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Wyndham Clark Wins US Open

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SOUTHAMPTON – (Wire Service Report) – Wyndham Clark is once again a top-10 golfer in the world after capturing his second U.S. Open title in four years. Clark jumped 26 spots to No. 8 in the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday, one day after he won the third major of the 2026 season.

Clark had his first major breakthrough at the 2023 U.S. Open and climbed as high as No. 3 in the world in 2024. A less-than-stellar start to the 2026 season saw him tumble as far as 75th in the world, which is where he stood when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship.

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He bounced back to No. 45 in his next start by winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson outside Dallas, then gained eight more spots to No. 37 by placing third at the Memorial Tournament, a signature event with a strong field.

Clark won by one stroke over Sam Burns Sunday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club after starting the day with a six-shot cushion on the field. Burns, for his part, rose from No. 30 to 15 in the world.

In third place was South Korea’s Tom Kim, who like Burns made a late push to try to apply pressure as Clark slipped from 7 under to 4 under for the event.

A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, Kim has struggled in recent years and fell as far as No. 152 in the world before playing the RBC Canadian Open two weeks ago. His U.S. Open finish propelled him from 141st to 64th in the rankings.

Bryson DeChambeau missed his third straight major cut of 2026 and dropped two spots to No. 34 in the rankings. He has had a successful season on the LIV Golf circuit, where world ranking points are being doled out for the first time, but only to the top 10 finishers of a given event.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: It’s On to Shinnecock Hills

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SOUTHAMPTON, NY – This week will feature the third major of the 2026 season (Rory McIlroy/Masters Tournament; Aaron Rai/PGA Championship) and the 126th playing of the U.S. Open, dating to 1895.

The 2026 U.S. Open will be the 76th USGA championship and 21st U.S. Open conducted in New York. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is the lone course to have hosted the U.S. Open in three different centuries. The golf course was founded in 1891, is the oldest incorporated golf club in the United States. Shinnecock is one of the five founding member clubs of the USGA, which was established in 1894 and conducted its first championships in 1895.

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In 1896, Shinnecock Hills hosted the second U.S. Open (35 total players) and second U.S. Amateur (58 total players).

The 2026 U.S. Open is the 10th USGA championship to be conducted by the club and the sixth U.S. Open (1896/James Foulis, 1986/Raymond Floyd, 1995/Corey Pavin, 2004/Retief Goosen, 2018/Brooks Koepka).

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club will also host the 2036 U.S. Open and 2036 U.S. Women’s Open.

The USGA accepted 10,201 entries for the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, one entry shy of the record 10,202 entries accepted for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club. This year marks the fifth time in championship history that the number of entries exceeded 10,000.

The field will be cut after 36 holes to the low 60 and ties.

In the event of a playoff, a two-hole aggregate playoff will take place following the completion of Sunday’s final round

U.S. Open | Tournament Facts

COURSE: Shinnecock Hills Country Club, Southampton, Long Island

YARDS/PAR: 7,440 yards/Par 70

ARCHITECT/DESIGN: Willie Davis in 1891 and later expanded by Willie Dunn in 1894. William Flynn is credited with the major redesign in 1931.

PRIZE Money – Purse/Winner’s Share: TBD

DEFENDING CHAMPION: J.J. Spaun

PAST RESULTS: (link)

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup #USOpengolf

U.S. Open | The Basics

The Tee Times at Shinnecock start at 6:35am (ET) and go to 2:42pm (ET).

Weather: Thursday’s forecast on the East End of Long Island is uncertain. Morning sun still sees a 41% chance of rain. Temperatures 77-83 degrees but winds blowing at 20 mph.

Tournament Web Site: (link)

PGA Tour Brunch – U.S. Open edition – will post at 6:00am (ET) on Thursday.

