Young debutant Sam Horsfield endures brutal learning experience after plummeting down US PGA Championship leaderboard… while Ian Poulter had a rollercoaster second round at Kiawah Island
- Sam Horsfield was left wondering if he was playing the same game as Thursday
- The young debutant endured a learning experience during a poor second round
- Ian Poulter had a rollercoaster second day at the US PGA Championship
- After a blistering start to his round, Poulter dropped four shots in last six holes
Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield certainly had dramatic stories to share following their respective second rounds in the US PGA Championship on Friday.
The former must have been the sole player in the field who walked off the course disappointed with a score of ‘only’ 70.
His protege, meanwhile, went from joint second standing on the first tee to spending the afternoon fretting whether he was going to make the halfway cut. What a brutal learning experience major championship golf can be.
Sam Horsfield endured a brutal learning experience at the US PGA Championship on Friday
Ian Poulter endured a rollercoaster second day at Kiawah Island after a brilliant start
As the evening shadows lengthened, the halfway cut moved to five over par, the number that the rookie Horsfield finished upon following his second round 80.
It was Poulter who began his day’s work with the halfway cut in mind, following a disappointing opening 74.
His focus shifted considerably following a bonus eagle three at the 7th, where he holed from a waste bunker. With the wind picking up and momentum in his sails, the irrepressible Englishman took advantage of the favourable breeze from the 9th to register three birdies in a row. From down among the strugglers at the start of play, he was up to tied second, and a sensational six under par for his round.
Then came the bad news, beginning at the 13th, where he registered his first bogey of the day. Another followed at the 14th and then another at the par five 16th. At the short 17th he was miles off line with his tee shot. Another bogey.
A bleak card showed Horsfield needed 11 more shots than on Thursday to complete his round
How deflating it must have felt but on Friday evening he could reflect that, at level par for the event, he was not that far off the lead.
Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood’s lean run of form continued with rounds of 76, 75 to miss out on the weekend. This was particularly disappointing given the Merseysider is known as one of the game’s foremost players in the wind.
The family man might be the golfer most affected of all by the pandemic. When the first lockdown began 14 months ago he was ranked inside the world’s top ten. Now he’s 26th and bound to fall still further when the next list is released on Monday.
Tommy Fleetwood’s lean run of form continues as he missed out on the weekend’s action