The weekend at Aronimink is set up for a crowded finish, with the PGA Championship entering the final two rounds and the lead sitting at only 4 under. The top of the board remains packed, with 27 players within four shots and seven former major winners still in the mix.
That kind of congestion has made the tournament feel open despite the pressure of major-championship golf. With difficult pin placements, fast greens and steady wind already shaping the first two rounds, the closing stretch could reward patience as much as power.
A course that keeps asking hard questions
Aronimink has not allowed the field to get comfortable. On Friday, the setup forced players into uncomfortable positions and made even routine scoring chances look demanding.
The PGA of America used severe hole locations on slopes, crowns and edges that quickly fell away on the Donald Ross greens. Scottie Scheffler said the pins were the hardest he had ever seen, while Rory McIlroy pointed to the leaderboard traffic as evidence that the setup had made separation difficult.
The conditions also slowed play, with rounds stretching beyond five and a half hours. Players avoided direct criticism, but the effect was clear: pars were available, birdies were scarce, and mistakes carried real weight.
Scheffler still looks like the player to beat
Scheffler enters the weekend at 2 under after a 1-over 71 on Friday, and he remains close enough to control his own fate. He did not have his best day off the tee, opening with six missed fairways, but he recovered later in the round and found seven of his last eight.
His first round showed why he remains the favorite. He hit all but one fairway, stayed sharp on the greens and built a strong early position in the championship.
Even after a rougher second round, Scheffler sits in the top 10 and remains within striking distance. His recent record in major championships also keeps him near the center of the conversation, especially after last year’s PGA Championship, when he was three shots back at the halfway point and went on to win by five.
Why the leaderboard may stay crowded
The margin between contending and slipping back appears especially thin at Aronimink. The course does not seem to offer many easy chances to separate, and the back nine in particular has created enough danger to keep the field compressed.
That has opened the door for players a few strokes off the pace, including several big names. Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg, Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy are all still close enough to make a move.
Åberg, who is 2 under, finished his second round with birdies on four of his last six holes and gained more than four strokes on approach. He said he felt he was “striking it nice all day,” and that patience will matter if he wants to stay in the hunt.
The winning score may stay low only in relation to the field
This PGA Championship has not looked like a week where anyone can run away from the field. The leaders are at 4 under, but the more striking number is the depth of the chase group, with 30 players within five shots after 36 holes.
That pattern matters because recent history usually points toward a contender already near the top after two rounds. In 14 of the past 15 PGA Championships, the eventual winner was inside the top seven and ties after the second round, but this event has the look of an exception.
Chris Gotterup’s 65 on Friday showed that low scores are possible, even if they require heavy work. If the weekend brings warmer weather, some of the bigger names still lurking near the lead may try to force a move before Sunday’s pressure arrives.
Who got left behind
Several notable players will not be part of the weekend push. Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, J.J. Spaun, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka and Adam Scott all missed the cut.
Bryson DeChambeau also failed to advance after finishing at 7-over 147. A costly stretch on the par-4 seventh helped define a difficult week, and he needed three straight birdies late in his second round just to avoid going into double digits over par.
Garrick Higgo missed the cut at 5 over after a two-stroke penalty for being late to his first-round tee time, leaving the field without several familiar names for the final 36 holes.
The weekend now belongs to the players who can manage the demanding pin positions and keep mistakes off the card. Scheffler remains the most obvious favorite, but the depth near the top means Aronimink could still produce a finish that stays undecided deep into Sunday.