U.S. Open – Field and Tee Times

The Field: (link)

Tee Times: (link)

U.S. Open | Tournament Odds

Odds Courtesy Betting Hero – Select Players

Scottie Scheffler +550

Rory McIlroy +1200

Jon Rahm +1500

Xander Schauffele +1600

Tommy Fleetwood +1800

Matt Fitzpatrick +1800

Cameron Young +2000

Ludvig Åberg +2200

Russell Henley +3300

Si Woo Kim +3500

Collin Morikawa +4000

Chris Gotterup +4000

Patrick Reed +4000

Sam Burns +4000

Tyrrell Hatton +4000

Bryson DeChambeau +4000

Brooks Koepka +4500

Patrick Cantlay +5000

Viktor Hovland +5000

Justin Rose +5000

Justin Thomas +5000

Wyndham Clark +5000

Maverick McNealy +6000

Min Woo Lee +6000

Kurt Kitayama +6000

J.J. Spaun +6000

Aaron Rai +6500

Jordan Spieth +7000

Harris English +7000

Hideki Matsuyama +7000

Joaquin Niemann +7000

Shane Lowry +7000

Robert MacIntyre +8000

Ryan Gerard +8000

Adam Scott +8000

Kristoffer Reitan +8000

Ben Griffin +8000

Jake Knapp +10000

Jacob Bridgeman +10000

David Puig +10000

Alex Fitzpatrick +10000

Gary Woodland +10000

Cameron Smith +10000

Nicolai Højgaard +10000

Sepp Straka +10000

Alex Noren +10000

Bud Cauley +10000

PGA Tour: Cauley Gets His Win

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TORONTO – (Wire Service Report) – It was a long climb for Bud Cauley, but he finally made it.

Cauley birdied three consecutive holes on the back nine during the final round of the RBC Canadian Open on his way to shooting 5-under-par 65 and winning on the PGA Tour for the first time Sunday in Caledon, Ontario.

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Cauley, 36, had never finished higher than third since turning pro in 2011. The RBC Canadian Open was his 239th PGA Tour event — most of them coming prior a 2018 car accident that broke six of his ribs, fractured his leg and forced a collapsed lung.

“Just how hard that was,” said Cauley, reflecting on his journey. “Just so many people helped me get here and I’m just really thankful for all the help that I’ve gotten.”

Cauley ended up at 17-under 263 for a two-stroke victory over England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick shot 64, finishing his round with a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 18 after a bogey on the previous hole pretty much dashed his hopes of winning the tournament at rainy TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North course.

Norway’s Viktor Hovland (65) claimed third at 14 under.

Cauley used four birdies, including a chip-in on No. 12, on a five-hole stretch (Nos. 11 to 15) to pull away from the pack for a three-shot lead.

“I’m just very proud of the way I kind of kept going and continued to make birdies there on the back nine and I’m just so happy,” he said.

Fitzpatrick generally liked his performance.

“It’s a good week,” he said. “I would have taken it at the start of the week. I felt like there was a lot of good stuff in there.”

Jimmy Stanger trailed by three going to No. 18, but an approach into the water cost him and he bogeyed the hole and settled for 67. At 13 under, he tied with Jackson Suber (70), Brice Garnett (68) and Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (68) for fourth place. Suber led Cauley by one shot through three rounds.

Still, Suber had a worthwhile experience, gaining entry later this year in the British Open and Travelers based on the result. He qualified for the U.S. Open during a Monday qualifier at the beginning of the week.

“To be able to play in the U.S. Open next week, Travelers, and then the British Open, I mean, that’s a pretty big schedule change, especially coming into the year with conditional status,” Suber said.

Defending champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand posted 68 and tied with two others — Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju (68) and South African Aldrich Potgieter (65) — at 12 under.

“Obviously going into the week, it was like you have that little bit of added pressure being at the Canadian Open and for me being pretty close to home and stuff like that,” Yellamaraju said. “I just kind of tried to keep trying to tell myself to play the best that I could and just fight until the very end, which was pretty much what I did.”

Second-round leader Ben James recovered from a disastrous third round to shoot 69 and tie for 54th place at 3 under in his PGA Tour debut.

Brooks Koepka, who was a co-leader after a first-round 64, withdrew prior to the final round citing a hand injury. After a 72 on Saturday, he stood at 6 under through three rounds.

