Cam Smith is confident of edging closer to PGA Championship leader Will Zalatoris after a tough second round that included hitting fellow competitor Aaron Wise in the head with an errant drive.
World No.4 Smith battled through a sloppy back nine to shoot an even 70 at Southern Hills Country Club in Oklahoma. But remaining at two-under-par, and seven shots behind playing partner Zalatoris (65), Smith at least ensured he didn’t shoot himself out of the tournament.
At nine under, Zalatoris leads Mito Pereira (64) by one at the 36-hole mark, while 2017 PGA winner Justin Thomas (67) finished at six under. Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson shot a blistering 63 to sit at five under.
Smith accidentally whacked American golfer Wise in the head with a wayward drive on the second hole.
Wise was walking in the rough on the right-hand side of the seventh, his 16th hole of the day, which is directly beside No.2. Smith appeared to aim down the right side of the fairway but flared his drive and dropped the club.
Both Smith and his caddie, Sam Pinfold, yelled “fore!” but it was unheard. The ball hit Wise’s head at such an angle it careened off from Wise’s melon 40 yards onto the seventh fairway. Wise dropped down to one knee, and one fan told Australian Golf Digest Wise was down for “about 30 seconds”. He appeared to compose himself by the time he got to the green.
Wise held an ice pack to his head while signing his scorecard after the round and said he felt “fine” before receiving medical attention.
Smith hoped Wise was feeling better. “I didn’t know when I was out on the course; I got told after my round and I hope Aaron is doing alright,” Smith told Australian Golf Digest after the round.
Smith came within a shot of the lead through nine holes courtesy of two birdies which took him to four under. But two poor bogeys at No.10 and No.15, both from the fairway, brought him back.
It didn’t help Smith – one of the best putters in the world – that the greens staff at Southern Hills did not mow the greens on Friday in preparation for the strong winds which the morning wave endured. The greens are boldly contoured and there were concerns they’d be unplayable in the morning gusts. But the 28-year-old Smith wasn’t using that as an excuse.
“Putts from inside of 8 to 10 feet weren’t too much different, but outside of that range you had to make an effort to hit putts harder which is tough to do after you were used to them being quick on Thursday,” Smith said. “I hit the ball really nicely on front nine but didn’t make a lot of putts.
“It was really scrappy on the back nine and I really struggled with the pace of the greens.”
Smith will need to hit more fairways and greens to climb up the leaderboard in round three, after finding just eight of 14 fairways on day two and hitting just 11 of 18 greens on Friday.
But Smith, a winner of two PGA Tour events this year including the Players Championship, is confident of remaining in the hunt during the weekend rounds of the year’s second Major.
“My game feels as good as it did at the Masters,” Smith said of Augusta National last month, where he tied third. “I guess I need to be more direct with where I’m going. I think I got a bit lazy through the middle of the round and my focus needs to stay high for 18 holes.”
Tied for 10th after two rounds, Smith was the top Australian on the leaderboard. Lucas Herbert dropped down the leaderboard from two under to one over with a 73. Jason Day (72) and Marc Leishman (71) were three over. Min Woo Lee played (72) and Cam Davis (73) were at five over and missed the cut, which fell at four over. Adam Scott (70) finished at seven over and Matt Jones was 10 over after a 77.
Tiger Woods, a four-time PGA Championship winner, ground out a gutsy 69 to ensure he made the cut by one.
