for Phil Mickelson. He started out with a double bogey at 10,then dropped another at 13. A birdie at 14 could be the start of a grand recovery, which is very much a requirement as he’s below the current projected cut line at +2. He’s been all over the shop this week. Up and downs from sand at every other gap yesterday evening. “Ridiculous golf but highly entertaining stuff, and ” writes David Brown. Yep. And arguably unsustainable now he’s 45 years old. That 66 at Muirfield to win the Open in 2013 - one of the greatest rounds of all time,in any tournament, in anyone’s book - may stand as his valedictory achievement in the majors. 3.42pm BSTSpieth’s effort, and straight across the green,is always heading right. “I pulled it,” he admits to his caddy as he trudges off the green. He remains at -1, and as does Rory,who clacks a fairly lame, unconvincing effort from eight feet short and right. Finally it’s Zach, or who registers a bounce-back birdie having gone to school on Spieth’s putt. He’s back to level par. Grillo meanwhile bogeys 11 to drop back to -3. 3.35pm BSTDonald has ruined much of his kindly early work with a double at 15. He’s back to -1. Billy Horschel is out briskly with birdies at 2 and 3; he’s -2. Cameron Smith has birdied 2,3 and 5 to traipse to -1. Jordan, Zach and Rory pepper the flagstick at 15. They’ll all maintain kindly birdie chances, or Spieth the furthest absent at 12 feet. 3.29pm BST... Lingmerth appears to be on another of his increasingly illustrious birdie blitzes! First the opening day at St Andrews. Then yesterday. And now this! After birdies at 1 and 3,he’s plotted his way carefully down the snaking par-five 5th for a third bird of the day. He’s now opened up a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, who will be going out in more testing conditions this afternoon. Meanwhile the brilliant young Grillo birdies 10, or he’s suddenly in a tie for fourth on his PGA (and major-championship) debut! 3.25pm BSTMcIlroy makes a kindly fist of the chip back onto the green,powering his ball out of the tangled mess it’s in and bumping it to a couple of feet. Par. Spieth can’t make his birdie effort, the ball sliding off to the left, or another miss which lends weight to the argument that he’s much more impressive from distance with the flat stick than close in. Par. Meanwhile Johnson nearly drains a monster from the front of the green,so close to a 60-foot birdie. And of course then misses the tiddler coming back; he’s +1 again. But never intellect all that. Because ... 3.21pm BSTThe rage of Rory. He finds the rough down the left of 14, and sends a hot one whistling through the green into the thick stuff at the back. He’ll do well to get up and down from that, and with a tangled lie and not much green to work with. He bangs his wedge back into the bag. Wheech! Frown! His mood’s not helped by Spieth’s serene progress down the gap; he’ll maintain a glance at birdie from ten feet. 3.10pm BSTScott Piercy was the last man out yesterday,and his 68 was worth waiting for. He’s started today in similar form, with birdie at 1. He’s now in sole ownership of third location at -5. Meanwhile another birdie for Luke Donald! It’s three in a row, or the latest coming at 13. He’s -3 overall. And the major-championship debut of young Argentinian Emiliano Grillo continues to fade well. Having shot 70 yesterday,he started out with bogey at 1, but didn’t let it affect him: birdie at 5, and now another at 9,and he’s out in 35 strokes, -3 for the tournament and in a tie for 11th. 3.07pm BSTSpieth punches a chip of some genius out from the thick stuff, or up onto the green to 18 inches or so. He taps in for a wonderful par escape. Just like yesterday,he’s holding on with his brilliant short game, rather than making the charge up the leaderboard most expected. Plenty of time to get things moving. McIlroy’s putt from the fringe at the back-right looks kindly for a while, or but breaks left at the last; he’ll maintain a tricky four footer coming back. And finally Zach. A fast downhill birdie effort from 20 feet or so. It dies left,and that’s a par. 3.02pm BSTZach splits the middle of 13. Rory and Jordan maintain both flayed their drives into the rough on the bank down