PGA Notebook: Phil's Rules Assist, Tony Finau's Fight and Mito Is in the Mix Again
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Phil Mickelson is playing in his 30th PGA Championship and with a 2-over 72 on Friday, the 52-year-old made his 27th cut.
Making the cut on the number at 5 over par, Mickelson had nothing but praise for one of the more difficult courses on any tour this year.
"It's just a good, hard, fair test," Mickelson said. "What I really like about it is a lot of the greens are open in front. You can run a shot up if you get in a little bit of trouble, which I think makes it very fair. I think it's an incredible test."
After a runner-up finish at the Masters earlier this year, the lefthander came to Oak Hill optimistic about his chances.
But Mickelson found problems on Friday, the biggest coming on the par-4 6th hole, where a creek right of the fairway seemed to receive more drives than the 6th fairway.
After finding the water, Mickelson made a mistake with his drop, but a rules official saw the error and worked with Mickelson to correct it before he hit his third shot.
The intervention saved Mickelson a larger score than a double-bogey 6 and allowed him to make the cut.
"I didn't know that they changed the rule this year, whereby you normally could take the point in line and then you have that two-club-length semicircle," Mickelson said. “I guess in January they changed that to where you just only get line-of-sight (relief), so the guy came over and saved me a penalty because I had dropped it in the ruling under last year and didn't realize it had been changed, and he came and saved me a stroke, so I was very appreciative. “
Tony Finau Fights to Weekend
If you ask him, Tony Finau would agree that he was fighting for two days against an animal of indeterminable nature and lived to tell the tale.
Oak Hill Country Club has seen all types of championships including U.S. Opens, PGA Championships, a U.S. Amateur, Sr. PGA Championships, and a Ryder Cup.
Each time it puts on the face of a tiger and pounces on the unsuspecting prey at the get-go.
For Finau the fight was finding fairways, he hit only three of 14 in Thursday’s first round, that made Oak Hill untenable.
"I've hit it in the rough more this week in two rounds than maybe I've ever played," Finau said. “I'm hitting out of the rough all day, so It’s just taxing. I'm not able to get myself enough chances to score.”
With a couple top 10s in PGA Championships in 2020 and 2021, Finau is looking for a breakthrough in the majors.
With a recent win at the Mexico Open, his sixth of his career, the confidence is there, but the ability to hit fairways with the straightest club in his bag, the driver, has made his visit to Rochester painful.
But Finau, who made the cut on the number at 5 over, takes solace in the fact he was able to hit poor shots off the tee and still survive.
“With how firm the fairways are you have to curve the ball the direction that the fairway moves,” he said.
In one case Finau’s tee shot landed in the dead middle of the fairway and rolled into the highest rough he’d seen on the course.
“What you're dealing with, everybody's dealing with it,” Finau said. “So that's the only saving grace is you're just trying to stay as patient as you can. And I thought for how bad I've driven the golf ball I've scored it well.”
Finau’s smorgasbord scorecards for the combined two days included eight birdies, nine bogeys and two double bogeys, not bad for a guy who hit only 11 of 28 fairways in the first two rounds.
“You never know what these guys are going to do an afternoon and I know no matter what I'm going to have a phenomenal weekend to make a run at this thing.”
Week Ends Early for Cameron Young
Cameron Young left Oak Hill none too soon after a 5-over 75 in Friday’s second round, missing the cut for the first time since the Genesis Scottish Open in July 2022.
Unfortunately for Young, the round was destined for failure after he moved his marker on the green at the 16th hole, his seventh of the round, at the request of playing competitor Tommy Fleetwood and didn’t return it back before putting out.
When Young played from the wrong place, he violated Rule 15.3 and was assessed a two-shot penalty, turning his par 4 into a 6 that jump-started his trip home.
“It’s one of those unlucky things,” Fleetwood said. “I was the one that asked him to move his marker and then you're in your own world at times, you would always say move it back. It's just one of those crappy things.”
Mito in the Mix Again at the PGA
It was just a year ago that Mito Pereira stood on the 18th tee in the final round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills with the lead.
The tee shot went right, found the creek and Pereira lost the lead and missed the playoff between Justin Thomas and Will Zalatoris.
On Friday, Pereira shot a 1-under 69 and again finds himself in the mix again, if not as close, sitting six shots back of leaders Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Viktor Hovland.
“Yesterday and today hit the ball pretty well,” Pereira said. “Yesterday didn't make many putts, and today on the front nine and a couple on the back nine I made some good putts, so pretty happy with the round.”
Pereira finished T30 at LIV Golf Tulsa last week, but felt his game was in good shape coming into the week and believed that when a couple putts dropped as they did on Friday, he would be in good position.
“Obviously leaving behind about Southern Hills and all that,” Pereira said. “It was a year ago, just trying to play good golf.”
A strength Pereira has that worked well last year at Southern Hills and Oak Hill is his tee-to-green game.
“I think I'm playing pretty similar to last year,” Pereira said. “I just know a little bit more myself and a little bit more
experience. Obviously, all the moments, I mean, obviously
count in Southern Hills, but all the tournaments add up a
little bit and get to know yourself a little bit better and what
you can do and what you can't do.”