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Here are a few names to think of when we consider the chances of the co-leaders, Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley, this weekend: Johnattan Vegas, Matt Jones, Robert Streb, Carl Pettersson, Tim Herron – they’ve all led, or co-led, this championship at halfway and drifted away over the final 36 holes.
Beware Scottie Scheffler this weekend. A statement of the bleeding obvious, you might mutter, and with some justification. But get this: 29 of his last 32 third and fourth round scores have been sub-70. Moreover, in 14 of those 16 tournaments, he logged two sub-70 scores at the weekend. If he maintains that record he’ll put pressure on everyone else in the top 20.
Maverick McNealy on his rise to the top of the leaderboard: “Hard golf course, fun test, but a long time to be switched on. I played four a half hours very good golf and an hour not so great. This is one course where I can contend without hitting fairways. I hope to hit more fairways this weekend, though.”
The back nine has mostly been sloppy by Jon Rahm. But he closes out with a delicious back foot chip to confirm his par that leaves him -1 for the championship. Rory McIlroy played an average 8-iron into the green and has a 40-foot birdie putt. It was a nice line yet leaves a testy little par putt. Jordan Spieth has played the hole best of the trio and he has 11 feet for birdie to hit the weekend on level-par, but it only brushes the hole. He looks close and, while he’s twitched every bit as much as we’d expect him to, he also looks under control. Now for the McIlroy par putt and in it pops. A 67 for +1 for the tournament.
Ludvig Åberg on opening rounds of 66-72: “Compared to yesterday, I did most things better. I was hitting more fairways, I was hitting it closer, and I was making more putts. We knew it was going to be a day of patience with some of those pins. The wind was up early in our round. It died down, which made it a little bit easier. But still a difficult golf course, and I’m pleased with my patience.”
ShareMaverick McNealy ties Alex Smalley for the halfway lead
A fine effort by the Californian to make it two unheralded pacesetters in this second major championship of the year. That said, big names linger close behind, including Scottie Scheffler who is just two shots back of the lead.
-4: Smalley (F), McNealy (F)
-3: Matsuyama (F), Gotterup (F), Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Greyserman (F)
-2: C Young (F), Thomas (F), Scheffler (F), Puig (F), English (F), SW Kim (F), Åberg (F)
To Maverick McNealy on the par-five 9th. He’s found rough from the tee and also with his second shot, but he’s still got a 13 feet for birdie and the solo lead. He’s an excellent putter, one of the best, but the wind has left his sails in the last hour and it never looks close.
A magnificent 57 feet and 3 inch birdie putt at 17 pulls up two inches short for Jordan Spieth. Now Rory McIlroy has a go from 33 feet and it rests near the hole for par. Finally, from 30 feet, Jon Rahm, and it’s a cosy two putt for par. As you were.
Bryson DeChambeau finished with three straight birdies. But it’s not enough to get him into the weekend. He completes 36 holes in +7. A tough week and it’s not been the easiest year, of course. Decisions to be made.
Min Woo Lee has been asked if a win this week would be good for his family. His sister Minjee is already a multiple major winner. His reply was lovely: “It is tough. You win one, but you got to win three more to overtake the sister. Still a long way to go.”
To the business end of the par-five 16th hole. Jordan Spieth’s eagle putt stays up, but he taps in for birdie. He’s now +1 for the week. Rory McIlroy has a swift 11 foot birdie putt to get back to level-par for the championship … it was a little tentative and slips past. Now Jon Rahm has seven feet for his birdie … it lips out! Not a lot of energy in the group after that trio of first putts and they’ll be frustrated heading to the 17th tee.
Jordan Spieth is yet to scratch a par breaker on his card today. He’s made 12 pars and three bogeys. But a superb approach to the par-5 16th should change that. He’s left himself 10 feet for eagle.
Harris English has completed a second round of 67 to start the weekend on -2 for the championship. He was tied second behind Scottie Scheffler in this championship last year and then second behind Scheffler in the Open.
Maverick McNealy’s tee shot at the par-3 8th came to rest up against a cushion of first cut grass. He used the toe of his putter to progress it, and it didn’t work out too well. It left 12 feet for the par and he missed it. He drops back to -4 for the week, back in a tie for the lead with Alex Smalley.
Jon Rahm was looking quite chipper when he got to -2 for the round on the 11th. It’s been downhill ever since, though. He saved par at 12 after finding trouble. But has now made bogey at both 13 and 15. And, having missed right with a few tee shots, he now hooks his tee shot at 16 into heavy rough.
We had a big clue that something special had happened with a huge roar out on the course. A long Rory McIlroy birdie putt? No. A huge Min Woo Lee try? No. So it must be Rickie Fowler’s long birdie try at 17?!?! Oh yes! From 9 feet and it gets him to +1 for the week.