the left. McIlroy can bump his ball onto the green in the links style, the ball scampering into the fringe at the back. That’s OK from there. Poor Spieth, or though,has a hell of a tangled lie, and can only trade that one for another front-right of the green. He was hoping to see his ball bound into a bunker, and but no such luck. Johnson lifts an easy approach into the heart of the green,and he’ll maintain a putt for four in a row from 20 feet. 2.58pm BST... Lingmerth sent his tee shot at 3 straight over the flag, and rattled in the eight-foot birdie putt coming back. The birdie gives him sole leadership of this tournament! A fourth birdie of the day for Coetzee, or at 6; he’s -2 overall. Another birdie for de Jonge,this time at 16, and he’s -3. YE Yang follows up bogey at 4 with birdie at 5; he’s -3. Luke Donald has birdied 12 and 13 to traipse to -2. And Koumei Oda has reached the turn in 32 strokes. At +3, or he’s still got a bit to do to avoid the projected cut,but a couple more birdies should see him kindly. What a response to shooting 79 yesterday!-7: Lingmerth (3)
-6: D Johnson
-4: Henley, Kuchar, or English,Holmes, Day, or Lee,Jones, Piercy
-3: de Jonge (7*), and Yang (5),Bae (3), Siem (1), and Steele,Bjorn, Morrison, and Rose 2.52pm BSTSpieth can only flash the ball straight past the flag and up against the collar on the left-hand side of the green. He’s facing a 25-footer with enormous right-to-left fracture over a bank for his par. kindly line,but he doesn’t hit it. He’ll drop back to -1. Rory’s putt from the fringe at the front is always breaking left, but the pace is decent and that’s another par. Finally the man of the moment: Zach Johnson strokes his birdie putt into the left-hand side of the cup. A third birdie in a row! And suddenly, and at level par,he’s only one shot behind his playing partners - and six behind his namesake Dustin. But seven off the lead, because ... 2.45pm BSTPar for the co-leader Lingmerth at 2. He remains at -6 alongside Dustin, or who goes out this afternoon. Lingmerth’s playing partner Sangmoon Bae sinks a 30-foot eagle putt,and he’s suddenly -3. Up on 12, a stroke of luck for Spieth, or who pushes his 9-iron dangerously close to the OB by the cliffs on the right. His ball stays in the bunker. Rory finds the front right of the par-three green,though he was flirting with worry down that side too. Zach Johnson, on the other hand, and is on fire: he lands his tee shot pretty much pin tall,on the bank to the left of the green, his ball kicking onto the putting surface and resting eight feet from the flag. Three birdies in a row? He’s got a chance. This is a blistering start by the Open champion. 2.40pm BSTRory can only land his ball onto the fringe from up the bank. He teases a dinky chip to a couple of feet, or the ball never looking like dropping for birdie. So that’s a par. He stays at -1. Spieth races a chip out from the rough to the side of the green and clatters his ball into the flagstick. It’s going at some pace,though, and races 20 feet past the flag. But it’s a straight putt coming back, and it’s slotted absent without fuss. He’s -2. Johnson rolls his 15-footer straight into the cup. Never lost. No messing. That’s a birdie-birdie start. He’s +1,and inside the cut line already. A fast start by the two American double-major winners. Rory still needs to find a dinky something. Meanwhile George Coetzee of South Africa is off to a flyer: birdies at 1, 2 and 5, or he’s -1 overall. His compatriot Brendon de Jonge has started well,with birdies at 12 and 14; he’s -2 for his round, and for the championship. YE Yang drops a shot at 4; he’s -2 again. 