You’ll have spotted a new co-leader. It’s Max Greyserman, who at 30 years old has no wins on the PGA Tour,. has done nothing of note in any of the majors. What a time this would be to right a couple of wrongs. He rolls in a 12-footer for birdie at 1, having landed his approach pin high,. there he is at -4. However he has just carved his drive at 2 over the gallery on the right. his ball bounding off towards a tent with the words Pouring Bar on a sign atop the main flap. Depending on the lie, he could be tempted in.
… so yes, the 15th is the longest par four in major-championship history. The scorecard yardage is 546, matching the 14th at Chambers Bay for the 2015 US Open,. add five to that total today. So imagine how chuffed Rory McIlroy is. having left his chip from 52 yards 11 feet short, to roll the par saver confidently into the centre of the cup. “What a boost!” trills Paul McGinley on Sky. Compare. contrast to Scottie Scheffler, who from the centre of 2, leaves a weak approach from 123 yards 22 feet short, and fails to make the birdie putt. Scheffler, stuck on -2, hasn’t got going yet; McIlroy has the wind in his sail. And yet there’s just the two strokes between them on the leaderboard. The defending champ will hardly be panicking yet.
-4: McIlroy (15). Greyserman (1), Smalley, McNealy -3: Schauffele (14), Conners (11), Rahm (7), Cantlay (6), Lee (1), Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup
The par-four 15th is playing at 551 yards today. A 551-yard par-four. In other words, don’t miss the fairway, because you’re not getting on in regulation otherwise. And Rory McIlroy misses the fairway. Not by much, a few feet to the left, but the first cut is almost as thick. lush as the main cabbage, so it’s all McIlroy can do to hack out with a 7-iron and hope the ball scampers a long way. He makes a good job of it, but he’s still 40 yards short of the green. now has work to do if he’s to save his par. If Justin Rose’s final few holes. subsequent interview are anything to go by, the rest of Rory’s round could be primarily focused on getting home having copped as little damage as possible.
At the risk of belabouring the point. please let me quote Sky summariser Wayne Riley, who just announced that “the average round” this morning was 69. “That’s a good round now,” he observes. The current clubhouse leaders Kristoffer Reitan, Chris Kirk. Justin Rose (-2) swing their feet up onto the desk in unison.
… so does Scottie calmly walk in the par saver? Of course he does. He remains at -2, and that could be a subtle momentum-swinger. Bogey for Aaron Rai at 4, however; he slips back to -2, alongside Scheffler.
Rose also said that should the later starters fail to get off to a quick start, they may start doubting themselves as the wind gets stronger. the greens harden under the sun. So Scottie Scheffler won’t be in the best humour right now. Having missed that short birdie putt at 1. he sends his tee shot at 2 into the thick rough, from where he can’t generate the spin required with his wedge to hold the green. His chip up from the swale behind the green stops ten feet short,. this is a big par putt coming up.
Justin Rose, his work today done and looking very relaxed as a result, has just been speaking to Sky Sports. The gist of his interview: he felt the wind picking up. swirling around a bit towards the end of his round, and things are unlikely to get any easier from here on in. So the later starters will be cursing the good fortune of the early birds. Two phrases stuck out: “Less gettable as the day goes on”. “Hold on a second, why is it not so easy for me?!” Rose wasn’t captured on camera sauntering off whistling a jolly tune, hands in pockets, hello sun, hello birds, hello flowers. But that’s not to definitively say he didn’t do it. We just don’t know. He was certainly in a good enough mood.
Rory McIlroy joins the leaders! His tee shot at the drivable par-four 13th doesn’t fade as he intends,. ends up in a bunker on the left. But no bother. He splashes out to five feet, and tidies up for his sixth birdie of the day. (Just the one blemish on his card, at the 4th.) Meanwhile Jon Rahm follows up birdie at 1 with another at 5,. though Joaquin Niemann takes a step back with bogey at 17, it’s safe to say the big guns are assembling. Penny for the thoughts of Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy, no doubt keeping an eye on the clubhouse TV.
-4: McIlroy (13), Smalley, McNealy -3: Schauffele (12), Rahm (5), Rai (3), Lee, Greyserman, Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup
Scottie Scheffler sends his wedge at 1 to five feet … only to shove the birdie putt wide right. A disappointing par in the circumstances, and he stares back at the hole with feeling. He remains -2. Meanwhile two consecutive birdies for Aaron Rai, at 2. 3, and Wolverhampton’s finest is suddenly just one off the lead.