It’s going to be a huge weekend for Alex Smalley and he knows it. “I’m certainly not one that’s super loud or boisterous, I try to stay laid back,” he told the press. “I don’t like being in the spotlight a whole lot, so I’m still trying to get used to playing in front of large groups of people. My first couple years on tour, I kind of struggled with that. It can be a little overwhelming. I realise that there are probably people who don’t know who I am, and that’s fine.”
Lots of chatter from the commentary team about likely conditions at the weekend. After the chilly conditions so far this week, it is forecast to heat up and the wind will continue to blow. Those two factors should contribute to fast fairways and faster greens.
‘The Ludvig Åberg Move’ sounds a little like a Len Deighton rip-off spy novel. In reality, he’s just made his fourth birdie in five holes at the par-five 16th. He’s -4 for the round and -3 for the championship. Smooth swinging and box fresh, he’s right in the hunt.
Updated at 18.36 EDT
Maverick McNealy’s magic touch has left him. A three putt at 6 has seen him slip back to -5 for the week.
I’ve always been tickled that his Going for the Green percentages are low. In short, that means he isn’t a very gung ho golfer. In fact, he’s rather calculating. I like to think that somewhere his parents are shaking their heads, disappointed that he’s not lived up to their hopes and dreams for him.
William Simpson is backing me up on the Andrew Coltart obsession with Garrick Higgo’s clumsy timekeeping. He emails: “He’s very grumpy about it. Why does it matter so much to him?” Quite.
Stephan Jaeger has 12 feet for birdie on the 9th, his final hole of the day. It would be lovely for him to make it. But also neat if he made par instead because it would be his 18th of the second round. He’s a busy little fellow with rather neat and short paces.
The putt doesn’t drop so it’s 18 pars for Jaeger! He hits the weekend on -3 for the championship. It’s his 13th major start and he’s in good shape to register a first top 20 finish.
Andrew Coltart on commentary slips his final dagger of the week into the back of Garrick Higgo. He’s got himself in a terrible tiswas about Higgo missing his tee time yesterday. Higgo has finished the week on +5 and is going to miss the cut by the two shots he was penalised because of his daft mistake. Coltart seems to think some vengeful golfing gods got involved. His obsession has been quite peculiar.
Garrick Higgo, more like Grrr-ick Higgo. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 18.49 EDT
The updated leaderboard now that Maverick McNealy is stretching clear – and Si Woo Kim is repeating what he did on Friday in last year’s PGA Championship in sneaking onto the front page.
-6: McNealy (14*)
-4: Smalley (F),
-3: Matsuyama (F), Gotterup (F), Potgieter (F), Jaeger (17*), Lee (15)
-2: C Young (F), Thomas (F), Scheffler (F), Puig (F), Cantlay (15), SW Kim (15), Rahm (13)
Another birdie from Maverick McNealy, this time from eight feet at the 5th. He’s now -5 for the round and -6 for the championship. He’s two clear of the field and has opportunities to come on the front nine.
A move from Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg. He was level-par through 11 holes, but his body language suggested he was doing worse than that. He’s now made three birdies on the bounce. He’s -3 for the day, -1 for the championship and bouncier.
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm has followed one terrible tee shot with a poor one. This time, he found heavy rough and has only been able to thrash the ball into a fairway bunker. Rory McIlroy was in the fairway and has found a different bunker to Rahm.
Aldrich Potgieter is taking positive thoughts from finishing bogey-bogey to lose the lead. “Sleeping on the lead is not always good,” he said. “It’s mentally draining for a week like this where it’s so big. So I think being in a couple shots back puts me in a position where I can look for a low round instead of defending.” He then referenced his victory in the Rocket Classic last summer when he found sleeping on the lead tough, struggled early in his final round, but then composed himself.
A bold strike on the 12th green from Rory McIlroy and his 10 foot birdie putt drops. He’s now +1 for the championship and has red numbers in his crosshairs. He has a genuine chance to get himself in contention. He backs it up with a solid iron from the 13th tee. Playing partner Jon Rahm completes his par saving exercise from off the green at 12 to make amends for that dodgy drive.
Stephan Jaeger has pencilled 16 pars on his card today. Neat and tidy stuff, but he has the tricky 17 and 18 to come. He remains as he started the day on -3.
Jon Rahm has found his ball. Wyndham Clark helped him find it because it actually hit his foot when he was on the 16th tee. The lie was fine and there were no trees around Rahm, but he’s missed the green with his approach.
