PGA Championship: Will Zalatoris take one-stroke lead

After overnight leader Rory McIlroy slid down on day two, American Will Zalatoris took a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the US PGA Championship.

McIlroy started the day one shot ahead of the field but finished five shots behind Zalatoris, who shot nine-under at Southern Hills.

McIlroy scored 71 despite shooting a bogey-free five-under 65 in circumstances that favored the late wave in Oklahoma.

Mito Pereira of Chile, who is making his second major appearance, is in second place at eight under.

Cameron Smith, the Players Championship winner in March, hit fellow Australian Aaron Wise in the head with a poor tee shot on the second hole.

Wise, who was playing the neighboring seventh hole, was knocked unconscious for “about 20 seconds” and required treatment, although he was able to finish his round despite having a “slightly hurting” head.

“I was walking down seven and the next thing you know, my head starts ringing,” Wise explained.

Joel Dahmen, his playing partner, added: “The ball took off another 40 or 50 yards down the fairway despite the glancing impact.”

“It landed in the muck. It might be heard. It was heard by the entire audience. It was deafening.”

On a stormy morning in Tulsa, scoring was scarce, but world number nine Justin Thomas set an early clubhouse target of six-under-par with his second consecutive 67.

Former world number one Dustin Johnson and current inhabitant and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, on the other hand, both missed the cut after shooting six over par, with Scheffler dropping two strokes on his penultimate hole.

After a one-under 69, Spaniard Jon Rahm is two over par, as is Open winner Collin Morikawa, who had a tense morning and a nervous wait after ending at four-over, which was where the halfway cut was made, with the top 70 players and ties playing the remaining two rounds.

Bubba Watson was one of the late starters who benefited from the lower wind, missing a putt on the 18th to become only the second player in major history to shoot 62, following Branden Grace in the 2017 Open.

His enthralling 63, which included nine birdies and two bogeys, puts him at five-under-par.

“It was fantastic, but I wish it had been on Sunday to take the lead, come out of nowhere to win or finish in the top five – but I’ll take it any day of the week,” the 43-year-old two-time Masters champion added.

Tiger Woods, who appeared to be in pain at the end of his first-round as he begins his comeback from a career-threatening automobile accident that left him unable to walk for three months, fought hard and finished three over after a one-under 69.

“If you miss the cut, you can’t win the tournament,” stated the 15-time major champion.

“I’ve won events on the cut number, not major championships. There’s a reason you work so hard and can afford to take a gamble on the weekend.”

“You never know when you’re going to get hot.”