Zalatoris leads as Scheffler and Johnson bite the dust

TULSA (Oklahoma) • Will Zalatoris may not have won on the PGA Tour but he knows something about contending in Majors and was at it again on Friday, as he held a one-shot lead after the second round of the PGA Championship.

The American fired a five-under 65 that was one of only two bogey-free rounds on the day at windy Southern Hills Country Club. It brought him to nine under on the week, good for a one-shot lead over Chilean Mito Pereira (64).

For the 25-year-old, who was runner-up at last year's Masters and has top-10 finishes at both the US Open and PGA Championship, something about golf's biggest events brings out the best in him.

"I've kind of had an attitude with the Majors, especially since the Masters, where I wanted to enjoy the experience as much as I could," said Zalatoris, the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

"I don't want to leave anything - looking back from 20 years from now I don't want to regret my attitude or anything like that."

Zalatoris, who missed the cut in a tune-up event last week, wielded a red-hot putter on Friday as he was 18-for-18 from inside 10 feet on the greens and leads the field in shots gained putting.

But even though each winner of the seven Majors held at the Southern Hills course in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had at least a share of the 36-hole lead, Zalatoris is not getting ahead of himself.

"I've got a long 36 holes ahead of me," he said. "History to me, it is what it is, but I'm going to go out and do my job, and hopefully it's enough at the end."

When Zalatoris was asked about the confidence he exudes at Majors despite not having won on the PGA Tour, he did not shy away.

"Maybe it's a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude, I don't know," he said. "But like I said, I think there's a little bit of the aspect that they're just such golf courses, it allows my ball-striking to do the talking."

Another player who knows all about Majors is Tiger Woods. The 15-time champion on golf's biggest stages made the cut at a Major for the second time in two tries, since nearly losing his right leg in a car crash 15 months ago.

His one-under 69, which had four birdies, helped him move to three over for the tournament, just within the four-over cutline.

Reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and two-time Major winner Dustin Johnson headlined the list of big-name players who failed to make the cut.

World No. 1 Scheffler had a 75 that left him two shots outside the cutline and in a share of 89th place with Johnson (73).

REUTERS

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