17/05/2026

theSun on Sunday MAY 17, 2026

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SPORTS 12 RORY MCILROY revived his hopes of winning the PGA Championship with improved driving and a bogey-free round yesterday, then blamed a logjammed leaderboard on a poor course set-up. World No. 2 McIlroy, coming off a Masters victory last month, fired a 3-under 67 to stand on 1-over 141 for 36 holes at formidable Aronimink. After spending hours on the driving range following his opening round 74, when he closed with four bogeys in a row, McIlroy found what he needed to return to contention, even while sharing 30th. “At five back I do feel like I’m right in the tour nament and that’s really what I wanted to do today was to just get myself back in it, and I feel like I’ve done that,” McIlroy said. The six-time major winner from Northern Ireland said the PGA of America has protected the course with tough pin placements on its’

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Scheffler slams pin locations

McIlroy blames bad setup for lead logjam

under and all of a sudden you’re right in the thick of things.” McIlroy ripped the course set-up for creat ing the lead logjam. “A bunched leaderboard like this, I think it’s a sign of not a great setup, because it hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate them selves,“ McIlroy said. “I’ve always felt like really good set-ups, it starts to spread the field a bit, and not great set ups sort of bring everyone together – I feel like that’s what’s happened the last two days.” McIlroy said he has learned about the course and how to approach it, saying it will take being patient and waiting for chances. “Knowing the field isn’t going to get away from you, you can be a little bit more patient.” – AFP

sloping greens, but that should lead to easier weekend hole spots. “It has been hard to make birdies out there because one, the wind the last couple days, but also where they have put these hole locations,“ McIlroy said. “I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days, so it seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones.” That could provide inspiration for everyone who made the cut, McIlroy said. “A little bit calmer conditions and maybe a couple more favorable hole locations, I think everyone has got to feel like they have got a chance,” he said. “Yes, it’s bunched, but you get on a run with wedges on that front nine and you shoot 4-, 5

TOP-RANKED defending champion Scottie Scheffler called PGA Championship pin placements the hardest he has seen on tour, describing those in the second round at Aronimink as “kind of absurd.” The difficult hole positions on a course known for its slop ing greens, together with gust ing winds, played havoc with the world’s top players over the first two days, no one able to pull away from the pack. “This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, and that includes US Opens, that includes Oakmont,” Scheffler said, citing an event and course known for difficult set ups. Scheffler asked Mark Fulcher, the veteran caddie for playing partner Justin Rose of England, “Have you seen any thing like this before?” “They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this,” Scheffler said, citing the US Open host course where he will try to complete a career Grand Slam next month. “It’s different in a sense on this golf course because Oakmont, their greens are extremely severe, but they’re extremely severe in one direc tion. “Here, it’s like the green may slope all this way and then we put the pin down here and then there’s also a slope this way. “It’s not as natural to the slopes that are there. There’s a bit more that’s manufactured into the greens, and it’s just very difficult. “It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par. “Most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd,“ Scheffler said. “They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be. “The one on 14 was proba bly the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time just because there’s literally just like a spine and they’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll just put the pin right on top of it,‘ and you’re like, ‘All right, well, I’ll see what I can do.’ Just challenging.” The hole placements force hard choices on players, the world No. 1 and four-time major winner said. “When the pins get this hard, you really have to choose your moments when you’re going to try and maybe get after a pin or try and play a lit tle bit smarter,” he said. “A lot of it is just managing your way around.” – AFP

McNealy, Smalley share lead Scheffler two shots off as Rory, Rahm make cut after challenging conditions at PGA Championship

Maverick McNealy (left) and Alex Smalley in action during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania. – AFPPIC

MAVERICK MCNEALY joined overnight co-leader Alex Smalley at the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard yes terday as the American pair reached the halfway stage tied at 4-under after a testing second round at chilly, wind-swept Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania. McNealy, who had been the on-course leader at 5-under with five holes to play and later moved as low as 6-under, dropped shots late before finish ing level with Smalley, who ear lier carded a 1-under 69 to set the clubhouse target. The leaders were one shot clear of Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee and Max Greyserman, who were grouped at 3-under, while defending champion and world No.1 Scottie Scheffler remained firmly in the mix ߑ at 2 under, two shots off the lead. Smalley, who started on the more difficult back nine, held

Scheffler. “It was pretty obvious to tell this morning the conditions were pretty tough, and so I just kept trying to remind myself of that.” Martin Kaymer, who won the 2010 PGA Championship and joined LIV Golf in 2022, quickly fell back after five bogeys over his first seven holes en route to a 75. The German, one of seven overnight co-leaders, slipped to 2-over for the championship. Masters champion Rory McIlroy, whose opening 74 left him in danger of missing the cut, recovered yesterday to move safely through to the weekend at 1-over. Jon Rahm also advanced and remained on the ߑ fringes of con tention at 1-under, three shots off the lead. Bryson DeChambeau, runner up at the PGA Championship in each of the last two years, missed the cut at 7-over despite closing with three consecutive birdies. – Reuters

confident that it’s going to go into the experience bank, and good or bad, I’m going to learn a lot from it,” the American said. Former Masters champion Matsuyama carded his only bogey of the day at Aronimink’s par-four sixth hole when he failed to get up and down after his approach from the fairway zipped back off the front of the green. Scheffler, who also went off the back nine, dropped out of the lead with bogeys on three of his first four holes as he strug gled to find the fairways in windy conditions while also dealing with tricky pin posi tions. He mixed a bogey with three birdies the rest of the ߑ way, including at the ninth where his eagle attempt settled three feet from the cup, and signed for a 1 over 71 that left him at two under for the week. “I feel like if it’s hard for me out there, then it’s going to be hard for other players,” said

the outright lead by two shots at one point before falling back with three consecutive bogeys after the turn. He stopped the bleeding with a birdie at the par-four fourth and added another at the par five ninth where his eagle attempt stopped 14 inches from the hole. “A lot of really good moments, some not so great, and then a lot of just trying to keep moving forward,” said Smalley. “It was difficult, it was chilly this morning, the wind was up.” McNealy looked set to take control of the tournament when he reached 6-under, but late mistakes brought him back to the field and he finished tied with Smalley at 4-under. He had a ߑ chance to take the solo halfway lead at his final hole, the par-five ninth, but was unable to convert his birdie putt. “I didn’t feel like I played that great. I somehow got a lot out of my game, and this is obviously new territory for me. But I am