Justin Thomas questioned the decision to have his group cautioned for pace of play during a difficult second round at the PGA Championship.
A combination of gusty winds, tough greens and difficult shots made for a slow Friday morning at Aronimink Golf Club, with most of the morning waves taking more than 5 1/2 hours to finish their second round.
During the round, Thomas’ three-ball was admonished for slow play by a rules official, and two-time major and playing partner Keegan Bradley was embroiled in a discussion with an umpire in a buggy.
The group, which also included The Players champion Cameron Young, was “on the clock,” meaning a player or group of players placed under official observation for slow play, but was removed shortly after after Thomas shot a shutout 69 in the second round.
“We couldn’t really agree with (the warning),” Thomas said. “What is a par time? How can the par time be the same on this course when it’s 25 degrees and the pins are tough? And does the par time change every day? There are so many factors involved.
Justin Thomas starts the PGA Championship with back-to-back rounds of 69
“We were behind. It’s not our problem or that we’re frustrated by it. It’s just the fact that we couldn’t separate the group behind us. It was like every time we were on the green, they were on the tee, and so on.”
“The difficult thing for me about the pace of play is there’s so much involved in golf and so much goes hole-to-hole.
“To the point where it’s very difficult to judge if you can hit it close, if you can tap in, if you have to mark, if you’re leading the group or not. To be honest, we couldn’t agree on that.”
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Thomas and Young both entered the weekend at 2 under, while morning clubhouse leader Alex Smalley and his group also qualified for the second round.
“I don’t know if it really affected me that much,” Smalley admitted. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been clocked. The 17th and 18th are tough holes. I had a few bad breaks on the 18th so I probably got a warning early in the round so I knew I would be able to clock it.”
“It’s always a little disconcerting when you feel like you have to rush a little bit, so I tried not to feel rushed. I don’t think something like that (three bogeys) was because of the timeouts. It’s just something that comes with playing here.”
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Matt Fitzpatrick was aiming for birdie, but made a four-putt from long range on the par-3 14th hole for double bogey.
Schaeffler asks ‘absurd’ question about Alonimink’s pin
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler struggled off the tee and on the greens, starting the round with a 1-over 71 and missing six straight fairways, making putts less than 50 feet and losing a share of the lead overnight.
“Especially on a golf course like this, sometimes a good shot isn’t enough, and you can be punished pretty severely for it,” Scheffler said. “I think a lot of things need a little bit of caution.
Scottie Scheffler is aiming for his fifth major title in as many seasons.
“There are some things you can’t control. You have to keep trying to hit good shots. And most of the pins today were, you know, kind of ridiculous. They were pretty far in the area where we thought they were going to be.”
Scheffler added, “I truly believe that they (the PGA of America) can make the winning score whatever they want it to be. If they wanted to, it could be an above-average score based purely on pin position. Is that the best test? Who knows. This is a different test.”
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Genesis Scottish Open winner Chris Gottapp, who finished the second round with a 65 with three straight birdies, said: “I don’t think it’s unfair, but I think the pace of play and certain aspects of it, I think there were a couple of holes. Today’s 14 holes were probably aggressive.”
“If you’re hitting a 4-iron into a 10-foot circle and you don’t get there, you’re off the green. If you hit it 40 feet to go, it’s a very difficult two-putt. Bob (McIntyre) got a birdie in my group and he hit a great shot, so is that unfair? Probably not, but will it slow down the round? Yeah.”
Robert McIntyre missed the cut with a second round 75.
“Yesterday, I think the eighth hole was probably a little bit of a push. Yesterday I hit a 5-wood and today I hit a 7-iron. Granted, I don’t know if I was expecting 30 mph winds yesterday, but I still managed to shoot 5 under today.
“I don’t think it’s unfair in any way (Alonimink), but if that were to happen, I wouldn’t be able to play a four-and-a-half hour round here. Is it unfair? No, but it’s hard to get a birdie.”
“This is the most difficult pin position I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, including the U.S. Open and Oakmont. It’s hard to get the ball close to the hole. It’s hard to hole the putt, especially when there’s a big slope or wind, and I think that’s why you get a score so close to par.”
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