PGA Championship Round 2 recap: McNealy, Smalley lead after 36 holes

“I think the thing that’s hardest to see is that every hole location’s on a crown. From TV everything looks kind of flat, but you get up there and everything’s on a crown. If you miss the putt right, it breaks right. You miss a putt left, it breaks left. Lag putting’s different -- difficult because you’re going through ridges, there’s competing slopes, so is the hill going to win or is the little mound going to win?

-Maverick McNealy, PGA Championship co-leader after Round 2

Garrick Higgo missed the cut by a stroke...He was given a two-stroke penalty on Thursday for being late ⏱️

McIlroy shot 3-under 67 during the 2nd round at Aronimink...he sits at 1 over going into the weekend

Kim holed out on his final hole of the second round to MAKE THE CUT at the PGA Championship!

McNealy shot 3-under 67 during the 2nd round at Aronimink and is tied for the lead with Alex Smalley at 4 under heading into the weekend.

Maverick McNealy bogeyed No. 8, his second to last hole of the round...He’s now tied with Alex Smalley for the co-lead going into the weekend

Rickie Fowler birdies 16 and 17...he’s +1 going into the final hole

Not a bad Friday at the office for McNealy...

4 🐦
1 🦅

Rory McIlroy is still bogey free on his back nine and three shots off the projected cut of +4 at Aronimink.

McIlroy’s birdie putt on the par-4 12th broke a streak of seven consecutive pars, and gave him some cushion as he works his way toward the clubhouse Friday afternoon.

The cut had been +3 for a majority of the second round until about 5 p.m. local time.

Maverick McNealy’s birdie putt at No. 4 would have given him something no player seems to be able to achieve this week at Aronimink: Margin over the field.

Instead of a two-shot lead over Alex Smalley, McNealy maintains the same minimum advantage that Aldrich Potgieter held for a majority of Friday afternoon.

Potgieter finished bogey-bogey on No. 17 and No. 18 to sink his chances at a historic 36-hole lead.

Here’s a look just at how close McNealy’s attempt came:

Bryson DeChambeau has been unable to comeback from a 76 on Thursday at Aronimink.

His Friday woes hit their apex off the tee at No. 7 when the two-time major winner went far right of his target. How far right? Well, you just might want to see that for yourself...

Maverick McNealy’s ascent up the leaderboard at Aronimink continues as the 30-year-old American birdied at No. 2 to make it two straight to start his back nine.

The lead that was Aldrich Potgieter’s for a major of Friday afternoon now belongs to McNealy — for now.

Maverick McNealy birdied at No. 1 to start his back nine and climbed to the top of the leaderboard at Aronimink just moments later.

Aldrich Potgieter’s bogey at the par-3 17th gave McNealy a piece of the lead.

McNealy and Potgieter share it with Alex Smalley, who is in the clubhouse at 4 under after 36 holes.

Glad you asked ...

ESPN

Rory McIlroy caught a rest break after the first nine holes at Aronimink while Byrson DeChambeau’s grouping finished up on the No. 10 hole.

McIlroy is looking to avoid the projected cut at +3. He finished with a 33 on his first nine, and is currently 2 over on the tournament.

ESPN

The par-5 16th proved to be a challenge for Maverick McNealy ... until it wasn’t.

His approach shot wound up in the bunker, so the 30-year-old American was left with no other choice but to hole out for eagle.

Two birdies, no bogeys.

Rory McIlroy is looking to keep his card clean on Friday at the PGA Championship.

And it’s a good time to maintain accuracy — a mistake would send him directly onto the projected cut of +3.

McIlroy struggled Thursday, shooting 4-over 74.

Aldrich Potgieter stayed on top of Alex Smalley with this par putt on No. 13.

The start of the hole was not as pretty for the 21-year-old South African who has yet to bogey through 14 holes at Aronimink.

He has four to go until reaching the clubhouse with a possible historic lead.

Aldrich Potgieter is getting closer and closer to making history at Aronimink Golf Club on Friday afternoon.

Of course, there is plenty of golf to be played but the 21-year-old South African is on his back nine and circling the possibility of becoming the youngest 36-hole leader at a major championship since Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters.

Bryson DeChambeau has dropped to 9 over at the PGA Championship after his chip shot at the seventh hole went from the rough into a bunker in front of him.

