Newtown Square (United States) (AFP) – Alex Smalley, chasing his first PGA Tour title, grabbed a one-stroke lead in Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship as cold and windy Aronimink played havoc with contenders. The 29-year-old American, among seven co-leaders on three-under par after day one, birdied the par-five 16th and par-four 18th to reach five-under while bigger names struggled on Aronimink’s sloped greens.
Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler tumbled from a share of the lead with three bogeys in his first four holes, missing his first six fairways after hitting 13 of 14 Thursday. Smalley, a back-nine starter, grinded out six pars, the most spectacular on a 19-foot putt at the 15th, then reached the green in two at the par-five 16th to set up a tap-in birdie that gave him the solo lead. At 18, Smalley sank a birdie putt from just inside 15 feet, becoming the first player this week to reach five-under, although it was short-lived as he made a bogey at the first hole, missing an eight-foot par putt.
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Smalley has top-20 finishes in his past four PGA Tour starts, including second at the pairs event in New Orleans and seventh two weeks ago at Doral. Also making a charge in tough conditions was Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion who was three-under through 17 holes in his second round. Matsuyama, a back-nine starter, sank birdie putts from 23 feet at 13, eight feet at the third, five feet at the par-three fifth and, after a bogey at six, from 20 feet at the seventh.
Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler tumbled from a share of the lead with three bogeys in his first four holes, missing his first six fairways after hitting 13 of 14 Thursday. Scheffler had been part of the largest 18-hole co-leader pack in a major since 1989 with Smalley, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, and four late starters — Australian Min Woo Lee, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune, South African Aldrich Potgieter, and Germany’s Stephan Jaeger. Kaymer made bogeys on five of the first seven holes to stumble back.
Scheffler found thick left rough off the 10th tee, plunked his approach short of the green, punched to 19 feet, then missed his par putt. He had a similar path to bogey at 12, missing a 10-footer for par, and added a three-putt bogey at 13 before making a tap-in birdie at the par-three 17th. Fellow American Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters winner, made a five-foot birdie putt at the fourth to briefly share the lead on three-under. Two holes later, Reed made a three-putt bogey, becoming the last player to take his first bogey of the week.
England’s Justin Rose opened with a double bogey at the 10th and added another at 14, soaring to four-over, two beyond the projected cut line. Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion, spent hours on the practice range Thursday evening after spraying tee shots in an opening-round 74, making bogeys on five of the last six holes. Not since Payne Stewart in 1979 has a PGA winner opened on 74.
Joining McIlroy with an afternoon start will be a one-under pack including five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, two-time major winner Jon Rahm, and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, with two-time major winner Xander Schauffele on two-under. Spieth would complete a career Grand Slam with a victory while Rahm would become the first Spaniard to win the PGA title. Also starting late is two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau, who fired an opening 76.
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