TULSA, Okla. — Justin Thomas peered to his left, glancing at the flag laying limp on the 10th green.
A mere 170 yards in front of him, the 11th hole’s pin was slightly bending because of the wind, the flag violently thrashing back and forth.
The clouds danced in the sky overhead, sprinting from right to left. Yet it was clear Thomas couldn’t quite get a gauge on how to play his second tee shot of the day.
That was a common trend during Friday’s morning round at the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club. Winds were blowing 20 to 30 miles an hour for the early tee times, occasionally gusting over 40.
Wind is to be expected in Oklahoma. It’s a line in the state song: “Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plains.”
On Friday, the wind came sweepin’ down Southern Hills.
“The conditions were obviously very difficult,” Thomas said.
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Southern Hills is already a stout test. In the past seven major championships, only 38 golfers have finished under par after four rounds.
Add in Friday morning’s wind, it became a grind.
Thomas, who fired a 3-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead at 6-under 134, battled the conditions and course and won. His playing partners, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay, didn’t fair so well.
The flags on the grandstands lurking over the first and 10th tee box foreshadowed what was to come on the course below. They were stiff, hardly drooping as the wind kept them elevated.
As Thomas’ groups strolled down the 13th fairway, the flags above hospitality tents lining the right side were crackling in the wind, sounding as if a car was driving on a gravel road.
The par-3 14th hole runs west to east, with the wind carrying balls from right to left. All three of the pairing’s tee shots started on the right side of the green, but the wind carried them 30 yards the other direction. Only Cantlay ended up on the green, and that hole led to Thomas’ only bogey of the day.
When the group was on the 15th green, the winds swirled in a bunker near the flag, and a small dustnado spun up and swirled away into the crowd next to the green, forcing many to cover their eyes and turn away.
Fans were constantly holding onto their hats, some having to chase them when a gust snatched it from their head.
“What do you think?” Brooks Koepka said when asked which of the first two days was windier.
Because of the windy conditions, the practice and golf course greens weren’t mowed before the round. PGA Chief Championship Officer Kerry Haigh said it was the first time in modern PGA Championship history that the greens weren’t cut between rounds. Players received a text message informing them of the decision early Friday morning.
The slopes on some greens at Southern Hills are so severe, tournament officials didn’t want golf balls rolling off in gusts of wind, which led to the decision.
The slower greens may have helped the morning wave’s players on the greens, as the morning scores were similar to their afternoon scores from Thursday, just over an average of 73.1. That’s a stroke higher than the opposite wave.
Although the wind calmed slightly for the afternoon rounds, it was still fierce as players in the late wave began their trek across the course.
The best golfers in the world got a taste Friday of what many Oklahomans deal with on a daily basis.
“You need to stay patient out there,” said Bernd Wiesberger, who matched Thomas’ 67. “This is a tough golf course on a calm day, let alone in a 30-, 40 mile-an-hour winds.”
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