Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri scored a stupendous five-under 67 to jump 11 places to tied fourth after the completion of the second round of the $10,000,000 97th Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Championship here on Saturday.
Lahiri, who scored a 70 in the opening round on Thursday, was two-under 50 after 13 holes when a storm halted the second round of play on Friday at the par-72 Whistling Straits course. On Saturday, he made three consecutive birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes out of the five holes.
World No.53 Lahiri has a two-day total of seven-under 137 -- four shots behind leader Matt Jones of Australia, who came up with a sensational 65 in the second round. Jones' compatriot, Jason Day scored 67 to take his total to nine-under 135. England's Justin Rose was third with a 36-hole total of 136 after the second round of the fourth and final Major of the year.
Lahiri, current Asian Tour leader, on Friday started the round from the 10th hole and got birdies on the 11th, 16th and third against a bogey on the par-three 17th. The 28-year-old Bengalurean shared the spot with Sweden's David Lingmerth and American Tony Fanau
Reigning Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth was one stroke behind the Indian and was tied seventh. The 22-year-old American sensation is looking to become only the third golfer after Ben Hogan (1953) and Tiger Woods (2000) to win three Majors in a year.
Overnight leader Dustin Johnson got a 73 to be tied 10th with a five-under 139 total.
Defending champion and world No.1 Rory McIlroy struggled with his short game and had to settle for another round of 71 that put him at two-under 142. The Northern Irishman, who missed the US Open due to left ankle injury, finished joint 27th.
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Fourteen-time Major champion and three-time PGA Championship winner Woods got a total of 148 and failed to make the half-way cut that was declared at 146. Reigning British Open champion Zach Johnson also missed the weekend cut, by one shot.
However, the star of the day was Hiroshi Iwata, a 34-year-old from Japan who had every reason to think his first appearance in the PGA Championship would be a short one.
He got a 77 in the opening round and still was three-over when he reached the back nine. Iwata reeled off five birdies and an eagle, and he saved par on the 18th for a nine-under 63 on Friday.
It was the 27th time that a player shot 63 in a Major, 13 of those in the PGA Championship and most recently Jason Dufner at Oak Hill two years ago.
Even with a record-tying score, he still has plenty of work ahead of him. Iwata was at four-under 140 and finished tied 15th.