2nd Round--92nd PGA Championship

Ryan teed off at 6:15 PM on Friday for his second round. The skies were dark and we had a little sprinkle at times. He got in 5 holes before they sounded the horn for darkness. He had just hit his second shot on 14. The other players opted to not finish the hole, but since Ryan was on the green, he finished the hole, which was his option. Play was to resume in the morning at 7 AM. With the course full of players, that meant that they would all warm up at the same time. The driving range opened at 5:30, so we were up at 4:45 and left about 5:15, for a quick breakfast and head to the range before it filled up.

Ryan played a real solid round. He couldn't get any of his birdie putts to drop. Brendon deJong played with Ryan and shot 6 under. He didn't hit the ball any better, but he made birdie putts.
I know Ryan was really disappointed in the way he putted. His last hole, which was #9 he hit a great 3 iron from 212 to 10 feet and then lipped out his birdie putt. That really told his story of the 92nd PGA. Only one PGA Professional made the cut of the final 72 players.

Every PGA Championship provides us with tons of memories. Seeing all of the top players up close and personal seems surreal, but you soon realize they are all people like us, only their notariaty makes them different. We always come away finding a player that really impresses us. This year it was Ben Crane. We got to know his family, since they were in the house next to us. He played in the group in front of Ryan today, and Vicki noticed how gracious he was to the PGA Professional in his group. The PGA Championship has the most top world ranked players than any other major. It is very special to have 20 club professional playing. It is really hard to convey how difficult a course they play on. I know some people may think that Ryan didn't play very good, since he missed the cut. All I can say is that if you were here, you'd think differently.

Coming to the PGA Championship wouldn't be the same without his coach, Brad Rickel. As the golf coach of the Gonzaga women's team, he takes another week out of his busy schedule to be away from his family and become a part of ours. He helps Ryan immensely on his approach to playing the course. He is a real pleasure to have with us, and we enjoy his wit and humor.

With the playing portion over, we look forward to being home and catching up. We will be up at 4 AM to try and change our flights so with can leave at 7AM instead of 7PM. We hope it works out.

Ryan has already qualified for next years qualifier, the PGA Professional National Championship. It will be played in Hershey, PA the end of June. He has the confidence to continue to play good golf and make it back to next years PGA Championship in Atlanta, GA.

Walking away from the caddy shack filled with pride.

Bruce from the CaddyShack