Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy were tied atop the PGA Championship leaderboard at Aronimink Golf Club after 36 holes, sitting at 4-under 136, the report says. That total represented the highest 36-hole score to lead the PGA Championship in 14 years, per the report.
Smalley, in only his fifth major, recovered from three straight bogeys after the turn and closed with a birdie for a 1-under 69, the report says. McNealy carded a 67 and at one point reached 6 under after holing a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 16th; he added three birdies over a five-hole stretch before late bogeys dropped him back. “This is unfamiliar territory for me,” McNealy said, per the report.
The leaderboard was tightly packed, with 15 players separated by two shots and the 36-hole logjam described as the biggest going into a weekend at a major since 2002, the report says. Thirty-nine players had even tighter proximity: the difference between first and worst among the 82 players who made the cut was only eight shots, an unusually small margin for a major, per the report.
Rory McIlroy said “anyone who makes the cut, they’ve got to feel they have a shot in the tournament,” and was five shots back with 29 players ahead of him, including Scottie Scheffler and six other major champions, the report says. Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Gotterup were among those one shot behind the leaders, and Gotterup produced the low round of the championship with a 65 after three straight birdies to finish in blustery morning conditions, the report says.
Scottie Scheffler shared the 18-hole lead for the first time in a major but struggled to find fairways early, dropping three shots over a four-hole stretch before steadying with a long lag putt on the 14th and closing with a birdie on the ninth, per the report. Scheffler was joined by Justin Thomas and Cameron Young at 2-under 138, while Ludvig Åberg shot a 66, the report says.
Jordan Spieth and McIlroy were tied for 30th, with Spieth seeking the PGA for a career Grand Slam and McIlroy, as the Masters champion, still in contention for a calendar Grand Slam that has never been achieved, the report says.
