2024 PGA Championship leaderboard: Xander Schauffele holds slim lead over Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler

Xander Schauffele tops the leaderboard on the 2024 PGA Championship heading into the weekend at Valhalla Golf Membership. Whereas the first-round chief was not in a position to replicate his record-setting efficiency from a day in the past, Schauffele did sufficient with a second-round 68 to maintain his title above the remaining.

Schauffele’s 12-under mark ties the bottom 36-hole rating in PGA Championship historical past matching Brooks Koepka’s effort from the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. Koepka’s benefit was a landing and an additional level on the midway level in New York, which is a far cry from Schauffele’s slim margin getting into the weekend.

Schauffele’s lead was trimmed to at least one as Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala made their strikes on Friday. They weren’t the one ones to press the chief, although, as Schauffele’s incapability to money in on convertible birdie alternatives turned a possible runaway right into a clustered pack.

Whereas the Olympic gold medalist however sits out in entrance, the names behind him loom giant. There’s two-time main champion Morikawa, who seems to have discovered his main kind but once more. There is a blossoming Theegala, who has proven able to something and all the things.

After which there’s world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who sits inside the highest 5 towards all odds after being arrested and launched Friday morning. Scheffler nonetheless managed to submit the third-lowest spherical of the day with a 5-under 66, bested solely by Morikawa and an identical 65 from Matt Wallace.

Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama are all inside a half dozen strokes — and every has the flexibility to make use of Shifting Day to its full potential.

All of this grew to become attainable when Schauffele performed his remaining eight holes in a 1-over style. A 3-putt bogey on No. 11 represents his first and lone dropped shot, however it could be the failed possibilities coming in that we come again to on Sunday.

Here is a have a look at Schauffele’s birdie possibilities from Nos. 12-18 the place he hit each inexperienced in regulation in ft: 23, 12, 6, 15, 23, 12, 12.

It is nit-picking, sure, to place a lot inventory into an eight-hole stretch on a Friday of a serious championship; nevertheless, when there is a leaderboard like this respiratory down your neck, ask anybody, they usually’d choose as a lot wiggle room as attainable.

Spherical 2 leaderboard, 2024 PGA Championship

2. Collin Morikawa (-11): Some guys simply have it, and Morikawa is proving once more he has the products in the case of main championships. The 2-time main winner rattled off 5 straight birdies at one level in his spherical to take the solo lead and had pushed it out even additional earlier than a poor bogey on his remaining gap. For the second straight main, the 27-year-old heads into the weekend with an opportunity to say his third title in lower than 20 appearances at such occasions. He is hit 13 greens in regulation in each of his rounds, and his putter is cooperating.

“I had perception since day one which I used to be going to have the ability to do it, and clearly you wish to see the outcomes, however simply believing that it is attainable and simply understanding that it’ll occur,” Morikawa mentioned. “I talked earlier than I received Zozo final 12 months, I talked about I do know I’ll win once more, it is only a matter of when, is it going to be tomorrow, is it going to be — however it’ll occur. I do know I nonetheless have it in me, and that is what’s thrilling is that after Augusta, it sucked to complete like that and it sucked to lose to Scottie. However on the finish of the day, I knew I had three extra majors developing and to prep for that and get issues as sharp as attainable and simply come out robust. It is clearly good to get off to this begin.”

3. Sahith Theegala (-10): Theegala adopted up a gap 65 with a very strong 67 and will likely be featured within the penultimate group on Saturday. He had momentum rolling early with a 4-under 31 earlier than a wayward swing off the tenth tee led to his lone dropped shot of the day on the par 5. Whereas sometimes erratic with the driving force, he is been nice for a lot of this season within the driving accuracy division; on Friday, Theegala hit 10 of 13 fairways.

T5. Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Mark Hubbard, Thomas Detry (-9): Scheffler’s absurd morning has been well-documented, and to do what he did on the golf course afterwards could also be equally as absurd. The world No. 1 misplaced to just one man — Morikawa — within the morning wave together with his 5-under 66, and he will be the topic of the dialog via 36 holes.

“It was good to have the ability to get contained in the ropes and do what I like to do,” Scheffler mentioned. “I like competing out right here on Tour, I like enjoying in main championships. I’ve saved myself within the event now with a reasonably chaotic day, so I’ll go from right here and deal with getting some relaxation and restoration and prepare for a grind the final two days, and we’ll see how the leaderboard shakes out. However, hopefully I will not be too far again going into tomorrow.”

If the inflow of content material from his Masters run wasn’t sufficient, DeChambeau is at it once more at a golf course a lot better fitted to his type of play. The 2020 U.S. Open champion carded one of many rounds of the day together with his 6-under 65 and has firmly positioned his title into the dialog for the Wanamaker Trophy. DeChambeau’s iron play is starting to search out its footing, and he putted like the person from Winged Foot on Friday.

T8. Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Austin Eckroat (-8): Final 12 months’s runner-up kick-started his spherical with a hole-out eagle on the quick par-4 4th and by no means regarded again. Hovland tacked 5 extra birdies on the best way in and has positioned himself to contend on the PGA Championship for the second straight 12 months regardless of not being seen as a lot of a contender on the onset of the week. Hovland’s reunion together with his outdated swing coach, Joe Mayo, is paying dividends already. 

T12. Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Wallace, Harris English, Robert MacIntyre (-7): Do not rely him out, however what might have been for Koepka on Friday. He missed all 4 putts he confronted from 3-to-6 ft in his second spherical and caught a troublesome break within the fairway on No. 10 when his ball collected mud and prompted his method to exit of bounds. Koepka bounced again from that double-bogey blunder with two straight birdies and one other on 15 to get him to eight beneath. A pair of bogeys on 16 and 17 was going to depart a bitter style in his mouth earlier than a pleasant 10-foot birdie landed on the final. 

T16. Justin Thomas, Lucas Herbert, Aaron Rai, Lee Hodges, Dean Burmester (-6): The native lad nonetheless has an opportunity heading into the weekend. Thomas fired a 4-under 67 in Spherical 2 to maintain tempo as he appears for his third Wanamaker Trophy since 2017. He is been spectacular from tee to inexperienced throughout the primary 36 holes, however he might want to begin holing putts with consistency to make up the deficit. 

T22. Rory McIlroy, Tom Kim, Justin Rose, Doug Ghim, Alex Noren and Alejandro Tosti (-5): Beginning his spherical in ultimate style with a long-distance connection on the primary for a gap birdie, McIlroy reached 6 beneath and he would stay there up till the twelfth the place he could have sunk his PGA Championship possibilities. Standing in the midst of the green with a 9 iron in hand, the four-time main champion missed the inexperienced and proceeded to make a multitude of issues, in the end carding a double bogey. On a day the place rounds of 5 and 6 beneath had been on the market, McIlroy was caught in impartial.