NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The second round of the PGA Championship is in the books and for the second day in a row, Aronimink more than held its own — it pushed the best players in the world to the brink.
Thanks to some nearly impossible pin placements by the PGA of America, the leaders are only at 4-under halfway through the championship. The leaderboard remains as tightly bunched as ever, with a whopping 27 players sitting within four shots of the lead, including seven former major winners.
The weekend looks like it’s once again set to produce a patented PGA Championship finish — tightly contested and truly anyone’s game.
Will Aronimink continue to play this difficult into the weekend?
Paolo Uggetti: In today’s game, players are often the ones dominating the golf course, dissecting its challenges with ease and scoring at will. Save for a few tournaments every year, that appears to be the norm.
Friday at Aronimink was not one of those days. The course, buttressed by a devilish set of hole locations, rapid greens and a steady breath of wind, fought back and, in many cases, won.
The PGA of America did not mess around Friday — it placed pins on slopes and crowns and on edges that fell off Donald Ross greens like they were on the brink of a skyscraper. It asked players to hit 4-irons into 10-foot circles and precise wedges into pockets that perplexed even the best players in the world.
Scottie Scheffler called the pins the hardest he had ever seen, harder than U.S. Open setups, harder even than Oakmont. Other players used the word “impossible” and danced around the word “unfair.” Whatever the adjective you wanted to apply to it, the consensus was that it left players with no choice but to hit the shots, hit them well or deal with the harsh consequences.
This is a PGA Championship we’re talking about — two years ago, Xander Schauffele won at Valhalla with a score of 21-under. This year, whoever gets to double digits first might be the one to lift the Wanamaker. That is, if the PGA of America and its chief championships officer Kerry Haigh decide to keep the pedal to the metal.
Players were careful not to complain about the setup but did hone in on what the setup wrought: a tight leaderboard and a glacial pace of play that eclipsed five and a half hours. The former seems to be a hallmark of the PGA’s style; the latter will be helped by the cut. But will Haigh & Co. continue tucking pins left and right in hopes of keeping scores at bay?
“I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations,” Scheffler said. “Is that the best test? Who knows. It’s a different test.”
“I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it’s a sign of not a great setup because it hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate themselves,” Rory McIlroy said. “it’s easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and not that it’s hard to make bogey, but it feels like bogey’s the worst score you’re going to shoot on any one hole.”
At a golf course such as Aronimink, where the manufactured greens are worth the price of admission and the par 4s are not long enough to put long irons into players’ hands, there is something to be said for pulling this lever and putting players in uncomfortable positions. Perhaps they’ll let up slightly Saturday and ramp it back up Sunday. Or maybe, they’ll continue to try and make a point.
What are world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler’s chances this weekend?
Mark Schlabach: Scheffler didn’t have his A-game Friday, but he still got the most out of it with a 1-over 71, which put him at 2 under after 36 holes.
Given the conditions, Scheffler played spectacularly in the first round, hitting all but one fairway off the tee (and each of the first 12) and gaining more than 3.3 strokes on the greens.
On Friday, Scheffler missed the first six fairways and carded bogeys on three of the first four holes, only the second time he’s done that in a major. He needed 32 putts — four more than the opening round — and lost nearly two strokes on the greens.
Scheffler’s iron play was better, and he eventually figured out what was wrong with his driver, hitting seven of the last eight fairways.
It was cooler Friday morning, and the wind was howling 15 to 20 mph. The pin placements were much more difficult. Scheffler called them the “hardest set of pin locations” he’s seen in his PGA Tour career.
“It’s funny sometimes,” Scheffler said. “I love hard tests of golf, but it’s also the hardest game in the world and we’re trying to make it harder. There’s different ways you can do that. You can do that on a golf course like this.”
Despite Friday’s struggles, Scheffler is still in the top 10 and within striking distance of the leaders. Few golfers have been as good at closing a major the past few years.
Remember that Scheffler was three strokes behind the leaders at the halfway point of last year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He was 6 under over the final 36 holes and won by five strokes.
Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley are leading at the halfway mark, what are their chances on the weekend?
