US PGA 2024: Scheffler hits 66 after arrest, Schauffele leads – as it happened

It’s been a very long, very sad and very unusual Friday at the PGA Championship. Thanks for reading the blog. Enjoy Moving Day, brought to you by the one and only Scott Murray.

It’s not been easy to win the PGA Championship from off the pace. 22 of the last 30 winners were tied third or better at halfway and 27 were tied seventh or better.

Par for Bryson DeChambeau at the last. Here’s the halfway leaderboard (Dean Burmester is -6 with two holes to play tomorrow morning):

-12: Schauffele (F)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Theegala (F)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), DeChambeau (F)
-8: Finau (F), Hovland (F), Eckroat (F)

Bryson DeChambeau is playing the 18th and the last man out there with the potential to impact the top end of the scoring. TV, however, has had enough and gone off air.

Bob MacIntyre’s messy finale continues. He pushes his approach at 9 through the green and his putt from the fringe rushes by the hole. At least 10 feet for par … and it misses. That’s really going to hurt. A wonderful opportunity has become a night of gnashing teeth. He’s -6 for the tournament.

It’s getting dark out there and the referees are poised to call a halt to play. They hover about, looking furtive but unmenacing, whispering into walkie-talkies, horns ready to be honked.

Somehow Sahith Theegala has contrived to give himself a decent birdie opportunity at the 18th. He sprayed his tee shot into the trees, thrashed a recovery, hated the swing on his approach and the result really wasn’t that bad. About 18 feet and it grazes the hole. Par to finish.

-12: Schauffele (F)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Theegala (F)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), DeChambeau (17)

Here’s where Bob MacIntyre found himself on the 7th. It looks more like an extremely rundown crazy golf hole than a major championship venue. (He’s just dropped a shot at the 8th, too.)

Xander Schauffele addressed his near-misses when he talked to the media after his round. “When you haven’t won a golf tournament in a few years, you have to be pretty resilient,” he said. “I’m just patient and trying to play the best golf I can and stay out of my own way. I know I’m playing really good golf right now, and all I can do is focus on my process.”

Oh dear - Bob MacIntyre update. He’s back on our screens but dropping a ball on a muddy carpet near some sort of building. The pitch to the green finds rough. We don’t see that shot but we do see him hole a lengthy putt for par. It’s all so confusing the shot tracker has more or less given up with lines and squiggles everywhere. Little fist pump from Bob, though, when the ball dropped in the hole.

Bob MacIntyre has disappeared from TV coverage and the shot tracker has gone quiet too. He’s -4 for the round, -9 for the tournament, in a share for fifth place and playing the par-five 7th. His approach was a bit of a thrash and didn’t find the green but it’s all a bit bewildering.

Brooks Koepka has had a miserable few minutes. Birdie at 15 gave him a chance of getting close to the leader but he’s responded with back-to-back bogeys. He’s now -6 for the week.

A few big names won’t be playing this weekend. They include Ludvig Aberg, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Sungjae Im and Wyndham Clark. All of them have missed the cut.

Earlier today Mark from Spain emailed asking us if Tiger Woods should bow out. He shot 72-77 but refused to be down afterwards. “I need to play more,” he said. “Unfortunately, I just haven’t played a whole lot of tournaments, and not a whole lot of tournaments on my schedule either. Hopefully, everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for (the US Open at) Pinehurst.”

An eagle 3 at the 18th hole for Justin Rose. That leaves the Englishman -5 and in the top 30 heading into the weekend. No less than 10 of his last 12 championship performances have reaped top 30s.

In theory, Xander Schauffele can be joined at the top of the leaderboard and even passed. But he’s almost certain to be the halfway leader or co-leader in the 2024 PGA Championship, adding a second round 68 to his opening 62 for a 12-under total of 130.

-12: Schauffele (F)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Theegala (14)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), MacIntyre (15)

A final opportunity for Xander Schauffele at the par-five 18th. But is he set to spurn it? He was -4 through 10 holes today, made bogey at 11 and has parred every hole since. The chasers will be heartened and even more so after he yanks his approach to 18 into thick grass and can only poke the ball on to the putting surface. He’s got about 18 feet for birdie … and is up and out of it almost immediately. Another par. Hmm.

