PGA Championship is Delayed by Fog at Valhalla

Now that the rain has cleared out, fog has moved in at the PGA Championship.

Thick fog covered Valhalla on Saturday morning, delaying the resumption of the second round and forcing tournament organizers to play threesomes off both nines for the third round.

Xander Schauffele has a one-shot lead over Collin Morikawa after 36 holes, with Masters champion Scottie Scheffler three shots back as he tries to clear his head and get back into a routine following the wildest day of his career.

Scheffler was arrested early Friday in a predawn incident with Louisville Metro police, who were investigating a fatal traffic accident involving a pedestrian. Traffic was blocked outside the gates when Scheffler tried to ease his way into the club.

Police say he ignored directions and an officer was dragged to the ground by Scheffler’s car. He was arrested on a felony charge of second-degree assault of a police officer and three other lesser charges, booked into jail and made it back for his tee time with under an hour to spare.

Scheffler shot 66 and later said his head was “spinning.”

The police investigation that shut down traffic led to a 1 hour, 20-minute delay in play and kept the second round from finishing.

Still to be determined was the cut. There was a slim chance it could move to 2-under par. Even if it stays at 1 under, that sets a record for the lowest cut in PGA Championship history, and it matches the major championship record of 1 under at St. Andrews (1990) and Royal Liverpool (2006) for the British Open.

Schauffele has gone two years since his last win. He shot 68 on Friday and was in the lead for the fifth time in his last six rounds dating to the Wells Fargo Championship last week, when Rory McIlroy closed with a 65 to overtake him.

Morikawa is a two-time major champion who contended at the Masters until fading to a 74 for a tie for third.

As for Scheffler? He’s trying to become the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1980 to win the Masters and PGA Championship in the same year, and the first since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors of the year.

Scheffler, even with the “shock and fear” he said he felt during his arrest and brief jail time Friday, maintained his remarkable streak of 42 consecutive rounds at par or better.

That will need to continue over the weekend at Valhalla if he wants to win. The course is soft from rain over the last week. The wind has been on holiday. That’s a recipe for low scoring, which already is evident. AP

May 18, 2024