Uggetti: In 14 out of the past 15 PGA Championships, the eventual winner was among the top seven and ties at the end of the second round. This PGA Championship, however, feels different. After 36 holes, there are 30 players within five shots of the lead and I’m willing to bet that we could get a winner outside the top seven this year.
It feels like a wide-open tournament at the moment with no separation at the top and also no big name leading. No offense to McNealy or Smalley (who are tied with the lead at 4-under) but here’s a list of players outside of the top seven and within five shots of the lead: Scottie Scheffler, Ludvig Åberg, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.
On Friday, Chris Gotterup proved that a 65 was out there even if it was extremely hard-earned. Come the weekend, as the weather is set to warm up, it will not be surprising to see those aforementioned big names go low to make a run up the leaderboard and take control of the tournament.
Which players three or four shots back do you think still have a chance?
Schlabach: I’m in agreement with Paolo. I don’t think three or four strokes behind is too far back at Aronimink. No one seems able to pull away from the pack. Given the pin placements, there are too many potential pitfalls, especially on the back nine.
There are seven former major champions within four strokes of the leaders. It’s only the fifth PGA Championship with that many within four strokes after 36 holes, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Thomas, a two-time PGA Championship winner, and Aberg, who had birdies on four of his last six holes in the second round, are 2 under. Aberg is gaining more than four strokes on approach and hitting 77.8% of greens. He’s looking for his first major.
“Optimistic is a good word,” Aberg said. ” I think yesterday I didn’t hit the ball very well, but I was able to sort of get back into hitting golf shots again today. I felt like I was striking it nice all day. If I can keep that up tomorrow and keep the patience, I’ll be happy.”
Jason Day and Rahm are 1 under, and Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith are even.
What players missing the cut were the biggest disappointment?
Schlabach: There are plenty of big names and former major champions who won’t be at Aronimink Golf Club for the weekend, including Russell Henley (5 over), Robert MacIntyre (5 over), Tommy Fleetwood (5 over), J.J. Spaun (6 over), Viktor Hovland (6 over), Sepp Straka (6 over) and Adam Scott (8 over).
LIV Golf League captain Bryson DeChambeau needed three straight birdies at the end of his second round to avoid posting a double-digit score over par. He salvaged a 1-over 71 and finished with a 36-hole total of 7-over 147.
It’s the first time DeChambeau missed the cut in back-to-back majors since 2017. He wasn’t around for the weekend in three of the past four (he made the cut on the number at last year’s Open Championship and tied for 10th at 9 under).
On the par-4 seventh on Friday, DeChambeau spun out of his stance after smacking his driver. His ball ended up in the tall native grass to the right. After chopping out to the rough, he chunked a pitch shot into the bunker, leading to a double-bogey 6.
That hole pretty much described the two-time U.S. Open winner’s week.
DeChambeau declined to talk to reporters after the second round.
Garrick Higgo, who was assessed a two-stroke penalty for being late to his first-round tee time, missed the cut at 5 over. He narrowly missed an eagle putt on the ninth Friday, his final hole of the round, which would have put him on the number. He posted a 6-over 76 in the second round.
Prediction for who will win?
Schlabach: I picked Scheffler to win before the tournament, and there’s no reason to change my mind now. He seemed to figure out his driver on his second nine Friday, and his putter was red-hot in the first round.
If I had to pick anyone with 36 holes to play, it would be difficult to pick anyone else.
Uggetti: It is hard to go against Scheffler, just two shots back, who seems primed to shift gears and go low on either Saturday or Sunday. He’s playing steady, patient golf and on this course that is proving to be the right approach.
As the finish line gets closer, whoever is finding the surface of Aronimink’s greens more often than not will be set up well to emerge with a victory. No one does that better than Scheffler.
“I think that’s what is great about the harder tests. A lot of times you see somebody figure it out,” Scheffler said Friday. “Like you see that in a lot of U.S. Opens, you see that in a lot of these tournaments. And, like you see it on a golf course like Riviera, like somebody always figures it out. I think that’s when you see a really good test.”
It would surprise no one if Scheffler is the one who does, indeed, figure it out.
