The build-up to this PGA Championship was dominated by chatter of an endless birdie barrage bringing Aronimink to its knees as the historic course struggles to challenge today's best players.
Mother Nature - and PGA setup boss Kerry Haigh - had other ideas. Blustery winds and diabolical pin locations that Scottie Scheffler called the "hardest" he's experienced on TOUR created one of the most bunched leaderboards through 36 holes we've ever seen.
Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley form the duo that can add '36-hole leader at the PGA Championship' to their resume, but with 58 players within six shots of the top, it's still anybody's tournament just outside Philadelphia.
| Position | Player | Total to par | Round 2 score |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-1 | Maverick McNealy | -4 | 67 |
| T-1 | Alex Smalley | -4 | 69 |
| T-3 | Hideki Matsuyama | -3 | 67 |
| T-3 | Chris Gotterup | -3 | 65 |
| T-3 | Min Woo Lee | -3 | 70 |
| T-3 | Aldrich Potgieter | -3 | 70 |
| T-3 | Max Greyserman | -3 | 69 |
| T-3 | Stephan Jaeger | -3 | 70 |
| T-9 | Scottie Scheffler | -2 | 71 |
| T-9 | Cameron Young | -2 | 67 |
| T-9 | Justin Thomas | -2 | 69 |
| T-9 | Harris English | -2 | 67 |
| T-9 | David Puig | -2 | 67 |
| T-9 | Si Woo Kim | -2 | 67 |
| T-9 | Ludvig Aberg | -2 | 66 |
Perhaps the best example of how packed things are through two rounds is the difference between the lead and the cut. The eight-shot gap matches the smallest difference in the history of the PGA Championship, according to Justin Ray of the Twenty First Group.
Cold, gusty winds made Friday morning look more like The Open across the Atlantic than the PGA Championship, with a number of players befuddled by the conditions. Chief among them was Scheffler, as the defending champion bogeyed three of his opening four holes to start the day.
He would eventually right the ship to sit just two back of the lead and remain the betting favorite. That speaks both to Scheffler's talent and the lack of pedigree ahead of him on the board. Outside of Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Gotterup, the group at 3-under doesn't exactly strike fear into the rest of the field.
The same can't be said for those at 2-under alongside Scheffler, with Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, and Ludvig Aberg among the top players in the world.
15 players are at or within 2 of the lead, the most after 36 holes of a men’s major since the 2002 Open (16).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 15, 2026
The heavy hitters continue outside the top 9, with Jon Rahm at 1-under and the major-winning group of Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy five back at 1-over.
McIlroy made the biggest move of the day, vaulting an eye-popping 75 places with a bogey-free 67. The six-time major winner offered his best guess on why the leaderboard has been so tight thus far.
"I think it's a sign of not a great setup, I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves," McIlroy said. "It's like, you know, 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."
Aronimink is known for its enormous putting surfaces that are filled with massive amounts of slope. That gives the setup committee plenty of options when setting pin locations, with an aggressive approach in play through two rounds. Will they pull back and give the players an easier time Saturday to create separation, or will they continue tucking them in difficult places to put significant stress on approach play?
One thing is for sure, all those who made the cut will be waiting for Saturday's pin locations with great anticipation.
