Louisville, KY – May 17, 2024 – Round two play has officially been suspended due to
darkness at the 2024 PGA Championship. Jeff Kellen (North Shore Country Club) fired
a second round 72, which is 15 shots better than his round one score. Andy Svoboda
(Butler National Golf Club) has yet to complete his round, after an hour and a half delay
early in the day pushed tee times back. Svoboda has two holes left to complete once
play resumes tomorrow.
Friday began with the forecasted rain falling throughout the grounds of Valhalla. An
already saturated course led to muddy conditions and soft greens, making the scoring
opportunities abundant. Both Kellen and Svoboda teed off as part of the afternoon
wave, which proved to be the better weather wave of the two on Friday.
Kellen’s round two 72 is among the better rounds by the Corebridge Financial Team
today. It was a round that Illinois PGA members have become accustomed to from
Kellen, with solid ball striking and steady putting.
Throughout the round, Kellen kept things light, often joking with the two other players in
his pairing. As Kellen walked up the ninth hole (his 18th), spectators surrounding the
green could tell just how much this experience meant to him. With his father as his
caddy, Kellen made sure to make that final walk up the ninth fairway side-by-side with
him. Kellen finished the week in solo 152 nd .
At the time of the suspension of play, Andy Svoboda finds himself on the outside
looking in. Teeing off in the second to last group on Friday proved to be troublesome for
entire group, as a backup on hole seven led to a 15-minute delay. The delay was further
enhanced with multiple rulings on the seventh, causing the total back-up to result in the
group being two-holes behind. Svoboda kept his focus sharp during these delays,
rattling off three birdies on the front-nine and another one on the par-five 10th. A string
of pars on the back nine had Svoboda within striking distance of the cut line, but a
double-bogey on 16 pushed that gap a little further. Svoboda will play holes 17 (Par 4)
and 18 (Par 5) Saturday morning when play is resumed, currently sitting three strokes
outside the cut line at -1.
The Illinois PGA would once again like to congratulate both Jeff Kellen ad Andy
Svoboda on their accomplishment of qualifying for the PGA Championship. Stay tuned
to Illinois PGA social media channels for wrap-up coverage of the week after the
Championship!