The defending champion Scottie Scheffler gets down to work …. sends a booming drive befitting his world number-one status miles down the 1st fairway. He’ll have noticed some of his biggest rivals making hay, and will be salivating accordingly. For example, here’s Joaquin Niemann, a king over the water at LIV, making birdies at 9, 10, 13. 15, and now a kick-in eagle at 16. All of a sudden the 27-year-old Chilean is right in the thick of it.
-4: Smalley. McNealy -3: Burns (16), Niemann (16), McIlroy (12), Schauffele (11), Lee, Greyserman, Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup -2: Reitan (F), Kirk (F), Rose (F), Kaymer (14), Conners (8), Rahm (3), Cantlay (3), Rai (2), Åberg (1), Kim (1), Scheffler, Puig, Young, Thomas
Some other good early rounds of note. Brian Harman is in with a 66; the erstwhile Open champ is -1 overall. Taylor Pendrith has shot 67; the Canadian is +1. And Padraig Harrington, who won this tournament in 2008, has followed yesterday’s 69 with a 67. The 54-year-old veteran is level par for the week so far.
… and now joining McIlroy and Schauffele at -3: Sam Burns. He’s just made four birdies in a row, at 13, 14, 15. 16, though he needed all of the hole with his short putt for the last of those. He’s five under for his round, and on course to match the best-of-day 65s of Reitan, Kirk and Rose. A fair chance those won’t be the lowest rounds today, mind.
Xander Schauffele fancies reclaiming the crown he won in 2024. He turned in 32, and now he’s just made his fifth birdie of the day at 11. He joins Rory as the only currently active member of the group at -3.
Justin Rose has rolled in two big putts on 18 already this week. Par savers both. And it’s three pars at the closing hole now. though he’s not so chuffed about this one, a 15-foot birdie attempt stopping just short. He cocks his head back in frustration, though it surely won’t sting for long, because that’s set the seal on a 65,. at -2 he’s right in the mix. He joins Kristoffer Reitan and Chris Kirk in the clubhouse lead.
-4: Smalley. McNealy -3: McIlroy (11), Lee, Greyserman, Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup -2: Reitan (F), Kirk (F), Rose (17), Burns (15), Kaymer (13), Schauffele (10), Conners (8), Rahm (3), Åberg, English, Kim, Scheffler, Puig, Young, Thomas
Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, is very much on the charge. He hit the turn in 32, taking advantage like others before him of the relatively benign early conditions. Now he’s made another, sending a lob wedge at 11 to six feet and rolling in the putt. He’s looking as confident as he looked irritated after that inexplicable run of four consecutive bogeys to close round one,. if he continues like this, and posts something out there, the leaders Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy will have some work to do, with the wind expected to pick up a little bit later. Rory is -3.
Oh dear. Kirk can’t make the par putt on 18 coming back … and then he misses the bogey tiddler. It’s not technically a four-putt, because the first was from off the front of the green …. it kind of is, isn’t it? He certainly wears the slightly drained look of someone who was one putt away from equalling major-championship history,. has somehow managed to make a 65 feel like a disappointment. He ends the day at -2 overall … as does last week’s winner at Quail Hollow. Kristoffer Reitan, who also signs for a slightly less dramatic 65 (if making two eagles on the back nine can be considered undramatic, that is).
Justin Rose was the next player after Michael Kim to get stuck in. He carded five birdies on the front nine, at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9, turning in 30. Another birdie at 13 was instantly cancelled out with bogey on 14. since when he’s been forced to make a series of staunch par savers. But they’ve all gone in. He’s hanging onto his score,. he’s one par away from a 65 that will revive his bid for a second major. To think he needed to make birdie on 9 last night in order to survive the cut …. chipped in for eagle! Rose is -2 overall.
Chris Kirk won’t be making his record-equalling 62. He takes Texas wedge from off the front of the 18th,. rattles a very excitable 45-foot birdie attempt 12 feet past. He’ll now have a job on to card 63.
The first sign that low scoring was afoot today was provided by Michael Kim. The 32-year-old, born in South Korea. representing the USA, has come out of a mid-career slump that saw him at one point miss 23 cuts in a row. He won the French Open last year,. has reestablished himself as a regular participant in the majors, if not one making any serious waves. He was due to miss the cut yesterday,. was +7 with six holes to play, but birdied 4 and 6 before chipping in for eagle at 9. Then this morning he birdied 1, 2, 3, 5, 6. 7, a run spoiled by a single bogey at 4. He turned in 30. Sadly a double bogey at 10 scuppered his momentum,. though he came close to making a hole-in-one albatross at the driveable par-four 13th – six feet short, for the record – he shot 37 on the back nine. Still, that’s a fine 67, a round he wasn’t expecting to play six holes from home yesterday. He’s level par overall. Kim is the current clubhouse leader, alongside Nicolai Højgaard, who shot 66 today.