The start of Sunday’s round was pushed back because of concerns related to the weather forecast. Golfers were sent off the first and 10th tees in threesomes.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Henley Birdies ‘Em All

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FT. WORTH – (Wire Service Report) – Russell Henley did some of his most difficult work during Sunday’s final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge to get into a playoff. Yet he still had to put aside his nerves to finish the task. Henley birdied the first playoff hole with a putt from inside 5 feet to defeat Eric Cole and complete a comeback victory in Texas.

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“This is why I practice hard … to come back to the playoff and do that, I’m still just kind of shaking,” Henley said. “That was as nervous as I’ve been over a putt in my whole life.”

Henley shot 3-under-par 67 with birdies on the final three holes before beating Cole in the playoff. They were tied at 12-under 268.

Cole, who shot 70 in the fourth round, failed to convert a 13-foot putt for birdie before Henley sank the winning putt when the duo replayed the par-4 No. 18 at Colonial Country Club.

“The putt was good, I hit it pretty much where I was aiming, I just kind of misread it,” Cole said. “I thought it might start breaking left a little earlier.”

Henley, now a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, won for the first time since the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I think the longer you play this game, the more you want, you want more success and I feel like I’ve just worked harder and harder and I feel like I’ve been a little off just mentally this year, really,” Henley said. “Just feel like I just fought really hard through the end, so it just felt really good to see an awesome result.”

Henley’s round began with an eagle on the par-5 first hole and a birdie on the next hole followed by three consecutive bogeys. He played Nos. 3-9 in 4 over before recovering. His tying birdie putt on No. 18 was from about 16 1/2 feet.

He recalled “feeling a little jittery” on the front side. Then that changed.

“I just kind of calmed down a little bit and started to hit some good shots, and felt like I was hitting good putts most of the day and they just went in at the end,” he said.

Cole, the third-round leader, was bidding for his first victory on the PGA Tour. He had birdies on the first two holes but didn’t maintain the momentum and was hurt by a double bogey at No. 9.

“I was proud with the way I played,” Cole said. “I think I played solid for the most part. I drove the ball pretty well. I just needed to shave a shot somewhere.”

Defending champion Ben Griffin (65), Mac Meissner (69) and Alex Smalley (68) shared third place at 11 under.

Meissner, playing in the last pairing with Cole, needed a birdie on No. 18 to join the playoff. Instead, his second shot ended up in a bunker and he scrambled for par.

Griffin moved into second place by the midway mark of the round, catapulted by playing the front nine in 5 under. He was even par the rest of the way. Griffin’s 65 matched Steven Fisk for the best round of the day.

“I felt like I was going to make a nice run when I woke up this morning,” Griffin said. “My game was trending in the right direction. It’s a course I have experience on and I kind of know what you have to do on Sunday here.”

He nearly rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt on the last hole.

J.J. Spaun (70), Gary Woodland (67), Michael Brennan (68) and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (68) all tied for sixth place at 10 under.

Brennan pulled into a share of the lead by mid-afternoon, but across his final seven holes, he had three bogeys and two birdies.

Woodland was happy to move into contention.

“I’m excited about where the game is at,” Woodland said. “I definitely didn’t get the most out of it this week, I played a lot better than what I scored, but happy with where it’s at.”

England’s Jordan Smith, who led at the tournament’s midway mark, finished at 8 under and tied for 13th place after a final-round 68.

–Field Level Media

Clark Takes the CJ Cup

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – Wyndham Clark (1st/-30) won his fourth PGA TOUR title in his 201st start at 32 years, 5 months, 15 days. Clark’s final-round 60 (-11) sets new tournament record for the low final-round score with the previous best, a (61) by Xander Schauffele/2022).

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Clark also shot 60 in what was the final round to win the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am (weather reduced to 54 holes).

Clark is one of four players to post 60 or better in the final round en route to victory on record: David Duval/1999 American Express (59), Stuart Appleby/2010 Greenbrier Classic (59), Tommy Gainey/2012 RSM Classic (60), Wyndham Clark/2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (60)* and 2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson (60): Note *54 holes due to weather.