Jon Rahm looks a bit cheesed off. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/APShare
Updated at 18.52 EDT
And Puig on his playing partner through 36 holes, Aldrich Potgieter: “It was awesome. He’s a really talented player. He hits it really far. I think I hit it pretty far, but he’s definitely longer than me. He played unbelievable golf today and yesterday.”
David Puig on his week: “I get up every day for weeks and days like today. I’m really excited about the weekend. I’ve been getting a little better year after year, and I definitely got to this major championship as best prepared as ever. Really excited to have a late tee time on a Saturday. I’ll give my best and hopefully it’s good.”
“I’ve no idea where that went,” says Jon Rahm after his tee shot at 12 flies miles right. His divot was before the ball. That’s not going to improve the pace of play either.
Updated at 18.51 EDT
Rory McIlroy had a 54 foot birdie putt at 11 – and he fancied that it was going in when it was halfway there. A little tilt, a little move, and it was on track, but it pulls up centimetres short.
Jon Rahm is a lot closer with his approach. 13 feet for his birdie and it drops. He’s no -3 and right in the mix.
Spain’s David Puig has made birdies at 16 and 18 to join the group on -2. The LIV 24-year-old looks set to record his best-ever major championship performance. He’s played five of them and has a best of tied 39th in the 2023 US Open.
How is Aldrich Potgieter playing 18? It’s been a bit of a trial. He lashed his drive 331 yards into the wind, but straight into a fairway bunker. His second shot escaped the sand but clipped a tree and became stuck in the rough, some 56 yards short of the green. The pitch ran through the green, and he could only chip close. A bogey-bogey finish to slip back to -3. If he doesn’t over-concern himself with that finish, he can contend this weekend, but he will also have to cope with a situation unlike anything he’s experienced before.
It feels like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm reached the 10th tee on Wednesday. They’ve finally reached the 11th tee after making pars. Wayne Riley is a little giddy: “The wind is down, just a one club breeze, this back nine is easier now, there is a chance here for them to make inroads.”
A new leader! Maverick McNealy has started his second nine – the easier front nine – with two birdies to jump to -5. With conditions getting colder but flat, he has a great opportunity to build a gap on the field.
“This is snail’s pace,” sighs Paul McGinley on television. Rory McIlroy has had to wait a long time to play into the 10th green and it is perhaps no surprise that the approach lacks sparkle. Jon Rahm, for all his length off the tee, cannot find the putting surface. Nick Dougherty notes that the group was due to finish midnight UK time but are on track to squeeze home just before 1am.
Simon Carter emails: “How is Adam Scott faring on his 99th consecutive major championship start?” It’s not been a good week for him, I’m afraid Simon. Rounds of 72-76 have left him +8 and with no hope of playing at the weekend.
It remains a very tight leaderboard. There are now 25 players within four shots of the leaders.
-4: Smalley (F), Potgieter (F), McNealy (10*)
-3: Matsuyama (F), Gotterup (F), Jaeger (13*)
-2: C Young (F), Thomas (F), Scheffler (F), Lee (11), Greyserman (10*), Rahm (9)
Play is slow and the marquee group has spent a lot of time on the 10th tee. When Jon Rahm finally unleashes his tee shot, it catches the slope and bounds down the fairway. A neat 356 yards. Rory McIlroy’s effort clattered into a tree, bounced out, catches the slope and is recorded as 343 yards. Jordan Spieth thrashes his tee shot right into a nasty bunker.
Meanwhile, Maverick McNealy makes birdie at the 1st to creep up to -4 alongside Alex Smalley – and also now Aldrich Potgieter who three putts the 17th green for bogey.
More Bryson DeChambeau woe. He misses the green at the 10th, his first chip fails to find the green, but then … some good news – he pops the second chip in the hole! He’s +9 for the week with eight holes to play. Another frustrating week for him.
Wondering where Aldrich Potgieter gets his power from? He credits rugby and wrestling, which were his favoured sports as a child. He’s also hit the gym this season and been able to keep his clubhead speed while becoming leaner and stronger.
The Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth group have hit the par-five 9th hole. Spieth makes par and stays even for the week. McIlroy’s eight foot birdie putt slips by. He stays at +2. Ram has six feet for birdie … and he doesn’t make it either. He stays -2.
Up ahead, the leader Aldrich Potgieter found rough from the tee and with his second at the par-five 16th. He has to accept a par. He’s three solid swings from a great halfway position.
Sahith Theegala hit the turn two shots off the lead. He’s not going to the 11th tee in that state, alas. His tee shot found sand. His second shot disappeared. Really! It was lost. He took a drop in the sand, biffed the ball down the fairway, his fifth shot has left him 16 feet for a double bogey, he missed it and cards a triple bogey 7. Unfortunate, maybe, but the shot he lost was poor. Television speeds up its footage of him looking for the second shot and Nick Dougherty describes it as “Benny Hill style”.