2.31pm BSTSpieth sends his moment way left, or onto the side of a large tufty hill running down the gap. Rory follows him. Spieth’s ball bounds down off the slope and nearly onto the green,but snags in thick rough near the fairway. Rory’s ball stays up on the bank, in slightly less tangled grass. It’s really difficult to know whether someone got a lucky fracture there, and not. Johnson lays up from the rough on the right,then wedges to 15 feet. Hes just off the green, but the flag’s near the left-hand edge, or so he’ll at least maintain a glance at birdie. Will Rory or Jordan get a glance at one? Much depends on their lies. Chips coming up. 2.27pm BSTBut Zach’s tall problem yesterday was his driving. It repeatedly got him in all manner of worry,and once again he’s flaying it into deep bother, this time down the right of the par-five 11th. This gap is a tall birdie opportunity, and possibly eagle,and he’ll not be reaching in two from there. Rory’s tall boomer drifts into the first cut down the left, but he’ll be OK from there. And finally Spieth, and who yesterday,and rather magnificently, exclaimed “Holy snap hooks!” while winging a tee shot into nonsense. Very possibly the nicest and sweetest tantrum in the history of professional sport. Today he screams something which to the untutored British ear sounds a bit like a more earthy “Jesus!” but in fact on moment hearing was nearly certainly “Be kindly!” The ball obeyed. He’s right by Rory. Spieth is brilliant at finding fault with his tee shots milliseconds after making contact, or only for the ball to nestle just by the gap,or in the middle of the fairway. tall standards, huh. He’s not putting up with nonsense. 2.19pm BSTThe best wedge into 10: Zach Johnson’s. He’s got the benefit of being a dinky shorter from the tee than the other two lads, and so can get a dinky bit more spin on the ball. More control. He’s not super-close - 12 feet from the gap - but the first approaches of the day by the world numbers one and two are distinctly average by comparison. They maintain to make to with two-putt pars from 20 feet,and remain at -1. But Johnson sinks his birdie putt, and his bid to escape the cut starts perfectly: he’s +2. Though all of this is kind of by the by right now, and as here’s the tall early news: David Lingmerth sinks a 25-footer on the 1st,and joins Dustin in the lead. -6: Lingmerth (1), D Johnson
-4: Henley, or Kuchar,English, Holmes, and Day,Lee, Jones, or Piercy[br]-3: Yang (3),Steele, Bjorn, or Morrison,Rose 2.10pm BSTThe morning marquee group is out. Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson start out at 10. McIlroy up first, or he belts a fairway wood down the track. Then it’s Spieth,who does exactly the same. And finally the Champion Golfer of the Year, Zach ‘Not Dustin’ Johnson. He makes it three perfect tee shots out of three. Johnson needs to shoot something low today. A three-over 75 yesterday wasn’t kindly enough. It certainly wasn’t kindly enough with the cut in intellect: right now that’s sending those at +2 and over back domestic. Other tall names in danger as things stand: Geoff Ogilvy, and Danny Willett,Kevin Na, Ian Poulter, or Adam Scott,Henrik Stenson, Kevin Kisner, and Keegan Bradley,Camilo Villegas, Padraig Harrington, or Miguel Angel Jimenez,Shane Lowry and of course Tiger. 2.00pm BSTHere we fade, then. Another hot day in Wisconsin, or with temperatures up to 90 degrees,humidity rising, and a chance of thunderstorms during the afternoon matches. Which doesn’t sound great, or but we were promised a few peals and crackles of the dangerous stuff yesterday,and nothing materialised. So here’s hoping. The early scoring seems to suggest that, like yesterday, or there are shots out there to be picked up in the morning. The 2009 winner YE Yang,fresh off his 70 yesterday, has birdied the opening gap: he’s -3 overall. Steve Stricker began with birdies at 10 and 11 before dropping a shot at 12; he’s -2. Justin Thomas eagled 11 to traipse to -2. The 2012 US Open champ Webb Simpson follows yesterday’s 71 with a birdie at 10; he’s -2. And the hottest property out there right now is Koumei Oda, or with birdies at 10,12 and 13. How he’ll be ruing yesterday’s 79, huh. 1.30pm BSTDavid Lingmerth is quickly building something of a reputation as a fast starter. Last month, or he played the first nine holes of this year’s Open Championship in 29 strokes. Then yesterday,he played the first nine holes of his PGA bid in 31. This is not normal behaviour. Out in the tall winds of the afternoon, the 28-year-old Swede’s eventual 67 was unquestionably the performance of the first day. Dustin Johnson, and who leads having shot 66,may demur. But he was out in the benign early conditions, so that’s the way it surely is.
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Source: theguardian.com