Clark joined Si Woo Kim (R2/2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson), Blades Brown (R2/Nicklaus Tournament Course) and Andrew Putnam (R2/La Quinta CC) – both at The American Express – with the lowest round on TOUR this season.

CJ Cup | Final Leaderboard
1 Wyndham Clark 66 63 65 60 254 (-30)

2 Si Woo Kim 64 60 68 65 257 (-27)

3 Scottie Scheffler 66 63 65 65 259 (-25)

4 Jackson Suber 68 61 69 63 261 (-23)

5 Keith Mitchell 64 66 68 64 262 (-22)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

 

Next Up: The CJ Cup

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – TPC Craig Ranch will host THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the sixth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, the great Byron Nelson, the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer.

Nelson had 52 career PGA TOUR wins including a record 18 titles (11 straight) in 1945.

PGA Tour Brunch is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Following Scotties Scheffler’s win in 2025, TPC Craig Ranch underwent a $25 million overhaul, its first major redesign since opening in 2004. Led by renowned course designer and World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, the project features completely redesigned bunkers, resurfaced greens for more pin options, new grass turf, lengthened holes and strategic bunker repositioning to curb low scoring

CJ Group ambassadors in the field include: Pierceson Coody, Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim, K.H. Lee

Five of the last six champions at THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson have been international players (Sung Kang/South Korea/2019, K.H. Lee/South Korea/2021-22, Jason Day/Australia/2023, Taylor Pendrith/Canada/2024).

Forty players that competed at last week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, including top-10 finisher Matti Schmid (T4).

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas

YARDS/PAR: 7,385 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Tom Weiskopf

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $10,300,000/$1,184,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

BYRON NELSON ORGANIZATION: (link)

 

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | May 17

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Greetings from Boston, Massachusetts where the Red Sox are on the road and struggling mightily, the Bruins were eliminated from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the once-lowly Buffalo Sabres and the Celtics are watching Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals from their beach chairs in Cancun.

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That brings us to this weekend’s PGA Championship in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, just a few miles north of Philadelphia. (Little known fact about Newtown Square, PA – not to be confused with Newton Centre, Massachusetts – is that it’s the place your favorite columnist made his Keswick Americans debut on the Dek, circa 1977). And, yes, I put a couple in centering for Holy Trinity mates Greg Pannell and Matt Feeney, but we lost to the Glenolden Gents of Philly in the semis.

I digress, although I’d love to be in Philadelphia.

The PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America, not to be confused with the PGA TOUR. The PGA of America is the governing body for all the club professionals working the thousands of golf courses in the USA, teaching and caring for the game. The PGA of America is also responsible for fielding the USA Ryder Cup teams and organizing the tournament when it’s staged in America. The President’s Cup comes in there, too, but we’ll leave that for another Presidency.

This year’s PGA Championship, the 108th, is being played at Aronimink Golf Club, a former PGA Tour venue for the BMW Championship.

The Thursday and Friday opening rounds were beyond challenging as a 1/2 inch of rain Wednesday night made for very soft, wet conditions in the deep rough. Morning round golfers paid the price, as did their counterparts on Friday when cold, blustery (14-20 mph winds) weather took its toll on the scorecards of even the very best – like Scottie Scheffler who bogeyed three of his first four holes (started on the Back 9) before grinding out a (+1) score of (71) after shooting (67) the previous afternoon.

As tough as the course and the rough played, it was the difficult pin placements which caused the most grief amongst the field. “You see it, you’re like, oh, wow, they’re pushing these things as far as they can,” Scheffler said of the pin locations. “Most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd,” Scheffler added. “They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be. This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on Tour,” he said, “and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont.”

Each of golf’s Majors had their signature attributes, but the PGA Championship was sort of lost in the shuffle without any single identity. Yes, the Wanamaker Trophy has its place amongst the great trophies in all of sports, but the fact the PGA moved around so much, and then was shifted from August to May in the PGA Tour schedule made it less important.

The Masters has the glory of Augusta National and its positioning in April is a sure sign of Spring. The players adore the course and the acceptance of the corny Green Jacket.

The U.S. Open (organized by the United States Golf Association or USGA) has been the most difficult and the courses utilized have become known as the hardest, or even “unfair” by some players.