Aldrich Potgieter doesn’t need help finding distance from the tee. He led the Average Driving Distance stats on last year’s PGA Tour and is doing so this year, too. Now his drive on the 542-yard par-four 15th finds a path and scoots along it like a ball bearing down a drain pipe. It eventually kicks off it into rough. The ball travelled 333 yards in total.
A quiet start for Jon Rahm. Seven birdies and now he drains a 25 foot putt for birdie at 8. He’s -2 for the championship and right in the mix here. Last year, he briefly led this championship in the final round and afterwards said: “The first time I’ve been in position to win a major and haven’t done it. I’ll get over it.” Might he properly get over it this weekend?
Here’s more from Scottie Scheffler about the difficulty of Aronimink: “Most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd. Like the one on 14 was probably the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time just because, I mean, there’s literally just like a spine and they’re like, oh, we’ll just put the pin right on top of it. And you’re like, all right, well, I’ll see what I can do … You know, it’s just, challenging … This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, and that includes US Opens, that includes Oakmont. I did ask, I asked Fooch, who caddies for Justin Rose. He’s been around a long time – and I asked my caddie Teddy too – have you seen anything like this before? They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.”
Ouch. Min Woo Lee has just missed a tiddler. He had three feet for par at the 9th and didn’t catch much of the hole. He falls back to -2 for the championship.
-5: Potgieter (13)
-4: Smalley (F)
-3: Matsuyama (F), Gotterup (F), Jaeger (9*), Theegala (9), McNealy (7*)
-2: C Young (F), Thomas (F), Scheffler (F), Day (10), Lee (9), Greyserman (7*)
Scottie Scheffler on his day: “Just started getting more comfortable after being shocked by how difficult it was early on … did a good job of battling back … we’ll see how far back I am at the end of the day … these are the hardest set of pins I’ve ever seen.”
Tommy Fleetwood finished his 36 holes on +5 earlier. He’s set to miss the weekend, and it carries on from an unhappy Masters. “A long way from being good enough to contend,” he said then. “Hit it in the wrong place, short game was awful, didn’t putt the way I did in the first two rounds and my scoring this weekend was dreadful.” He’s set to go nine major championships since his last top 10. He will be desperate to find form ASAP because the Open takes place on his home soil in Southport, at Royal Birkdale.
Tommy Fleetwood putts on the 10th green. Photograph: Matt Slocum/APShare
Updated at 17.04 EDT
Josh Heppell emails about Bryson DeChambeau’s struggles: “Wonder if when he climbs down into that bunker he is genuinely grateful to have a wedge the length of a 7-iron.” Yesterday, there was footage of a shot he played right in front of a bunker camera – and his longer-than-usual sand wedge did look very uncomfortable and odd. You’d have to think he’s had plenty of opportunity to change if necessary, but who knows, Josh? Meanwhile, more bother for him as a chip from the side of the 8th green has motored through the green to more rough.
No bother for Aldrich Potgieter. His chip span backwards to 22 feet … and he drained it for par!
Aldrich Potgieter has found his ball. It is close to the out of bounds and in a tricky, but not nasty spot. He bunts it forward just short of the green. He’d hoped his drive would end up there so he’d have an up and down for birdie. Instead, he needs one for par.
Aldrich Potgieter hits from the rough on the 13th fairway. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/APShare
Updated at 17.06 EDT
The par-four 13th is playing 383 yards. Aldrich Potgieter pulls driver. The TV commentators are a little wary of that choice. And they might have been right to be. It’s hurtled towards the out of bounds, but no word yet. To be continued …
Rory McIlroy makes his par at 6. His approach left him a devilish long putt over a shoulder. When that settled, he had nearly seven feet for par. The putt wobbled around the hole, but it dropped. A good par save.
Remember Bryson DeChambeau’s problems at Augusta National? There’s a clear case of deja vu going on. His first chip at 7 found sand. His sand shot left him 26 feet for bogey. His first putt didn’t require a tap in. He finally records a double bogey 6. He’s +9 for the championship and he’ll need to play the next 11 holes in -4 at least to play this weekend.
Bryson DeChambeau found his ball in high grass and has thrashed it to the rough around the green. That’s one thing to be said for power, of course. It can get you into trouble … and get you out of it as well. Somewhat at least. Saving par will be a test. He’s currently +7 for the week through six holes today.
His struggles fit in with a recent trend which might be headlined ‘Champagne or Shambles’. Or maybe ‘Champagne or Chambles’. To explain: his last 11 major championship starts have included eight top 10 finishes and three missed cuts. Nothing in between.