Surprisingly, one player hasn’t been the star through 36 holes of the PGA Championship.
The leaderboard is a mixed bag, with some strong American players tied at the top and a mix of surprises and major players lurking just behind. Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy are tied for the lead at 4 under, which is a score many thought wouldn’t even be good enough for the lead in the first round. Only 22 players are under par, and only three — Smalley, Max Greyserman and Justin Thomas — have broken par in both rounds.
Some pundits thought the winning score could go closer to 20 this week if conditions were good. Neither will be the case. Unpredictable winds have consistently troubled players and the winning score may struggle to reach double digits below par.
A rarity at the PGA Championship, we’re already starting to get quotes from players if the setup is right, which we usually only hear at the US Open.
A decade ago, we were getting birdies almost every year at the PGA. But now, we’re getting a tough PGA for the fifth time in six years. I have no complaints.
Donald Ross’ design is showing another way to challenge players
If you happened to watch the PGA at Aronimink this week, you might be wondering how such a tough course is playing. It seems like players have wedges in their hands on almost every par-4 when they find the fairway. This is one of the shortest courses you’ll ever see host a modern major championship, especially considering there are no forced layoffs.
But we are seeing very few close approaches. These Donald Ross green complexes are brutal. The much talked about thorns around the green are giving players trouble. Officials have placed pins in masterful spots, often requiring extremely accurate shots to approach the hole. And even when they are close, subtle breaks have made it difficult for anyone to get hot on the barrel.
Despite Ross’ other designs on the PGA Tour schedule, including Sedgefield, East Lake and Detroit, for whatever reason, the course layouts rarely try to push the edge and challenge the players, which the spectators suffer from.
It’s been a marvel to see how the game’s best have to hit near-perfect shots—even wedges—to get close to the post.
This type of setup may not separate the best players
While it’s been fun to watch Aronimink struggle so far this week, I have to admit that the leaderboard isn’t the best. Only Chris Gotterup (No. 10) is currently better than 9th among the top 10 in the world.
Some of the players currently sitting in T3 include Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger and Max Greyserman, none of whom come in much form or with a world ranking better than 70th. McNealy has had a very quiet season despite high expectations, and although Smalley has good form coming in, he is ranked 78th.th in the world.
The PGA has played more like the Open Championship so far, a tournament where we often see surprises at the top. When you take on a course with tricky winds and devilishly complex greens, you don’t often see the top players get that much separation at the top. That’s because you see luck come into play a bit more, and hitting the ball efficiently doesn’t lead to as many easy birdies as on most courses.
The best players in the game are dormant
With all that being said, many of the game’s top players are dormant and in contention for the weekend.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see the PGA offer a slightly easier setup on Saturday for an exciting swing day. The average scores for the first two rounds were +2.26 and +2.58, so I expect something closer to +1.25 on Saturday. Another thing to note is that the afternoon-morning wave of group times was much, much tougher in the first two rounds. So players who faced those conditions and are still in the mix, like Scottie Scheffler, should be very happy with their position.
Speaking of Scheffler, he’s with a group of players at T9 (-2) that could be tough to beat. If I had to place a bet on where the eventual winner comes from, it would definitely be from here. The group includes Scheffler, Cameron Young, Thomas, Ludvig Aberg and Si Woo Kim. Also right in the mix at 1 below are Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Jason Day. The cut ended at 4 over, meaning everyone is within eight shots of the lead. Anyone with a shared time tomorrow should still feel like they can make an accusation and get into a fight.
We are set for a great weekend thanks to a phenomenal golf course in Aronimink.
Top Top Photo: Aronimink was the main character on Friday. (GETTY IMAGES/Emilee Chin)
