McGirt birdies last 2 holes, makes cut in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — One of the first things William McGirt said when arriving to the interview area after his second round of the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic Friday may best sum up the dramatic finish he’d just put together.

“I do my best work with my back against the wall,” he said.

Needing to birdie his last two holes to play the weekend, the Fairmont native made a 45-foot double-breaker on the par-4 eighth hole then holed a 22-footer on the par-3 ninth, making the 36-hole cut on the number. He is tied for 62nd after a second round of 2-under-par 69 to follow Thursday’s even-par 71.

He will tee off at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, paired with Anders Albertson.

After his drive missed the fairway in the right rough on No. 8, McGirt hit his approach to the back edge of the green, and had to putt up and over a ridge to a back-left pin location.

“It went hard right, which is odd going towards the back of the green, and then once it got up top, it goes back hard left,” McGirt said. “That’s one you could stand there for the next three or four days and not make again — but you only have to make it once, so that’s a good thing.”

On the ninth, a hole exposed to the elements as it heads toward the coastline, McGirt backed off his tee shot multiple times to gauge the wind before hitting an iron to the center of the green. Putting to the front-right pin, he found the bottom of the cup to ensure himself a Saturday tee time.

“I actually thought (the putt on No. 8) was going to stop just short — and it was kind of the same thing with the putt on 9, a gust came up,” McGirt said. “Greg, my caddie, was like ‘oh, I thought it was going to stop short,’ and I said I wasn’t worried about short, I was worried about it pushing it just enough to the left, because it looked like it was going to sneak out to the left. It hung in there, and had enough speed to get over the front edge, so that was good.”

McGirt said an up-and-down par on the par-4 seventh hole was just as key a moment in his stretch run.

“You don’t even have a chance (to make the cut) if you don’t get that ball up-and-down on 7,” McGirt said. “I hit what I thought was a really good pitch, came up six feet short, made that one.”

The two late birdies marked the second straight PGA Tour start for McGirt with a late charge to make the cut; he birdied three of the final four holes, including a 25-foot birdie putt on the last, to hit the number at the Corales Puntacana Championship last month, finishing tied for 43rd. Playing the 2024 PGA Tour season on conditional status, he has made the cut in two of his three starts this year, and eight of his last nine dating back to last July.

McGirt played Friday’s round battling hip pain after a reaggravation of the injury that has plagued him over the last few years. He couldn’t push off his right side, he said, but “the short game saved me.”

Starting on the 10th, McGirt made bogeys on his opening hole and the par-5 13th; both came after wedge shots came just short of ridges, fell away from the hole and off the front edge of the green.

A two-hole stretch late in his opening nine proved pivotal; McGirt made eagle on the par-5 15th after hitting his approach to inside five feet, then after his approach bounced over the green on the par-4 16th he chipped in for birdie, putting him at 1 under par for both the round and tournament.

“I just kind of righted the ship,” McGirt said. “The eagle on 15 — 15, 16 was kind of, OK, back in a good place, just play solid.”

McGirt played steadily through the middle of the round, with the exception coming with a bogey on the par-4 third hole after a drive into a fairway bunker. He sat at even par until the closing two birdies.

“It was a solid day,” McGirt said. “I played really, really well yesterday and every putt seemed to roll right by the edge. I knew I hit a bunch of good putts yesterday, even though I didn’t make anything, just trying to keep building off that. Today, I hit it good at times and bad at times, depending on when I could get through it. But the short game kind of bailed me out today.”

Gotterup takes lead over McIntyre late Friday

Chris Gotterup walked off the 10th green on Friday at 1 under par for the day and five strokes behind Robert McIntyre, who all day Friday seemed set to take the outright lead to the weekend.

But Gotterup birdied six of the final eight holes, including each of the final four, to shoot a career-low 7-under-par 64 and reach a 12-under total to take a one-stroke lead over McIntyre, his first lead after any round on Tour.

Gotterup made a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th to highlight the late run.

“We were really just executing shots pretty solidly down the stretch there,” Gotterup said. “It got pretty windy, so definitely a good finish for me today.”

McIntyre, a Scottish member of the victorious 2023 European Ryder Cup team, shot 64 Thursday to share the lead, then backed up that score with a Friday 67.

Spain’s Jorge Campillo sits third at 10 under par after twin 66s in the first two rounds. Greensboro native Alex Smalley, Davis Thompson, Alastair Docherty and first-round co-leader Beau Hossler are tied for fourth at 9 under, three strokes behind Gotterup.

Blades Brown, a 16-year-old amateur from Tennessee, shot a 67 Friday and made the cut in his Tour debut, sitting tied for 48th at the halfway mark.

Schauffele leads at Quail Hollow

As the Myrtle Beach Classic is played on the South Carolina coast, the PGA Tour also plays one of its signature events 150 miles northwest in Charlotte.

Xander Schauffele took the lead of the Wells Fargo Championship with an opening-round 64, and continued the solid play Friday to post a 67 and take a four-stroke lead to the weekend at 11 under par.

Rory McIlroy, a three-time event champion, and Jason Day, the 2018 winner, are tied for second at 7 under. Taylor Moore and Sungjae Im share fourth at 6 under, five behind Schauffele.