PGA Championship Round 2: Scheffler Battles Back as McIlroy Cards 74 and Matsuyama Charges at Aronimink

Round 2 of the 108th PGA Championship is under way today at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and the leaderboard is in a state of significant flux after a morning that has already seen Scottie Scheffler — the world number one who shared the overnight lead — stumble badly before staging a recovery, Rory McIlroy card a four-over 74 to put his weekend in jeopardy, and Hideki Matsuyama post a brilliant 67 to move into contention.¹⁵⁷

The opening round on Thursday ended with one of the most bunched leaderboards in major championship history: 48 players sat within three shots of the lead, the highest such figure ever recorded at a major, reflecting both the quality of the field and the unique challenges Aronimink presents to players who cannot find the fairway consistently.⁴⁸ With such a compressed starting position, Friday's second round always carried the potential for dramatic movement in both directions.⁹

Scheffler's nightmare start and recovery

Scottie Scheffler came into Friday at three under par, sharing the overnight lead with six other players following a composed opening 67.⁴⁸ The early holes on Friday were far less kind. Scheffler made bogeys on three of his first four holes, sliding back toward the cut line and drawing unwanted attention for a player who had arrived at Aronimink as the heavy favourite to add a second major title to his collection.¹⁷

The world number one had not hit a single fairway in five attempts through his first eight holes of the day — a remarkable stat for any tour professional, let alone one of Scheffler's calibre — but gradually found his game as the round progressed.⁷ A tee shot to two feet on the par-three 17th gave him his first birdie of the day and moved him back to one under for the championship, two shots off the lead at that point in proceedings.⁷¹

McIlroy struggles — major drought continues

For Rory McIlroy, Friday's 74 was a significant setback to his hopes of ending a major championship drought that has stretched back to his US Open victory in 2011.²⁶ McIlroy made four consecutive bogeys at one stage during his second round, a run that drained any momentum built from a solid Thursday performance and left him scrambling to make the weekend cut.¹⁵

The Northern Irishman has come agonisingly close on multiple occasions in recent years — losing playoffs, finding water on closing holes, and building leads he has failed to convert — and another stumble in round two at Aronimink will only intensify the scrutiny that follows him into every major.⁶⁹ Whether McIlroy makes the cut will be one of the weekend's early sub-narratives before the final rounds decide who lifts the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday.²

While the marquee names struggled, Hideki Matsuyama delivered the round of the morning with a flawless 67, making four birdies and just one bogey on the sixth hole.⁵³ The Japanese star, who won the Masters in 2021 to become the first Japanese man to win a major championship, moved to three under par for the tournament and into a share of the clubhouse lead at the time of writing.⁵

Matsuyama's ballstriking has been exceptional this week and Aronimink's premium on accuracy off the tee suits his methodical, controlled game.³⁹ Alex Smalley also made a charge during the morning wave, reaching five under par as he made the turn before the afternoon scoring conditions became clear, putting him briefly at the summit of the leaderboard.¹⁵ The cut line is still being established as play continues through the afternoon, but with such a bunched field, the battle for weekend spots is intense at every level of the draw.⁸¹⁰

Aronimink and the challenge it presents

Aronimink Golf Club is hosting the PGA Championship for the first time since 1962 — a 64-year wait that has been eagerly anticipated by the golf world and by Philadelphia-area fans who filled the grandstands on Thursday in record numbers for a PGA Championship opening round.⁹¹⁰ The course, a Donald Ross design from 1928, rewards accurate iron play and punishes players who miss fairways, as the morning's scoring demonstrated.⁸⁴ The weekend rounds on Saturday and Sunday will determine who among the packed leaderboard can sustain their game under the growing pressure of a major's closing stages.³⁶

PGA Championship Round 2: Scheffler Battles Back as McIlroy Cards 74 and Matsuyama Charges at Aronimink

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Scheffler's nightmare start and recovery

McIlroy struggles — major drought continues

Aronimink and the challenge it presents

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