By Ryan Herrington
The two previous times a player has shot 63 in a PGA Championship contested at Southern Hills — Raymond Floyd in 1982 and Tiger Woods in 2007 — he eventually has gone home with the Wanamaker Trophy. Bubba Watson would love to keep that tradition going.

But that’s getting ahead of things. For now, the 43-year-old lefty will revel in the delight of matching the lowest 18-hole score in PGA Championship history. “It’s an honour to be able to shoot 63 on any golf course,” Watson said. “I mean, I’ll take it.”

Ya think!?!

The scary part? It could have been lower. Watson’s 63 — the 18th shot in PGA Championship history and the 38th overall in a men’s major — somehow included two bogeys, on the third and 14th holes. And while finishing on Southern Hills’ monster 18th hole, Watson left himself a 22-footer for yet another birdie that would have let him write down a 62 on his scorecard. That score would have equalled Branden Grace’s all-time major championship record set during the third round of the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, but Watson just missed on the low side.

“I gave it a chance but at the same time I didn’t want to three putt,” Watson said with a wry smile.

Suffice it to say, Watson’s 63 moved him well up the leaderboard, leaving him at five-under for the championship and in solo fourth place. He’ll start Saturday’s third round four shots back of leader Will Zalatoris, playing in the penultimate group with Justin Thomas.

It’s a place that Watson hasn’t been at in quite some time in this major. The two-time Masters champ’s record at the PGA has been lacklustre since losing a playoff at Whistling Straits in 2010. In 11 starts since then, he’s missed four cuts and had a best finish of T-21. His previous low in the championship is a 68.

But he seemed to find something on Friday at Southern Hills he hopes he can ride on the weekend.

“Forget the golf course, it’s about trusting yourself,” Watson said. “If you don’t trust yourself out there, it doesn’t matter if you have the perfect yardage, the perfect club. It doesn’t matter. … So yeah, today was just — I trusted it. I was focused. I was focused on what I had to do, and it worked out.”

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The post PGA Championship 2022: Bubba Watson’s response to shooting a record-tying 63 at Southern Hills was priceless appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

As Justin Thomas broke Johnny Miller’s record for low score in relation to par at the U.S. Open, people far and wide made cracks about the NBC announcer not enjoying the moment. Turns out, they weren’t too far from the truth.

Thomas shot a third-round 63 at Erin Hills — punctuated by an eagle on No. 18 — to match Miller’s famed final round score from the 1973 U.S. Open. But his nine-under-par total was one better than Johnny’s eight under at Oakmont.

Yet Miller seemed to pour some cold water on JT’s record-breaking round when Golf Channel’s Ryan Lavner spoke to him on Saturday evening:

“Taking nothing away from nine-under par — nine under is incredible with U.S. Open pressure,” Miller said. “But it isn’t a U.S. Open course that I’m familiar with the way it was set up.” Hmm. . .

Of course, Miller has a point. Erin Hills, which is hosting its first major championship, has yielded unusually low scores for a U.S. Open. In addition to Thomas’ 63, there have already been four other rounds of 65, and more players broke par on Saturday than during any previous third round at the tournament. But. . . he still comes across as slightly bitter.

Although, Miller’s mixed reaction (he did give Thomas credit for going that low under U.S. Open pressure) shouldn’t come as a surprise. NBC booth partner Dan Hicks said during a recent Golf Digest podcast that Miller wasn’t too thrilled about Henrik Stenson shooting 63 in the final round of last year’s Open Championship. Not that we blame him. And he’s certainly not the first athlete to root against young whippersnappers coming after their predecessors’ records.

On the bright side for Johnny, he didn’t have to sit in the booth and analyze Thomas’ round on live TV. And we’re pretty sure this is the first time he’s ever trended on Twitter.

Silver linings, right?

The post Johnny Miller pours cold water on Justin Thomas breaking his record appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.