Golf does not understand hierarchies. The world number two, Rory McIlroy, finished Thursday’s first day of the PGA Championship with four bogeys in a row for the first time in 990 official rounds on the PGA Tour, and this Friday the Masters champion had to sweat to make the cut in the second major of the season by cutting three strokes to +1. The number one, Scottie Scheffler, was more optimistic with an opening round of -3, but the tough conditions of the Aronimink course in Philadelphia, strong winds, devilish flag positions, and complex-to-read greens brought him back down to earth with three bogeys in his first four holes, losing his lead in one fell swoop.
Scheffler did not hit a fairway until his ninth hole, the 18th (he started on the 10th), and putting mistakes ended up condemning him in that very slow start. A dart to the flag on the 17th hole to catch his first birdie changed his angry face, and he ended up rolling up his sleeves to post a card of one over par for the day and -2 overall. After winning the American Express this season, and three consecutive second places at the Masters, Heritage, and Cadillac, the number one is chasing his first annual win in the majors.
Scottie Scheffler makes his first birdie of the day. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/0O5eZcmtJa
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2026
One stroke behind is Jon Rahm, another star who felt Aronimink’s claws firsthand. The Basque played in the afternoon tee time, with less wind, and after stringing together many safe pars, avoiding the traps where others had fallen, he holed from nearly eight meters on the 8th hole for his first birdie. He has been an excellent reader of greens since childhood, and on this course of curves and ups and downs, that is a treasure. Another birdie on the 11th sent Rahm soaring, but a bad iron from the fairway on the 13th and two trips through the rough on the 15th brought him back to square one: even par for the day and -1, three behind the leaders, Americans Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy (-4), in a very tight leaderboard with very close scores. Only eight strokes separate the first and last to make the cut, and only 21 players are under par.
Rahm on the rise. ⬆️
His first birdie of the day sees him move into T8.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/1yYQprvI9Z
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— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2026
With -2, the same as Scheffler and ahead of Rahm, smiles David Puig, who closed the round with a 10-meter putt on the 18th, a -3 round with only one bogey and once again near the top of the leaderboard. It is his best performance in a major after the first two rounds. “I get out of bed every day to experience things like this. I have improved every year and come to this tournament better prepared than ever,” said the Catalan. As a reward, this Saturday he will share the day with the number one, Scheffler.
Ángel Ayora missed the cut after a fateful transformation: he closed the first nine holes with -3 and a brilliant bingo from the bunker on the 8th hole, but signed +7 on the back nine for a +6 that left him out of the weekend. Like DeChambeau, +7.
It was a day to hold on to the course and especially play more defensively if the tee shot did not land on the fairway. The golfers’ slowness in handling the greens resulted in rounds lasting around six hours, again the drag of slow play that penalizes this sport today.
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PGA Championship leaderboard.
