Newcomers, Justin Thomas' Second Job and Playing Through the Pain: What to Watch in Round 3

Will Zalatoris and Mito Pereira will make up the final pairing on Saturday, while Tiger Woods and Aaron Wise are playing through the pain this weekend.

Author:
Colin McDonald
Updated:
May 20, 2022
Original:
May 20, 2022

Three things to watch Saturday at the PGA Championship.

1. A Newcomer and a New-er Comer

Will Zalatoris is looking to capture his first major championship with Mito Pereira, a newcomer that many would admit they’re unfamiliar with, on his heels. Just over a year ago Zalatoris was the unknown commodity contending in just his third career major at the 2021 Masters, where he would ultimately finish runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama.

In his second career major, Pereira carded a dazzling 64 on Friday and will now try to beat Zalatoris and a host of others to the Wanamaker. While Pereira’s trajectory to contending in majors may seem ahead of schedule, this has been a theme in his career. Rather than playing a full Korn Ferry Tour season and earning a promotion to the PGA Tour the conventional way, he won three times in just four months last year to earn an automatic promotion. Currently, the Texas Tech alum sits 46^th in the FedExCup standings so it seems he’ll be a fixture on the game’s biggest stages for the foreseeable future, and if you didn’t see it coming, well Mito Pereira is here regardless.

2. Will Special Broadcast Guest Justin Thomas Keep it Rolling?

It seems like it was a full day ago that Justin Thomas concluded his second round. Teeing off before 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, the 2017 PGA Champion expertly navigated the Oklahoma winds to a second consecutive round of 67 before the afternoon wave had hit their first tee shots. Thomas had so much time, in fact, that after settling back into his lodging he joined ESPN’s MegaCast with a special appearance by his dog.

Thomas will be busy during tomorrow’s broadcast as he'll be in the penultimate pairing alongside Bubba Watson. Off to his best 36-hole start in a major since 2018, the 9^th ranked player in the world will look to go from broadcaster to producer, writing his own end to the weekend as the last man standing.

3. Can Bubba Keep it Going?

One of the toughest tasks in golf is following one great round with another. That is what Bubba Watson will face on Saturday after tying a PGA Championship record with a second round 63. Not since a runner-up showing at the 2010 PGA has Watson notched a top-10 at this particular event, so with history and the aforementioned golf-ism not on his side, Watson will have to beat the odds (and the past PGA Champions immediately above and below him on the leaderboard) to keep the good times rolling.

4. Playing Through the Pain

Tiger Woods showed plenty of grit en route to securing a weekend tee time. At last month’s Masters the rigors of 72-holes were apparent as he limped to the finish line on one of the most difficult walks in professional golf. This time around however, Woods looked as strong on his final nine holes as he did at the beginning of the week and will aim to maintain that form throughout the weekend.

He won’t be the only one playing through pain. Aaron Wise was struck in the head by an errant tee shot late in his second round but managed to finish his last three holes. Per his management team, Wise is resting and plans to play the weekend.

As if competing in a major championship weren’t difficult enough, both Woods and Wise will battle their respective ailments in addition to everything Southern Hills throws their way.

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