The second round of the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, which had to be interrupted for an hour due to weather conditions, left a bitter taste for the two Spaniards present in the tournament. Especially for José María Olazábal (+6), who was about to star in one of the great stories of the day, but saw a series of mistakes in the final stretch of his round ultimately leaving him out of the cut in what was his first appearance in official competition since the Masters.
The man from Fuenterrabía had finished Thursday three strokes above par, forced to react to try to pass the cut. And indeed he did, with three birdies and eight pars in his first 11 holes to level the overall classification, comfortably within the top 70 and tied. A bogey on the 13th slowed him down, but he immediately fixed it with another birdie right after, on the 14th. But the par five of the 15th, where it seemed he would seal his particular ‘miracle’, ruined everything…
A series of mistakes ended with a terrible triple bogey that returned him to the starting square with only three holes ahead. At that moment, the cut was one over par, so he needed two birdies from 16 to 18. Or at least one and hope that the result of the top 70 was at least two over par. However, the blow was such that what the Spaniard found in those last three flags of his round were three more bogeys, for a round of 74 that took him out of the equation.
Oh my @SteveStricker 😱
What a shot from the defending champion @SeniorPGAChamp pic.twitter.com/dMjWU48Ko9
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) May 24, 2024
From having it in his hand he went on to fail this first cut in his return to the tour after his brilliant performance at the Augusta National. A hasty farewell in which his inactivity in recent weeks due to a muscle injury may have played a part. Although, fortunately for Spanish golf, the other representative of the Armada will continue playing. And not only that, but he will fight over the weekend for a great result in this second senior major of the season.
Miguel Ángel Jiménez (-4), after taking positions yesterday playing a stroke below par at the Harbor Shores Resort in Benton Harbor, Michigan, was about to close his second 18 holes brushing the top 10 of the classification. He started playing on hole 10 and reached the halfway point of his round with a birdie and eight pars. But practically as soon as he started his second nine, he received a real ‘boost’ in the form of a hole in one, the 15th of his career, on the par three of hole 2 that shot him up in the classification.
After the eagle, and with a second birdie, on the 7th, he began to touch the possibility of getting fully involved in the fight for victory. However, he could not take advantage of the par five with which he closed his first 36 holes of the tournament to place himself among the top 10 in the table and ended up making his only bogey on Friday. In any case, great round of 68 to climb 20 positions and face the last two rounds with options to compete for practically everything.
It will be difficult to do so for the victory unless the English Richard Bland (-12), unbeatable so far in the tournament, or the American Scott Dunlap (-11), his immediate pursuer, lift their foot a little off the accelerator. But the rest are all within reach of the ‘pisha’, who despite not having his best season on the Champions Tour so far, once again shows that when the Majors come he is always one of the players to consider. Like Steve Stricker (-7), who will defend his title until the end.
