Halfway hut at the PGA Championship: Magic Mickelson ties for the lead
A round-up of the best stats, quotes and social after 36 holes of the year’s second Major at Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
And yet, here we are after 36 holes of the PGA Championship and Mickelson is leading a Major once more. Phil just keeps on truckin'.
If Phil Mickelson leads at the end of today's round, he will be the first player to hold the lead after a major championship round in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 21, 2021
Mickelson won the last of his five Majors in 2013 so it's still a massive ask from here to turn this excellent position into a sixth. And it's made even harder by the quality around him.
Tied for the lead is former Open winner Louis Oosthuizen. In third, there's four-time Major champion Brooks Koepka. Sharing fourth is newly-crowned Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.
There will be no Dustin Johnson after the World No.1 missed the cut by one. Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele are also done for the week so that's three of the world's top four already eliminated.
Others such as pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy have a mountain to climb. The Northern Irishman bogeyed his final three holes to drop eight back and, as you'll see in the stats section, history says that's too many.
Just 18 players are still under par for the week after Friday's conditions caused more mayhem and the betting has a fairly open look to it with 13 players quoted at 28/1 or lower.
Paddy Power odds after 36 holes: 4/1 Brooks Koepka, 11/2 Louis Oosthuizen, 15/2 Hideki Matsuyama, 12/1 Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, 18/1 Corey Conners, 20/1 Branden Grace, Paul Casey, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 22/1 Gary Woodland, 25/1 Sungjae Im, Viktor Hovland, 28/1 Joaquin Niemann, 40/1 Kevin Streelman, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, 50/1 Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa.
Stats and facts
Koepka, who had two eagles on his card in a round two 71, is ranked 1st for SG: Approach, picking up 7.204 shots on the field after 36 holes. He's also 1st SG: Tee To Green although will want his putting a little sharper. He lost strokes on the greens in round two (-0.784) and is only 42nd for SG: Putting.
And now some bad news for the chasing pack. Each of the last 33 Major winners were no more than six shots behind after 36 holes. That's just about okay for the +1s such as Collin Morikawa, Lee Westwood and Will Zalatoris but not good news for Rory or Jon Rahm who are both eight back at +3.
Since 2000, 12 second-round leaders/co-leaders at the PGA Championship have gone on to win so it's a good place to be. If successful, Mickelson would become the oldest Major winner in history.
Quotes
Phil Mickelson on having a blast
Louis Oosthuizen on finding a groove
Brooks Koepka grading his Friday round of 71
Brooks Koepka is trying to win his 3rd @PGAChampionship in the last 4 years.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 21, 2021
Last player to win any major 3x in a 4-year span: Tom Watson, 1980, '82, '83 at The Open.
Hagen is the only player to win 3+ PGAs in a 4-year span; he won 4 in a row in match play era from 1924-27.
Hideki Matsuyama on the key to his 68
Christiaan Bezuidenhout on moving up to T4 after a 70
Branden Grace on enjoying the Kiawah test
Bryson DeChambeau on his Friday play and making a move on the weekend
Rory McIlroy after his poor finish
Social
As the putts go down, the thumb comes up😏
— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 21, 2021
Let’s have some fun and activate the thumbs this weekend pic.twitter.com/sOxwMEkBvr
I’m sure mom loved this... https://t.co/miHnCvrW5Q
— Brooks Koepka (@BKoepka) May 22, 2021
Best cumulative score to par in majors since 2016 (after Koepka eagle)
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 21, 2021
Brooks Koepka, -83
Dustin Johnson, -23
Sorry, I just couldn't help it. 😁 @BarstoolBanks pic.twitter.com/b7OwAC8UBF
— Sam Harrop (@sam_golf) May 21, 2021