The second round of the Senior PGA Championship saw better weather and tighter competition as players vied to make the cutoff. Vijay Singh (Fiji) and Y.E. Yang (Republic of Korea) tightened the race to the top, ending the day in a three-way tie for first place with Cameron Percy (Australia).
With the second round complete, the field of 156 players will be reduced to the low 70 scorers and ties. Those players will advance to complete the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Before the day could end, we saw a handful of withdrawals due to injuries. Charlie Wi (Republic of Korea) withdrew during the play of the first hole, Fred Funk (Jacksonville, FL) withdrew after his sixth hole, and Stephen Dodd (Wales) withdrew after his eleventh hole.
Singh is a player that’s made it clear that he is no fan of the cold. So after a terrific round of golf and skyrocketing to the top spot, he reiterated his point. “It was pretty cold in the morning. I don’t like cold.”
Cold temperatures withstanding, he managed a steady performance after starting slow. “I bogeyed my first three holes. I said, ‘well, here we go.’ I was planning for the weekend off,” Singh said in jest, implying such a terrible start would eliminate him from the tournament. “But my caddie said, just keep going. I said, yeah, I’ve been playing very well. I’ve been driving the ball good. Just hung in there and started making a couple of birdies here and there, picked up the shots, and the back nine I played solid golf.”
Yang, on the other hand, had a phenomenal Front 9 with five birdies a lone bogey on 4. Percy was slightly out done, bogeying the first hole like Singh, but nabbing three birdies along the way. His bogeys on 10 and 15 would ultimately see him slip.
“I actually had some good holes downwind, and I didn’t get up-and-down on 9. 10, I hit a terrible shot and didn’t get up-and-down,” said Percy, commenting on his day. “Then I three-putted 11, which was a really tough pin. I missed out on birdieing 9 and 11 which would have given me a nice little buffer there. Then I had a good chance on 12 and it spun off. I could have put a bit of a gap on them, but I didn’t. But that’s golf.”
71 players made it into weekend play at this major championship, and among them were eight PGA of America Golf Professionals:
Jeffrey Schmid (70-74) of Iowa City, Iowa; Jim Cantwell (77-68) of PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Mick Smith (72-73) of Summit, Wis.; Birk Nelson (75-70) of Eugene, Ore.; Bobby Sowards (73-73) of Dublin, Ohio; Jeff Gove (70-77) of Sandpoint, Idaho; Scott Hunter (76-72) of Hilton Head Island, S.C.; and Greg Bisconti (76-72) of South Salem, N.Y.
Prepare for Round 3
Your leaders after the second round:
| Position | Name | Total |
| T1 | Vijay Singh | -6 |
| T1 | Cameron Percy | -6 |
| T1 | Y.E. Yang | -6 |
| T4 | Phillip Archer | -4 |
| T4 | Thomas Bjørn | -4 |
| T4 | Soren Kjeldsen | -4 |
| T4 | Jason Caron | -4 |
| T4 | Padraig Harrington | -4 |
| T4 | Shane Bertsch | -4 |
| T4 | Robert Karlsson | -4 |
Tee times for Round 3 on Saturday, May 24
Round 3 is shaping up to be an exciting round of golf at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s set to be a clear, sunny day with a high of 67 degrees.
Of all the players fighting for Sunday’s trophy, four are from the Peach State: Billy Andrade (Atlanta), Stewart Cink (Atlanta), Scott Parel (Augusta), and Timothy O’Neal (Savannah).
You can watch the Senior PGA Championship on NBC and the Golf Channel.
First Round, Thursday, May 22: GOLF Channel 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Second Round, Friday, May 23: GOLF Channel 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Third Round, Saturday, May 24: NBC 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Fourth Round, Sunday, May 25: NBC 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Richard Randolph
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