Australia’s Min Woo Lee is one shot off the lead at the halfway mark of the PGA Championship despite a rollercoaster second round as Cameron Smith ended his horrendous major run at Aronimink in Pennsylvania.
Lee sits among a pack of players at three-under par, hot on the heels of American leaders Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, as cold and windy conditions wreaked havoc.
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After starting the day in a share of the lead, Lee remained where he began with an even par round of 70.
It was far from straight forward for the 27-year-old, however, as he played the front nine in one-over par 36 to relinquish his share of top spot.
Lee dropped shots either side of the turn, but responded with a crucial birdie at 11 to stop the slide.
He then holed an 18-footer for birdie at 15 and followed it up with a near chip-in to set up a tap-in birdie at the par 5 16th.
At that point, Lee drew level with Smalley but a wayward tee shot at the par 3 17th led to his fourth bogey of the day.
“Yeah, not as in control as yesterday, I would say. But happy with the grind,” he said.
“I did lose it a little bit out there just in the middle part. There’s some tough holes out there. But it’s very easy to get your mind spiraling, but you can’t do that at a major championship.
“So made sure me and Shane, my caddie, had to regroup and thought I played the last seven, eight holes pretty good. But, yeah, the scores are showing that it’s a very tough course.”
LEADERBOARD: Live scores from the PGA Championship
Lee is certainly not getting ahead of himself, however.
Asked about the prospect of winning a maiden major title, he quickly noted where he was still sit in his own family’s pecking order given his sister Minjee Lee is a three-time major champion.
“It’s everyone’s, every golfer’s dream. Yeah, it would be special. You would elevate as a player and, yeah, I don’t want to jinx anything, but, yeah, if we get to that question again I would answer it how I feel,” Lee said.
“It is tough. You win one, but you got to win three more to overtake the sister. So there’s still a long way to go,” he added.
Min Woo Lee of Australia plays his shot from the 15th tee during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: Getty Images
Countryman Jason Day is also in the mix after he too shot 70 to remain at one-under par.
Day started hot with back-to-back birdies at the opening two holes before reaching the turn in 34.
A bogey at 12 then took the former world No.1 back to where he started the day.
While Cameron Smith finally snapped his streak of six straight missed cuts at majors.
The 2022 Open champion shot 71 to drop back to even par for the tournament, only four shots off the lead.
He finished his round in style by draining a near 60-foot birdie putt at the last.
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Cameron Smith of Australia shakes hands with his caddie Sam Pinfold on the 18th green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: AFP
No one was able to pull away from the pack over the sloped greens at the 7,394-yard layout, but American Maverick McNealy jumped to the top of the leaderboard at five-under after 11 holes.
Aldrich Potgieter had been in the solo lead for much of round, but back-to-back bogeys to finish stopped the 21-year-old from becoming the youngest 36-hole leader at a major since Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters.
“Yeah, it was great. I think looking at those last two holes was kind of unfortunate, but, yeah, I felt like I was in control most of the round and had some really nice par saves that kind of kept the momentum going,” he said.
“So I was quite happy with it.”
Potgieter’s impressive start will also be making some people in Australian golf circles frustrated as the youngster easily could have had an Australian flag next to his name at the top of the leaderboard.
Potgieter was born in South Africa, but spent nearly a decade of his childhood living in Perth, developing his golf game before his family return to the South Africa when he was 17.
Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa reacts on the 13th green during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: AFP
In the morning field, Smalley, a back-nine starter chasing his first PGA Tour title, birdied 16 and 18 to seize the solo lead, only to bogey the first three holes on the front side but closed with a birdie at nine to shoot 69 and grab the clubhouse lead on four-under 136.
“A lot of really good moments, some not so great moments, and then a lot of just trying to keep moving forward in between,” said Smalley.
“It was difficult, it was chilly this morning, the wind was up. Some of the hole locations are very difficult. They’re right on the top of a crown.”
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who fired 67, and American Chris Gotterup, who closed with three birdies to shoot 65, were finished on 137.
“Just really battled all day,” said Gotterup. “It was very hard out there. It was cold. There were some pins it didn’t even look like were on the green.”
Aussies fire on Day 1 of PGA Champs | 11:47
Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, birdied from 23 feet at 13 and 20 feet at seven.
“I played well,” said Matsuyama. “This morning was windy. Plus it was freezing cold, and that made it very difficult.” Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler, third-ranked Cameron Young and fellow American Justin Thomas, a two-time major winner, were in on 138.
Scheffler tumbled from a share of the lead with three bogeys in his first four holes but closed with a birdie at nine to shoot 71.
The four-time major winner missed his first six fairways and seven of 14 overall after hitting 13 of 14 on Thursday.
“It was just really tough,” said Scheffler. “It was blowing really hard, and it was quite cold as well. So the golf ball wasn’t really travelling anywhere. It was just a really challenging morning overall.”
PGA Championship Day 1 wrap | 02:46
Others were less fortunate.
Germany’s Martin Kaymer, a two-time major winner and 18-hole co-leader, made bogeys on five of the first seven holes and shot 75 to stand on 142 with England’s fourth-ranked Matt Fitzpatrick.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry fired a 76 and looked to miss the cut on 144. American Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, shot 72 to stand on 140.
England’s Justin Rose chipped in for eagle from 76 feet on his final hole, the par-five ninth, to shoot 73 and looked set to make the cut on the number on 143 despite a day with two double bogeys and four bogeys.
Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion, birdied two of his first four holes to move inside the cut line.
South African Garrick Higgo, who took a two-stroke penalty for being late to the tee on Thursday, was on time Friday but three bogeys in his first six holes dropped him back.
Late starters included five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, two-time major winner Xander Schauffele, two-time major winner Jon Rahm and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth.
Spieth would complete a career Grand Slam with a victory while Rahm would become the first Spaniard to win the PGA title.
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Rahm’s fellow LIV superstar Bryson DeChambeau is enduring a nightmare tournament, meanwhile.
The two-time US Open champion was four shots off making the cut at eight-over, late in his second round.
Australia’s Elvis Smylie will be watching the cut line closely after a second straight 72 leaves him at four-over.
Travis Smyth (+7) and Adam Scott (+8) are done for the tournament, however.