Matt Wallace makes an ace at PGA

ST. LOUIS—Walking down the first fairway, 28-year-old Englishman Matt Wallace turned to Jordan Spieth and said, “You know, mate, it’s a real privilege for me to be playing with you.” Fifteen holes later, the crowd had the same feeling about getting to know Wallace. Those people received the thrill of having seen a hole-in-one.

One spectator also got the ball, which Wallace excitedly kissed and tossed after scooping it from the cup on No. 16. “Best shot of my life, probably,” Wallace said of his 5-iron that went exactly 232 yards.

 “We couldn't see where it landed in the shade, but when it landed, the crowd started cheering and then it rolled in and they went mental and it kind of reverberated back to the tee and then I just went crazy,” said the golfer who had played on Thursday and Friday with Long Island club pro Matt Dobyns.

 As for flinging the ball, Wallace said, “People will be like, oh, that's a stupid move, but I threw it in and then I met the guy after that hole and I signed it for him and he said, are you sure you don't want it back? And I said, you keep that, mate.”

 Later on No. 16, Brandon Stone clipped the hole and the flagstick with his tee shot. The ball bounced away. It left a gash in the side of the hole that required repair from a member of the greens staff and delayed play.

Finau's 10 birdies

Tony Finau finished what he called a “crazy” second round Saturday morning by tying a PGA Championship single-round record with 10 birdies. He had enough bad holes to shoot 4-under-par 66, finishing at even and making the cut on the number. “It was still an emotional roller coaster in the second round, a lot happened, but to post 10 birdies in a major championship is pretty special,” he said. Gary Player made 10 birdies in a round at the 1984 PGA.

Merritt just misses

Troy Merritt, who played despite having had emergency surgery a week ago Friday to remove a foot-long blood clot, followed an impressive 71 with par 70 in the second round, missing the cut by only one shot…Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut, and missed out on a chance to clinch an automatic spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Also missing the cut were Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.