In contrast to the late Friday sense of fatigue, Brooks Koepka is making a move. The defending champion opened the front nine with a bogey and the back nine with a double bogey, but he’s also ticked seven birdies, the latest at 15 to get to -4 for the round and -8 for the tournament.

It’s not really happened for Michael Block this year. The unlikely star of last year’s championship bids farewell after rounds of 76-73 (+7).

A few biggish moments in a rush. Brooks Koepka holes a 9 foot par putt to stay at -7, Rory McIlroy gives himself a rare look at a birdie, Xander Schauffele lips out from 12 feet for birdie at 17, Bryson DeChambeau loses momentum with a bogey (drops to -7), Viktor Hovland chips close from thick rough, Sahith Theegala faces a scramble for par at 14. Late in a long day, it’s beginning to feel like a test of patience.

-12: Schauffele (17)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Theegala (12)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), MacIntyre (14)

It’s not happening for Rory McIlroy. He’s +1 through 14, -4 for the championship and doesn’t really look like changing the situation.

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie was getting a bit frustrated earlier today. Pure double teapot and long distance icy stare.

Englishman Matt Wallace is enjoying a terrific day. He’s -6 through 16 and -7 for the tournament. He has sneaky good form on Jack Nicklaus designs. He won the 2018 BMW International Open at Gut Larchenhof in Germany and was fourth in the 2020 Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. He was also third in this event at Bethpage Black in 2019.

Xander Schauffele has three holes left to stretch his lead. He’s looked a little tentative on the back nine and Paul McGinley on Sky Sports has repeated his theory that he’s had a great opportunity to grab the moment - amd not taken it. At 16 he has a 23 foot birdie putt that is never running at the hole. Is he fluffing a chance to put some distance between himself and his closest rivals?

Behind him, Sahith Theegala makes a birdie at the tough 12th.

Kentucky’s Justin Thomas breaks a scorecard stalemate with birdie at 15. After playing the first seven holes in -3 he added seven pars but he’s back on track and -6 for the tournament. It would be fantastic for the tournament to have JT involved at the top end this weekend.

Bob MacIntyre is playing even better: yet another birdie, this time at the 4th, and he’s on the front page of the leaderboard.

-12: Schauffele (15)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), MacIntyre (13), Theegala (11), Finau (11)

Sahith Theegala is kind of recreating Botham’s Ashes. His second shot at 10 veered left, clattering into a food concession. Richie Benaud’s “Don’t even bother looking for that” comes to mind. “It’s gone into the confectionery stall and out again.” It has - Theegala’s had a drop.

Double bogey for Rory McIlroy at 12. He found a greenside bunker, couldn’t escape to the green and it all became messy thereafter. “This is what we see too often from McIlroy,” says Paul McGinley on Sky Sports with a sigh. McIlroy needs a big finish and for Xander Schauffele to stop making birdies. The good news? the leader has just missed a 6 foot par breaking opportunity at 14.

Viktor Hovland really does look sharp again. Another birdie, this time from 18 feet at the par-three 11, and he’s flying on -5 for the round and -8 for the week.

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A fourth birdie for Sahith Theegala. He makes the turn in -4 and is now alone in third (but has just hit a very wild drive at 10).

-12: Schauffele (11)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Theegala (9)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F)

The name Valhalla comes from Norse mythology. Perfect for Viktor Hovland you might think. The Norwegian has a curious recent story. He finished top five in the 2022 Open, the 2023 Masters and the 2023 PGA Championship. He was top 20 in last year’s US Open and Open. He won the Tour Championship and was a Ryder Cup star. He then changed coach and lost form completely. He’s back with him now and looks happier (as well as hitting the ball better). He’s just made birdie at 10, is -4 for the day and -7 for the tournament.

Tremendous from Bob MacIntyre. He knocks his 188 yard approach to the 1st to 6 feet and holes it for birdie. He’s now -3 for the round, -8 for the week and tied seventh. A keen shinty player he’s treating Valhalla like a match against Kingussie. Regular correspondent Simon McMahon is a big fan of Bob saying his new base in Florida “isn’t Oban”.

