Looking ahead to the weekend at the 2026 PGA Championship

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The second spherical of the PGA Championship is in the books and for the second day in a row, Aronimink greater than held his personal — he pushed the finest gamers in the world to the brink.

Thanks to some almost not possible pin placements by the PGA of America, the leaders are solely at 4-under midway by way of the championship. The leaderboard stays as tightly bunched as ever, with a whopping 27 gamers sitting inside 4 photographs of the lead, together with seven former main winners.

The weekend appears prefer it’s as soon as once more set to produce a patented PGA Championship end — tightly contested and actually anybody’s sport.

Will Aronimink proceed to play this troublesome into the weekend?

Paolo Uggetti: In as we speak’s sport, gamers are sometimes the ones dominating the golf course, dissecting its challenges with ease and scoring at will. Save for a number of tournaments yearly, that seems to be the norm.

Friday at Aronimink was not a type of days. The course, buttressed by a devilish set of gap places, speedy greens and a gradual breath of wind, fought again and, in lots of instances, gained.

The PGA of America didn’t fiddle Friday — it positioned pins on slopes and crowns and on edges that fell off Donald Ross greens like they have been on the brink of a skyscraper. It requested gamers to hit 4-irons into 10-foot circles and exact wedges into pockets that perplexed even the finest gamers in the world.

Scottie Scheffler referred to as the pins the hardest he had ever seenmore durable than US Open setups, more durable even than Oakmont. Other gamers used the phrase “impossible” and danced round the phrase “unfair.” Whatever the adjective you wished to apply to it, the consensus was that it left gamers with no alternative however to hit the photographs, hit them nicely or take care of the harsh penalties.

This is a PGA Championship we’re speaking about — two years in the past, Xander Schauffele gained at Valhalla with a rating of 21-under. This yr, whoever will get to double digits first may be the one to carry the Wanamaker. That is, if the PGA of America and its chief championships officer Kerry Haigh resolve to hold the pedal to the metallic.

Players have been cautious not to complain about the setup however did hone in on what the setup wrought: a good leaderboard and a glacial tempo of play that eclipsed 5 and a half hours. The former appears to be a trademark of the PGA’s model; the latter will likely be helped by the minimize. But will Haigh & Co. proceed tucking pins left and proper in hopes of conserving 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 stated. “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 stated. “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 comparable to Aronimink, the place the manufactured greens are price the value of admission and the par 4s should not lengthy sufficient to put lengthy irons into gamers’ fingers, there’s something to be stated for pulling this lever and placing gamers in uncomfortable positions. Perhaps they’re going to let up barely Saturday and ramp it again up Sunday. Or possibly, they’re going to proceed to try to make some extent.

What are world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler’s possibilities this weekend?

Mark Schlabach: Scheffler did not have his A-game Friday, however he nonetheless received the most out of it with a 1-over 71, which put him at 2 beneath after 36 holes.

Given the circumstances, Scheffler performed spectacularly in the first spherical, hitting all however one fairway off the tee (and every of the first 12) and gaining greater than 3.3 strokes on the greens.

On Friday, Scheffler missed the first six fairways and carded bogeys on three of the first 4 holes, solely the second time he is finished that in a serious. He wanted 32 putts — 4 greater than the opening spherical — and misplaced almost two strokes on the greens.

Scheffler’s iron play was higher, and he finally discovered what was unsuitable together with his driver, hitting seven of the final eight fairways.

It was cooler Friday morning, and the wind was howling 15 to 20 mph. The pin placements have been way more troublesome. Scheffler referred to as them the “hardest set of pin locations” he is seen in his PGA Tour profession.

“It’s funny sometimes,” Scheffler stated. “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 continues to be in the high 10 and inside placing distance of the leaders. Few golfers have been nearly as good at closing a serious the previous few years.

Remember that Scheffler was three strokes behind the leaders at the midway level of final yr’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

He was 6 beneath over the ultimate 36 holes and gained by 5 strokes.

Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley are main at the midway mark, what are their possibilities on the weekend?

Uggetti: In 14 out of the previous 15 PGA Championships, the eventual winner was amongst the high seven and ties at the finish of the second spherical. This PGA Championship, nonetheless, feels totally different. After 36 holes, there are 30 gamers inside 5 photographs of the lead and I’m prepared to guess that we may get a winner outdoors the high seven this yr.

It looks like a wide-open event at the second with no separation at the high and in addition no large identify main. No offense to McNealy or Smalley (who’re tied with the lead at 4-under) however here is a listing of gamers outdoors the high seven and inside 5 photographs 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 on the market even when it was extraordinarily hard-earned. Come the weekend, as the climate is ready to heat up, it won’t be stunning to see these aforementioned large names go low to make a run up the leaderboard and take management of the event.

Which gamers three or 4 photographs again do you assume nonetheless have an opportunity?

Schlabach: I’m in settlement with Paolo. I do not assume three or 4 strokes behind is simply too far again at Aronimink. No one appears ready to draw back from the pack. Given the pin placements, there are too many potential pitfalls, particularly on the again 9.