Will Zalatoris surges to 1-shot lead at PGA Championship; Bubba Watson fires record-tying 63

TULSA, Okla. — The Oklahoma wind came sweeping through Southern Hills and then swiftly left town in time for Will Zalatoris, Bubba Watson and yes, even Tiger Woods, to bring a sleepy PGA Championship to life on Friday.

Zalatoris hit the ball on the button whether he was in the fairway or the rough, running off three straight birdies in gentler afternoon conditions for a 4-under 65 and a one-shot lead over Mito Pereira of Chile.

Pereira missed a 7-foot putt on his final hole and had to settle for 64.

About an hour later, Watson missed a birdie putt from just inside 25 feet on the 18th hole and still delivered the 18th round of 63 in PGA Championship history.

Woods wasn't that spectacular, but he made a pair of 15-foot par putts and two birdies on his battered right leg for a 69 to make the cut in his second straight major.

He's still 12 shots behind the 25-year-old Zalatoris, a premier ball striker, who was quick to acknowledge that timing was everything.

«We lucked out with the draw, for sure,» he said. «I played the last eight holes with not much wind. But take it when you can get it.»

His side of the draw faced the least of the wind on Thursday morning and Friday afternoon, and it showed. Of the 22 players under par going into the weekend, only five had to endure the worst of Oklahoma's notorious wind.

Justin Thomas concentrated on every shot, even short putts, in gusts that topped 30 mph in the morning and he was rightly proud of another 67 that put him atop the leaderboard. And then he could only watch from the couch of his rental home as the trees stopped swaying, the flags stopped whipping and birdies kept dropping.

Now it's 36 more holes of more wild weather — temperatures in the low 60s for Saturday with a strong