The Open (a.k.a. British Open) is organized by the The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and is known as the R & A. The Open has the all the great golf courses, it has the history and the prestige associated with winning The Open is second-to-none. It’s golf’s version of Wimbledon. Whether it’s the Old Course at St. Andrew’s (host 30 times) to Prestwick (24 times) or the prestige of Muirfield (16 times), or Royal St. George’s Golf Club (15), or Royal Liverpool (12 times), The Open is the most distinguished of all tournament and it has the Claret Jug Trophy, The Open has cemented its place – not only in golf – but in all of sport.

That leaves The PGA Championship as “the fourth Major,” which is quite alright. The PGA of America’s hierarchy is proud of their tournament and its 107-year past history. This weekend, the Aronimink Golf Club is shining brightly, although you’d never know it from the Thursday and Friday weather. The 2026 edition of the PGA is shaping up to be two different tournaments, the first to get through the qualifier in the winds, then the weekend of great weather, some breeze, but overall – paradise on the golf course.

This week, 98 of the top 100 players in the World Golf Rankings teed-it-up. Only Lucas Herbert (#89) and Shaun Norris (#95) are missing.

Thirty-six hole leader Maverick McNealy faltered on Moving Day and shot (+1) but his co-leader, Alex Smalley, kept up his pace (-2) and it’s Smalley who leads the PGA by two strokes over five golfers tied for second. Saturday saw the big names jump up the leaderboard, a la Rory McIlroy who shot a (-4) to fight his way into contention after an opening round (74).

Five players shot (65) and six joined McIlroy in shooting a (66).

The take-away message channels the great line from the great Houston Rockets and Team USA coach Rudy Tomjanovich and that is to “never underestimate a major or a major champion.”

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: WWYIs believes it’s important to keep an eye on minor league baseball. Last week, there was some “investment advice” for the Oakland Ballers of the Pioneeer League. This weekend? It’s an update on the American Association. The sound of “Play Ball!” will be heard across the Midwest this week, as the American Association of Professional Baseball (@AA_Baseball) opened the 2026 regular season. There’s quite a newsworthy item of note to start the season; The Kane County Cougars will adopt an “alternate identity, the “Swedish Meatballs,” celebrating the strong Swedish population in Geneva, Illinois for games on June 13, July 31 and August 20.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced announced the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic will return to the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield on Sunday, December 6. The games will feature UMass vs. Wake Forest and Brown vs. Central Connecticut State (CCSU). The event is made possible in partnership with Explore Western Mass, Springfield Business Improvement District, UMass, and the MassMutual Center.

This year’s Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies will be held August 14 (Mohegan Sun festivities) and August 15 (Springfield, Mass.).

Teams of 1×1 hoopsters representing the great basketball cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, and Washington, D.C. advanced at “OBL: Battle of the Cities,” the first of three Championship events for Tracy McGrady’s Ones Basketball League.

The six teams advance to the next phase of the championship, “Standing 6,” set for June 12. From there, four will move on to “For the Throne,” the July 1 finals. All the games are being staged at Oak Ridge High School in Orlando.

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YOU CAN’T MAKE IT UP: Here’s a new one. On Saturday, the National Hockey League issued a very stiff penalty in regard to the leaague’s media relations rules. In a statement, the NHL notes, “As a result of flagrant violations of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs media regulations following Game 6 of their second round series against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, May 14, the Vegas Golden Knights will forfeit a second-round pick in the 2026 (Upper Deck) NHL Draft. In addition, Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella has been fined $100,000.”

