The weekend at the Atlanta Athletic Club has been saved.
Momentarily Friday it appeared that the stars were all falling out of the PGA Championship. Some muni hacker in a Tiger Woods suit left his footprints in every bunker. No amount of athletic tape could hold together Rory McIlroy’s game. And Phil Mickelson decided to post a scorecard that was as exciting as soy milk.
Unless you knew your Jason Dufner from your Keegan Bradley from your Brendan Steele, it was looking pretty faceless at the ol’ PGA Championship.
But then golf’s biggest personality stepped into the fray.
Steve Williams, the Yo-Yo Ma of bag-toters, the Stephen Hawking of flag-holders, is at least sniffing the lead of the year’s last major.
So long as his wing man, Adam Scott, doesn’t have too many breakdowns like he did on No. 18 Friday, you have to like the chances of the world’s most famous caddie to be right there all the way to Sunday’s gloaming.
He and that Scott fellow stand at 2-under 138 after two rounds of the PGA Championship, three off the lead.
The firm of Williams & Scott has been on quite a roll. The two won last week at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Afterward, Williams vented his spleen about the way he had been cast off by Tiger Woods and got more attention than the guy who was actually holding the big trophy.
On Friday, Williams never dropped the bag once and wiped the clubs flawlessly. His player was pretty good, too. Scott backed up his 1-under 69 of Thursday with an identical number Friday. The round might have been more special had Scott not overcooked what was meant to be a safe punch shot short of the pond guarding the green on No. 18. The ball instead bounded into the water, and Scott staggered in with a double-bogey 6.
Often it is the player who is the spokesman at times like this, and so it was with Scott on Friday.
“Overall, I’m really happy with two 69s, two rounds under par and [being] not far from the lead,” Scott said. “It’s a good spot to be heading into the weekend here.
“Look, with great golf, you can make up a few shots here. I don’t think you have to sit there and wait for people to come back.”
And what of Williams’ old employer?
The good news is that Woods was four shots better than Thursday. The bad news is that he shot 77 in the first round. His 73 on Friday was only a slightly more attractive pig. He bogeyed the easiest hole on the course (par-5 fifth), went from greenside bunker to water on 11, snap hooked a routine approach shot on 12 and finished off the day with a what-the-heck slash from a fairway bunker that splashed in the middle of the pond on 18.
First-round leader Steve Stricker abdicated his position with a 74 on Friday, falling into tie for third at 3 under. His void was not easily filled.
Beyond Woods, other notables to miss the 4-under cut: Three of the world’s top 10 players — Dustin Johnson (7 over), defending PGA champion Martin Kaymer (5 over) and Jason Day (5 over) — as well as Ernie Els (6 over) and hometown favorite Stewart Cink (7 over).
And it looks like the considerable weight of completing the Chubby Slam will fall upon England’s Lee Westwood. He is the only member of Chubby Chandler’s International Sports Management group under par after two rounds (1 under). Masters winner Charl Schwartzel (2 over) and U.S. Open winner McIlroy (3 over, with a damaged wing) have many bodies between themselves and the top. ISM’s British Open winner, Darren Clarke (14 over) and its other star Louis Oosthuizen (10 over) have been asked not to return this weekend.
Elsewhere, Mickelson and his 15 Friday pars were tied for 26th (at 1 over).
Someone has to lead, and today’s third round begins with Dufner and Bradley tied at 5 under. The 25-year-old Bradley is appearing in his first major. Dufner, a 34-year-old Auburn man, has gone 147 PGA Tour starts without a win.
After shooting the day’s low round of 64, Keegan was plenty good natured about the lack of name recognition atop the leader board.
“The worst part is when you sign an autograph and the kid looks at you and asks you what your name is,” he said. “I’ve gotten that a bunch of times this week.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a surprise that I was up there. But I work very hard, and this is what I’ve been looking forward to doing my whole life, so I’m as comfortable as I can be.”
If needed, Steve Williams can shoulder the burden of fame for another couple days.
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