PGA Championship 2022: First-major hopefuls take spotlight as Tiger Woods clears stage

Tulsa: With Tiger Woods pulling out of the PGA Championship before Sunday’s final round, the spotlight fell upon six leaders chasing their first major title in a trophy shootout at Southern Hills.

Chile’s Mito Pereira, making only his second major start, has a three-stroke lead over England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and American Will Zalatoris on nine-under par 201 as the final round began without Woods, who struggled in the latest chapter of his remarkable comeback.

Woods, recovering from severe leg injuries suffered in a car crash 15 months ago, withdrew for only the second time in a major on Saturday after limping to his third-worst major round, a nine-over par 79.

“I didn’t do anything right,” Woods said. “I didn’t hit many good shots.”

The 15-time major champion, who returned at April’s Masters with a share of 47th place after grinding through a 72-hole walk, was battling pain in his right leg even as huge crowds cheered him as he battled round the course despite his woeful performance.

“I’m sore,” admitted Woods, who has plenty of time to recover before the next majors, June’s US Open and July’s British Open.

Sunday’s stage was left to a host of young talents seeking a major breakthrough, most like Pereira chasing their first US PGA Tour triumphs.

“It’s by far the biggest tournament I’ve played, the biggest round of golf,” Pereira said. “I’ll just try to keep it simple, do the same things that I’ve been doing, not even look at the people around me.”

The 27-year-old from Santiago, the first Chilean to ever lead a major, could become the first US tour rookie since 2011 to win a major.

Zalatoris, last year’s Masters runner-up, has top-10 finishes in four of seven prior major starts.

“You’ve got to go out and get it,” Zalatoris said. “Everybody has got to go out and earn it. (I’ll) keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully it adds up to the lowest score.”

Fitpatrick, a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour, hasn’t cracked the top-six in 27 prior major starts.

“I just want to give myself a chance,” Fitzpatrick said. “Whenever I’ve had a chance in Europe, I’ve played very well.”

American rookie Cameron Young was fourth on 205 with Mexico’s Abraham Ancer fifth on 206 and Irishman Seamus Power sixth on 207. Only Ancer and Power among the top six have won US PGA Tour events.

Young, with three runner-up finishes this season, missed the cut in his three prior major starts.

“I’ve been very consistent and I’ve been around the lead a decent bit,” Young said. “There’s bigger stands and more people… but golf-wise it feels very similar to what I’ve been doing. I don’t think it’s terribly different.”

Ancer, 31, won his first PGA Tour title last August at the WGC St. Jude Invitational.

“I feel like I’m definitely in striking distance,” Ancer said. “We just have to play some flawless golf.”

Power, 35, won his first PGA title at last July’s Barbasol Chamionship.

“Whoever is going to win it is going to earn it,” Power said. “Every hole here is pretty tough. You have no holes off. You have no easy shots.”

Major winners well back

No one has ever rallied from more than seven strokes back in the last round to win the PGA, that historic fightback coming by John Mahaffey in 1978 at Oakmont.

Three US major winners were trying to match that mark as they started on 208, seven adrift of Pereira – two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, 2017 PGA champion Justin Thomas and 49-year-old Stewart Cink, the 2009 British open winner.

“I’m still in the hunt,” Watson said. “You’ve got to shoot another 5-under, realistically. That should be the goal.

“If you do that, then it’s how (the leaders) play. If they go out and play great, I can’t really catch anybody.”

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