The statement continued, “The imposition of these penalties comes after previous warnings were issued to the club regarding their compliance with the media regulations and other associated policies. Vegas has been offered the opportunity to appeal these penalties to the Commissioner’s Office. That appeal would be held in person next week in New York.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – Napoleon Solo took honors in the Preakness on Saturday. The horse came into the race known for his impressive win in the 2025 Grade 1 Champagne Stakes. but with a questionable results in the Wood Memorial and in the Fountain of Youth Stakes when he finished 11 lengths and change off the lead. Mr Solo is trained by Chad Summers and was ridden to victory by Paco Lopez. The Preakness was run at Laurel in Maryland as Pimlico is undergoing renovations much like Belmont Park which shifts the third leg of the Triple Crown to Saratoga. Of course, thre was no intrigue for a Triple Crown winner this year as Derby winner, Golden Tempo, trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by José Ortiz, was not entered at Laurel Park. The 158th Belmont Stakes takes place on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

Second-seeded Notre Dame outscored Johns Hopkins 9-3 in the second half to break from a 6-6 tie and the Fighting Irish advanced to NCAA Lacrosse Championship Weekend for the third time in four years, topping the Blue Jays, 15-9, in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra. Syracuse advanced as well.

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THIS JEST IN: According to the Associated Press, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol believes in a “no shirt, no problem” mantra. His club was boosted to a win over the Royals Friday night and again on Saturday by a group of college players in the right-field seats who took off and waved their shirts as they sang, chanted and drew others into the fray. Marmol loved it so much that he bought tickets for shirtless revelers this weekend.

“Last night’s atmosphere was electric. Let’s run it back this weekend,” Marmol said in a social media post. “I’ll buy tickets for fans who want to sit in the right field Loge and bring the energy.”

It all began when the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team, known as the Lumberjacks, was in nearby Alton, Illinois, for the National Club Baseball Division II World Series. The Cardinals offered tickets to the team, and 17 players attended. The college players were back Saturday, when they shouted Marmol’s name numerous times along with “M-V-P!” when Jordan Walker came to bat. Other fans in the stadium joined in on the fun.

“I heard it pretty clearly,” Marmol said. “Welcome back to Busch. It was cool to see them back. The environment was awesome. We feed off that.”

Will he keep buying tickets?

“I’ll go broke,” Marmol quipped.

PGA Championship: Weekend Warriors

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2026 PGA Championship | Third Round

NEWTOWN SQUARE – The first two rounds of the 108th PGA Championship challenged the field with overnight rain and wet conditions for the morning cycle of Thursday’s tournament opener and cold, blustery conditions for the Friday morning crew. In both cases, PGA of America pin placements made the course even tougher.

That second round of the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club concluded with Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy holding the co-lead at 4 under par after 36 holes.

The punitive rough, brutal morning winds, and what World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler described as “kind of absurd” pin locations kept the leaderboard exceptionally tight. Despite a tough three-bogey start, Smalley rebounded with a 69, while McNealy battled to shoot (67). A massive pack of heavy hitters remains firmly in the hunt, including Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Gotterup just one shot back at 3 under. Meanwhile, Scheffler ground out a 71 to join two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas and Cameron Young at 2 under, and Rory McIlroy fired a clean 67 to safely make the weekend at 1 over par.

A historic 58 players sit within six shots of the lead, creating the most crowded 36-hole leaderboard in tournament history. The difficult scoring conditions ultimately caused the cut line to settle at 4 over par, sending 73 players packing. There were moments of high drama late in the afternoon on the cut line loop. Former champion Justin Rose spectacularly kept his weekend hopes alive by chipping in for an eagle on his final hole to finish at 3 over, while Michael Kim holed a lengthy eagle putt on his final shot to safely clear the line at the exact same mark.

The stringent (+4) cut line claimed an incredibly distinguished group of elite players, headlined by Bryson DeChambeau, who missed his second consecutive major cut after finishing at 7 over despite a late flurry of three straight birdies. Joining him on the wrong side of the line was World No. 6 Tommy Fleetwood (+5), whose tournament unraveled after making only two birdies all week. Other top-tier stars who failed to advance included former major champions Viktor Hovland (+6), Wyndham Clark (+5), Keegan Bradley (+6), and Adam Scott (+8). Highly ranked contenders like Russell Henley (+5), Tyrrell Hatton (+6), and Max Homa (+12) also fell victim to Aronimink’s relentless defense, making for a star-studded list of early exits.

