The first PGA Championship at Aronimink in 64 years brought a pair of newcomers to the top of the leaderboard Friday in Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, and left hope for just about everyone else on a course that hasn’t let anyone get too far away.
Smalley, in only his fifth major championship, overcame three straight bogeys after making the turn and closed with a birdie for a 1-under 69. McNealy, who has never been among the top 25 in any major through 36 holes, fell back with a pair of late bogeys in his round of 67.
They were at 4-under 136, the highest 36-hole score to lead the PGA Championship since 2012 at Kiawah Island.
Chasing them? Seven major champions are within four shots of the lead, including Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama. Masters champion Rory McIlroy is right there, too, tied for 30th after a bogey-free 67 and still only five behind.
The difference between first and worst was only eight shots, unusually tight for any tournament, much less a major.
“Anyone who makes the cut, they’ve got to feel they have a shot in the tournament,” McIlroy said from Newtown Square, Pa.
No one was sure what to expect from Aronimink except the greens were large with sharp slopes and big undulations and knobs for perilous pin positions. The players got plenty of those in the second round on a day that produced cold and blustery conditions in the morning and got faster by the minute in the late afternoon.
It was tough to hit shots close. And then it was tough to get long putts close.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour,” Scheffler said after salvaging a 71. “And that includes U.S. Opens. That includes Oakmont.”
McNealy became the only player to reach 6 under at any point this week. He holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 16th and remarked to his brother and caddie, Scout, that he was amazed and how well he was playing. And then he added three birdies over his next five holes until some mistakes caught up with him, as they did just about everyone.
Even so, he will be in the final group of a major for the first time with seven major champions within four shots of the lead.
“This is unfamiliar territory for me,” McNealy said.
Gotterup and Matsuyama had the toughest time by playing in the morning, when the temperatures barely cracked 10 C and the wind was ripping. He had enough Jersey toughness to handle it just fine, and he poured it on at the end with three straight birdies for a 65, the low round of his championship.
“Today would definitely be one of those days where I would be on the couch and I would be like, `How did he hit it there?’ and `How did he do this?’ And then you’re out there, and it just feels like it’s impossible,” Gotterup said.
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, had a 67. When asked what he would have to do well to get his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy, he replied through his translator, “You’re going to have misses, but you have to miss it in the right place.”
Stephan Jaeger had the dullest round — 18 pars — which was fine with him. He joined the group one shot behind along with Aldrich Potgieter (70), Min Woo Lee (70) and Max Greyserman (69).
Scheffler had a share of the 18-hole lead for the first time in a major, and then looked like anything but someone with consummate control of his game. He didn’t hit a fairway until his ninth hole (No. 18) and dropped three shots in four holes after driving into the thick grass.
He might have saved his round on the par-3 14th when he hit a beautiful lag putt from 80 feet for a two-putt par. That settled him, and he closed with an up-and-down birdie on the par-5 ninth.
Scheffler was joined by Thomas and Young at 2-under 138, and Ludvig Aberg, the polished Swede who had four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the tougher back nine for a 66.
The cut was at 4-over 144. Among those headed home was Bryson DeChambeau who was 10 over at one point. He closed with three straight birdies, far too late for the two-time U.S. Open champion.
Garrick Higgo’s two-shot penalty for being late to the first tee on Thursday cost him a share of the lead on Thursday, and it cost him the cut on Friday. He shot 76 and missed by one.
McIlroy and Jordan Spieth (73) were tied for 30th, both with the Grand Slam on their minds. Spieth needs the PGA for the career slam, McIlroy as the Masters champion is the only one with a shot at the calendar slam, which has never been done.
But they still had a chance. So many of the pin positions were hard to reach — from the fairway and at times from the putting surface — that no one was safe.
McIlroy, who opened with a 74, played bogey-free with one goal in mind — stay in the mix and see what the weekend presents. He feels the PGA of America already used up several of the toughest pin positions. With slightly calmer conditions, the race could just be starting.
“Yes, it’s bunched,” he said. “But you get on a run with wedges on that front nine and you shoot 4, 5 under and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things.”