He’s currently six shots off the projected cut line. If he misses the cut it would be his second consecutive trunk slam before the weekend at a major championship.

Par-birdie-par-birdie has him at 2 over and inside the projected cut line.

After three bogeys in his first four holes, Scheffler steadied himself with three birdies and one bogey the rest of the way. He wrapped his day with a birdie at the par-5 ninth, his last, for a 1-over 71. He is a 2 under for the championship, currently two off the lead.

And he’s immediately in the left rough off the tee. Well, s***.

Young hits his second shot on the par-5 ninth (his 18th) from 273 yards to 7 feet. He converts the eagle putt to shoot 67 and reach 2 under for the championship.

After going 10 holes without a bogey, Scheffler makes one on the par-4 sixth, his 15th of the day. Scheffler was 92 yards from the hole, in the middle of the fairway, when he chunked his approach short of the green.

Scheffler managed to resist the urge to slam his club into the ground but could not get up and down and dropped to 1 under.

“Keep your head down and keep going,” what Ben Kern told ESPN’s Marty Smith after capping a 3-under 67 in trying conditions Friday at Aronimink.

He’s at 1 over par and is the lone club pro currently inside the projected cut line.

Getty Images

Justin Thomas birdies Nos. 4 and 6, his 14th and 16th holes, to get back to 2 under par. Scottie Scheffler is also at 2 under after dropping to even par earlier in the round.

Aldrich Potgieter, just getting underway on Friday, is the current leader at minus-4.

Just like that, he again shares the lead at 3 under.

Right after moving two clear of the field, Alex Smalley bogeyed the first hole, his 10th, to drop to 4 under. He still leads by one.

Ben Kern is now the low club pro. He’s made six birdies and three bogeys in Round 2 to reach 1 over. Michael Block, meanwhile, has dropped to 4 over.

Smalley, who started on the back nine, birdied Nos. 16 and 18 to turn in 33. He’s the first player to reach 5 under this week and leads by two strokes.

Getty Images

Scheffler still hasn’t hit a fairway on Friday (0/5) but he laced his tee shot on the par-3 17th, his eighth hole of the round, to 2 feet. His first birdie of the day got him back to 1 under for the championship and two off the lead.

Playing the par-3 17th, his eighth hole of the round, Lowry badly thinned his tee shot into the middle of the water fronting the green. Already 2 over on the day, it’s about to be much worse.

Three under still leads the way Friday morning. No one on the course is lower than 2 under on the day. Here are how some notables are faring:

• Patrick Reed, even today, 2 under total
• Justin Thomas, 1 over today, even total
• Scottie Scheffler, 3 over today, even total
• Collin Morikawa, 2 over today, 1 over total
• Matt Fitzpatrick, 1 over today, 1 over total
• Michael Block, 2 over today, 2 over total
• Martin Kaymer, 5 over today, 2 over total

Scottie Scheffler is 0-for-3 in hitting fairways on Friday and that has led to a pair of dropped shots. He’s now at 1 under, two off the lead.

Reed rides the wind on his approach shot to 5 feet at the par-4 fourth. The birdie gets him to 3 under par.

Fighting to make the cut, Viktor Hovland holes out for birdie to get to 4 over. The current projected cut is 2 over ... but there’s a great chance that rises.

Actually the par-4 10th, where Scheffler began his round by hitting his tee shot into the left rough and hacking out short of the green. He couldn’t get up and down and dropped a shot.

Meanwhile, playing competitor Justin Rose hit the lip of a fairway bunker on his second shot and then had to lay up out of the same sand. He made double to drop to 2 over.

It begins with a drive off the first tee into the left rough.

Bhatia was 3 under through 11 holes in Round 1, tied for the lead, but made four bogeys coming in. He started Friday with three more to drop to 4 over and into a tie for 104th.

The club pro notches one at the par-3 fifth to reach 1 under. He’s tied for 15th and just two off the lead.

Off the 10th tee (ET)

8:07 a.m. – Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry
8:18 a.m. – Chris Gotterup, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood
8:29 a.m. – Cameron Young, Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas
8:40 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose

Just a heads up in case any officials weren’t sure if he was playing Friday as well.