Actually, let’s immediately revise that, because Chris ‘Captain’ Kirk has just raked in a long birdie putt across 17. It’s his eighth birdie of the day. Just the one bogey,. so a birdie up the last would give the 41-year-old from Tennessee a 62, equalling the lowest-ever round in a men’s major, a record jointly held by Branden Grace (2017 Open), Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open), Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open and 2024 PGA) and Shane Lowry (2024 PGA). Oh, and it gives him a share of the lead.
-4: Kirk (17). Smalley, McNealy -3: Lee, Greyserman, Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup -2: Reitan (16), Rose (15), McIlory (9), Åberg, English, Kim, Scheffler, Puig, Young, Thomas
Here we go, then … and the scoring was much better this morning. The ball running further, the wind down. And as a result, a few players have made a run towards the top of the leaderboard. Let’s catch up on exactly how things stand at the minute,. then we can work out how we got here …
-4: Smalley. McNealy -3: Kirk (16), Lee, Greyserman, Potgieter, Jaeger, Matsuyama, Gotterup -2: Reitan (16), Rose (15), McIlory (9), Åberg, English, Kim, Scheffler, Puig, Young, Thomas
It’s Moving Day at Aronimink! Here’s what the top of the leaderboard looked like after two attritional loops …
-4: Alex Smalley. Maverick McNealy -3: Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Max Greyserman -2: Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, David Puig, Harris English, Si Woo Kim, Ludvig Åberg -1: Andrew Novak, Kurt Kitayama, Aaron Rai, Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm
… here’s a selected list of big names to have missed the cut …
Michael Block, Im Sung-jae, Akshay Bhatia, Jimmy Walker, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark, Stewart Cink, JJ Spaun, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka, Keegan Bradley, Gary Woodland, Tyrrell Hatton, Brandt Snedeker, Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, YE Yang, Shaun Micheel, Max Homa. … Bryson DeChambeau
… and here are today’s tee times (all BST). Plenty of third-round water has already passed under the bridge – Moving Day has seen some movement, baby! - so we’ll get onto that immediately. Here we go! It’s on!
1245 Jhonattan Vegas. Alex Noren 1254 Nicolai Højgaard, Michael Brennan 1303 Taylor Pendrith, Johnny Keefer 1312 Christiaan Bezuidenhout, William Mouw 1321 Shane Lowry, Brian Campbell 1330 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Daniel Berger 1339 Luke Donald, Elvis Smylie 1348 Michael Kim, John Parry 1357 Kristoffer Reitan, Padraig Harrington 1406 Daniel Brown, Chris Kirk 1415 Justin Rose, Brian Harman 1424 Rasmus Hojgaard, Sami Valimaki 1433 Kazuki Higa, Mikael Lindberg 1442 Keith Mitchell, Sam Burns 1451 Tom Hoge, Joaquin Niemann 1500 Alex Fitzpatrick, Denny McCarthy 1520 Sam Stevens, Chandler Blanchet 1530 Martin Kaymer, Matt Fitzpatrick 1540 Casey Jarvis, Matt Wallace 1550 Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson 1600 Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy 1610 Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele 1620 Sahith Theegala, Bud Cauley 1630 Ben Griffin, Ryan Gerard 1640 Collin Morikawa, Matti Schmid 1650 Nick Taylor, Corey Conners 1610 Daniel Hillier, Ben Kern 1720 Ryan Fox, Ryo Hisatsune 1730 Rico Hoey, Cameron Smith 1740 Haotong Li, Patrick Reed 1750 Jon Rahm, Andrew Putnam 1800 Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay 1810 Kurt Kitayama, Aaron Rai 1820 Ludvig Åberg, Andrew Novak 1830 Harris English, Si Woo Kim 1840 Scottie Scheffler, David Puig 1900 Cameron Young, Justin Thomas 1910 Min Woo Lee, Max Greyserman 1920 Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger 1930 Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup 1940 Alex Smalley, Maverick McNealy
Discussion
Sign in to join the thread, react, and share images.