Here’s Ewan Murray on “the jaw-dropping nature of Friday at the 106th US PGA Championship”.

Sahith Theegala is bang in the hunt. The American said after the Masters: “Major championship golf is just so fun. It’s hard and I love hard golf.” He’s proving it this week (even though this week is not the hardest major championship golf the field will encounter). He’s -3 for the day through 8 and now tied third.

-12: Schauffele (11)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F), Theegala (8)

Tomorrow’s headline.

Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre is ticking along in nice fashion. He’s swapped three birdies and one bogey through the back nine. He’s -7 for the week and just inside the top 10. If he’s still there by the end of Sunday it will go a long way toward regaining his card for next season which would be a relief for him. He’s not the biggest fan of a) not being home in Oban, and b) being in America.

A super par saver from Rory McIlroy. He was making a real mess of the 9th until he drilled a par putt into the middle of the hole from 25 feet. He makes the turn in -1 for the day and -6 for the week. He needs a good back nine.

David from Mortlake asked yesterday about stellar major championship performances conducted while a golfer was injured. It was in response to a post about Sahith Theegala’s recently dislocated ribs (he’s -8 for the week by the way). I’ve been trying to think of examples since and I’ve just been hit by the bleeding obvious: Tiger Woods winning the 2008 US Open on a fractured leg. Robert Karlsson was a playing partner that week and the sound of the leg cracking when Woods hit drives was so distressing the Swede took himself and his caddie off to the bar afterwards to have a whisky. They were the most expensive he ever bought but he considered them medicinal.

Clare asks: “You said yesterday that Belgium’s Thomas Detry has connections with Cornwall - what are they?!?” It’s true, Clare. His wife’s family have a holiday home in the county and he plays golf at St Enodoc. John Betjeman is buried in the churchyard in the middle of the course. Detry’s fondness for Betjeman’s rhyming couplets is unknown.

We have a new solo leader. Xander Schauffele continues to pile on the par breakers, now adding a 16 foot birdie at 9 to turn in -3 for the day.

-12: Schauffele (9)
-11: Morikawa (F)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F)
-8: Eckroat (F), Finau (5), Theegala (5)

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Rory McIlroy needs igniting. Level par for the day, -5 for the week and six shots back of the lead, but the par-five 7th could provide the spark … and it does. He gets up and down from 56 yards short of the green for birdie. He’s in the red for the day.

A hat trick of birdies for Bryson DeChambeau at 3, 4 and 5. He’s got the tricky 6th to come but then the par-five 7th will be vulnerable to his big hitting. He’s -6 for the week and could be making a significant Friday move.

The merest hint of a smile in the middle of the goatee of Tiger Woods. It’s been a brutal round for him – he was +6 for the round despite a birdie at 7 – but he nearly aces the 8th. Instead, he taps in from 4 inches for back-to-back birdies.

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Xander Schauffele joins Collin Morikawa at the top. A birdie at the par-five 7th gets him to -2 for the round and -11 for the week. Tidy stuff and, although the action feels a little becalmed right now, conditions are very playable. The rain of earlier has disappeared and the course is soft, vulnerable to quality ball-striking.

-11: Morikawa (F), Schauffele (7)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F)
-8: Eckroat (F), Finau (5), Theegala (5)

Patrick emails: “How did Aaron Rai fare today?” Good question, Patrick. The Englishman made 15 pars and three birdies to shoot a second 68 of the week. He’s -6 and currently T10th. I had a fun fact about him yesterday and here’s another: when he was 15 he holed 207 consecutive putts of 10 feet, setting a world record.

These numbers explain how good Scottie Scheffler has been over the last three seasons. The gap between himself and the three who are next best is ridiculous.

Mixed putting fortunes for Brooks Koepka. Through four holes he’s missed a par putt from 4 feet and a birdie putt from 5 feet, but drained birdie putts from 7 feet and 62 feet. He’s -1 for the day and -5 for the tournament however.

Tony Finau has made a smooth start to his second round. He’s -2 through 3 and now in a tie for 6th.

-11: Morikawa (F)
-10: Schauffele (6)
-9: Detry (F), Scheffler (F), Hubbard (F)
-8: Eckroat (F), Finau (3)