2026 PGA Championship | Leaderboard After 36 Holes

T1 Alex Smalley -4 (69)

T1 Maverick McNealy (-4) (67)

T3 Hideki Matsuyama (-3) (67)

T3 Aldrich Potgieter (-3) (72)

T3 Chris Gotterup (-3) (65)

T3 Stephan Jaeger (-3) (70)

T3 Min Woo Lee (-3) (69)

T3 Max Greyserman (-3) (69)

Full Leaderboard (link)

Log Jam at The PGA Championship

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2026 PGA Championship | Second Round

NEWTOWN SQUARE – Welcome to the second round of the 2026 PGA Championship, held a few miles north of the City of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia. There are 33 players within two strokes of the lead, setting up for a Friday and weekend to remember. A former host of the BMW Championship, the Aronimink Golf Club delivered in its return to professional golf, providing a tough test of thick rough, morning dew, and gusty conditions.

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World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines a log-jam of leaders at 3-under. Of the “Big 4” favorites entering the tournament – Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick – only Scheffler is under par.

When the PGA Championship post-round press conference moderator asked McIlroy to describe his opening round Thursday, and the six-time major winner needed just one word, not fit for print. “S—,” McIlroy said after his rough finish with bogeys on his final four holes for a 4-over-par 74.

LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau had an even “S—ttier” day. DeChambeau did not speak to reporters after his round, and he’s in danger of missing his third cut at the past four majors. DeChambeau missed seven greens in regulation and needed 33 putts to get through his round, which did not see a birdie until his final hole, the ninth. He shot a (+6) – (76) and is T-135 with a 1:45pm tee time today.

The cut is projected at (+2).

2026 PGA Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

T1 – Martin Kaymer -3 67

T1 – Scottie Scheffler -3 67

T1 – Alex Smalley -3 67

T1 – Aldrich Potgieter -3 67

T1 – Stephan Jaeger. -3 67

T1 – Min Woo Lee -3 67

T1 – Ryo Hisatsune -3 67

PGA Championship | Major

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NEWTOWN SQUARE – Founded in 1896, Aronimink Golf Club will host the PGA Championship for the second time in its history and first since 1962 (won by Gary Player). Aronimink also hosted the 2003 Senior PGA Championship and 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Originally designed by the legendary golf course architects Donald Ross and Gil Hanse who completed a restoration of the course in 2018.

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The 2026 PGA Championship will feature a 156-player field and will have a 36-hole cut, with the low 70 players (and ties) advancing to the weekend.

Truist Championship winner Kristoffer Reitan will make his PGA Championship debut. The PGA TOUR rookie became the second player from Norway to win on the PGA TOUR and the second player to win a Signature Event for his first career PGA TOUR title (Jacob Bridgeman/The Genesis Invitational); finished No. 3 in the 2025 DP World Tour Top 10 to earn his TOUR card for the 2026 season.

Reitan hopes to follow the winning ways of fellow Norweigan Viktor Hovland.

In search of his first major championship title, Rickie Fowler enters the week with three consecutive top-10 finishes on TOUR (T8/RBC Heritage, T9/Cadillac Championship, T2/Truist Championship); best finish at the PGA Championship is T3 (2014).

The 2026 Field features:

A total of 93 PGA TOUR winners who have combined for 445 titles, led by Rory McIlroy (30)

Exactly 31 players in the field have won at least one major championship, led by Rory McIlroy (6), Brooks Koepka (5) and Scottie Scheffler (4).

Thirty players in the field competed in the 2018 BMW Championship when it was hosted at Aronimink Golf Club, highlighted by all of the top five finishers: Keegan Bradley (Won), Justin Rose (2nd), Billy Horschel (T3), Xander Schauffele (T3), Rory McIlroy (5th). They know the course.

A total of 26 different countries and territories are represented in the field, with 100 of those players coming from either the United States (85) or England (15); next most is Australia (six).

No international player has won the PGA Championship since 2015 (Jason Day, Australia).

Fourteen past PGA Championship winners are: Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Shaun Michael, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker and Y.E. Yang.

There are 10 PGA TOUR rookies: Chandler Blanchet, Dan Brown, Alex Fitzpatrick, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, John Parry, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, Adrien Saddier, Jordan Smith, Sudarshan Yellamaraju.