Round 2 PGA Notes: Aaron Wise Beaned, Stewart Cink Rising, Bunker Complaints
When asked what was most difficult at Southern Hills, Jon Rahm said "everything."
Michael Madrid/USA Today
TULSA, Okla. — The 2022 PGA Championship is two rounds old. Here’s what I’ve learned …
Green beans: It is never good to get hit in the head at a golf tournament. Sure, getting beaned is better than getting beheaded but it’s still not good. Especially if you’re a PGA Tour player.
That is exactly what happened to Aaron Wise during Friday’s second round — a beaning, not a beheading. He was standing in the right rough off the 7th fairway when a golf ball clocked him on the right side of the head and caromed another 30 or 40 yards down the fairway. Wise dropped to one knee for 30 seconds and after a short delay was able to play on.
“We were like, Where the hell did that come from?” said Joel Dahmen, who was paired with Wise.
The invading ball came from the adjacent 2nd hole on an errant drive from Australian Cameron Smith. There was no shout of “Fore!” because Wise’s location wasn’t visible from the 2nd tee plus, Dahmen said, it was so windy “100 people could’ve yelled and we wouldn’t have heard it.”
Wise made up-and-down par at 7 and 8, shot 72 and went to a medical tent to get examined when he finished.
Southern Hills Country Club has one downside as a major championship site — several holes and greens are a little close together and in the line of fire in case of misfire. ESPN anchor Sage Steele was reportedly hit in the face Thursday by Jon Rahm’s hooked tee shot into the trees on the third hole. That shot drew blood and Steele was taken to a local hospital.
As for Wise’s beaning, Dahmen said, “I’ve never seen that before. I’ve never even been hit by a ball, either.”
Play in a media golf outing sometime. And wear a helmet.
He said it: Reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm, who shot a 1-under 69 to get back to 2 over par for the tournament, was asked to explain what was toughest part about Southern Hills. “I don’t know what the toughest part is,” he said with a shake of the head. “Everything was difficult.”
He also said it, unfortunately: Tiger Woods ran into trouble when he missed the green at the par-3 8th hole. He tried to pull off a high flop shot but when it came up short, he dropped a loud F-bomb on national television: “F---!” So yes, Tiger’s back …
National treasure: One of Friday’s guests on ESPN’s new alternative PGA Championship telecast with hosts Joe Buck and Michael Collins was basketball legend Charles Barkley, who dropped the news that he played his first round at Augusta National on Monday.
“It was one of the greatest days of my life,” Barkley said. “Driving down Magnolia Lane, it was beautiful.”
The former Round Mound of Rebound and former candidate for America’s worst golfer has dramatically improved his golf game, thanks to teacher Stan Utley. What kind of damage did Barkley do? He played pretty well, shot 92 and hit only two balls in the water.
“It was a special day,” Barkley said.
All of America hates your guts you lucky bastard is happy for you, Sir Charles …
He said this, also: When Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam called in on the alternative PGA telecast, Collins came up with a list of 10 reasons why she retired and read them to her. One was: “The only putts she has to worry about now is her husband.”
Short stops: Stewart Cink, who turns 49 Saturday, played his way onto the leaderboard Friday. If he was to win this PGA, he’d need only a Masters and a U.S. Open to complete the career grand slam. Anybody ever done that in their 50s? Yeah, probably not … I couldn’t get enough of Tiger Woods and others complaining about the difficulty of hitting out of Southern Hills’ bunkers, which either don’t have enough sand, have too many stones, have too much sand and are too heavy and differ from bunker to bunker. Players have gotten spoiled by the incredibly perfect, fluffed-up sand bunkers on the PGA Tour and now a taste of old-school reality, where how certain bunkers play differently, used to fall under the category of "local knowledge." World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler missed the cut but he had it right: “Bunkers aren’t supposed to be easy to play out of.”… It was windier Thursday afternoon than Thursday morning and it was much, much windier Friday morning than Friday afternoon. The late-early PGA draw really got a raw deal. That made Justin Thomas’ morning 67 even more impressive and first-round leader Rory McIlroy’s afternoon 71 even more of a missed opportunity… If Matt Kuchar and Talor Gooch end up in a playoff, it’d be Kooch and Gooch. Nobody will be able to tell whose name the crowd is shouting.
More PGA Championship Coverage from Morning Read
> Round 2 Scores, Updates from Southern Hills
> Will Zalatoris Leads as Luck of the Draw Splits Field at PGA Championship
> Fighting Through Pain to Make Cut in Another Major, Tiger Woods Can Smile
> Out of Nowhere, Bubba Watson Shoots 63 to Tie PGA Championship Record
> Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay Among Those Missing Cut
> World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler a Surprise Missed Cut
> Matt Fitzpatrick Changing His Major Championship Luck
> Justin Thomas, No Longer Doubting, Shoots Second 67 at PGA
> A Relaxed Justin Thomas Appears on ESPN "MegaCast" While Leading PGA
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