Walker opens two-shot lead as McIlroy and Spieth stay in WGC hunt
Sunday 6 August 2017 00:33, UK
Jimmy Walker gave himself a huge lift a week ahead of the defence of his PGA Championship title as he surged into the halfway lead at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Walker fired a superb five-under 65 to open up a two-shot lead over Thomas Pieters on a lengthy second day at Firestone which was interrupted by weather delays three times, with play being suspended for a combined four-and-a-half hours.
Rory McIlroy continued his encouraging week, although he missed a number of decent birdie chances in a resolute 69 which left him three off the lead going into the weekend, while Open champion Jordan Spieth and former world No 1 Jason Day are a further stroke behind.
Walker defied the interruptions to match Pieters' opening 65, making three birdies over the first five holes and responding to his only bogey of the day at the seventh with a 12-foot putt for birdie at the next.
The classy American kept the mistakes off his card after the turn and struck a pure iron to inside three feet to set up another gain at the 12th, and he collected his third two of the round after another great tee shot at the short 15th before parring safely in to stay ahead of the star-studded field on seven under par.
Pieters is alone in second as the big-hitting Belgian failed to repeat the brilliance of his first round, dropping his first shot of the week at the opening hole before hitting back with a birdie at the next, and he offset a three at the 10th with another dropped shot at 15 as he returned a battling level-par 70.
But the top two will be looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack, with McIlroy, world No 2 Hideki Matsuyama, and two-time major champion Zach Johnson all well-placed to strike as they go into "Moving Day" on four under.
McIlroy got off to a good start with an early birdie at the long second after leaving a 15-foot putt short at the first, although he failed to follow up some immense drives with an accurate iron game as he settled for six straight pars before a pulled drive into trouble at the ninth cost him a bogey after he could only pitch back out to the fairway with his second.
The 2014 winner spurned makeable chances from inside 15 feet at 10, 11 and 13, but he finally got back under the card for the day without the need for his putter when he holed a sublime pitch from the rough for an unlikely birdie at the long 16th.
McIlroy suffered a bad break at the next when he arrow-straight approach hit the pin and spun back off the green, and a cast-iron par at the last left him in good shape for the final 36 holes.
Live World Golf Championship
The world No 4 shares third with Johnson (66) and Matsuyama (67), while McIlroy's playing-partner Spieth finished with a flourish after an erratic day as he birdied the last two holes to salvage a 70 and get back to three under.
Russell Knox is also in a tie for sixth, but the Scot was left to rue the various hold-ups after he got off to a sizzling start with birdies at each of the opening three holes to race to seven under.
Two shots went at the fifth and seventh and, after he clawed one back at the ninth, he carded three consecutive bogeys from the 11th and could only par in from there in a disappointing 71.
Day, playing with McIlroy and Spieth, also made a hot start with four birdies over the first five holes, and another at the ninth took him to the turn in just 30 strokes before he lost his momentum following the third delay of almost three-and-a-half hours, mixing a birdie with two bogeys on the inward stretch which limited him to a 66.
Charley Hoffman and Adam Hadwin are also in the group at three under along with BMW PGA champion Alex Noren, while in-form Englishman Tommy Fleetwood is alone on two under after he fired a solid three-birdie 68.
But defending champion Dustin Johnson goes into the weekend 10 shots behind his Ryder Cup team-mate after he dropped five shots in seven holes in a disastrous, outward 40 and he failed to make a single birdie in a 75 which saw him plummet down the leaderboard to three over par.
