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Key events
It’s still wet out there and will continue that way. So what can the afternoon starters expect? Harris English, who completed a morning 67, said: “It was going to be tough, switching on the umbrella, taking it on, off. You’ve got to stay focused and be patient out there. The rough is getting a lot thicker out there just with that rain.” I’ve never heard of switching a brolly on but I rather like it.
Make that five birdies in a row for Collin Morikawa. He was +2 through 5 yesterday and has made 13 birdies and no bogeys since.
-12: Morikawa (17*)
-10: Hubbard (13*)
-9:Schauffele
-8: Scheffler (15*)
Xander Schauffele is back in action. Quite a lot has happened since he signed for a first round 62. He hits a draw to the left edge of the 1st fairway. Playing partner and Kentucky native Justin Thomas gets a big welcome from the rain-soaked galleries.
Mark Hubbard isn’t going away. He makes another par breaker at 4 and is just one back of Morikawa’s lead. The idea of him contending seems a little unlikely, yet he was tied for the halfway lead just a few weeks ago in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans alongside his partner Ryan Brehm and pairing of Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. If you missed that event it’s because it flies a little under the radar, being the only non-individual event on the PGA Tour schedule. It’s all a bit giddy and parents-race-at-school-sports-day-like. But Wyndham Clark contended there before winning the US Open. You never know …
Another birdie for Collin Morikawa – four in a row. The 2020 champion leads by two with two holes of his second round to play.
-11: Morikawa (16*)
-9: Hubbard (12*), Schauffele
-8: Scheffler (14*)
Slam dunk! Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo was +3 through 48 holes and all set to head home for the weekend. Not now. His 102 yard approach to the short par-four 13th disappeared down the hole without touching the sides. He remains outside the cut line but getting the right side of it is no longer beyond him.
Not long now until pace-setter Xander Schauffele tees off but how has he fared with a first round lead in the past? He shared the lead in the 2023 US Open after posting a Thursday 62, backed it up with a 70 and was eventually T10th. Earlier this year an opening 65 again earned a tie at the top, he added a second round 69, led by one after 54 holes, but couldn’t convert on Sunday and finished second. Then, last week he thrashed a 64 to open up a three-shot lead, shot 67 next day to extend his advantage to four, it withered to one on Saturday, and he was overtaken by a barnstorming Rory McIlroy on Sunday. That he is 0-for-3 at converting throughgout his career might not be a huge problem, but being 0-for-2 this year might have introduced a few gremlins (flipside: it might also have taught him a few lessons that are fresh in his mind).
A reminder that Collin Morikawa is chasing a fourth win on a Jack Nicklaus-designed course this week. The first three came at Montreux, Muirfield Village and The Concession. This one would trump all three but his game is clearly suited to the test. The theory makes sense – Nicklaus places a premium on approach play, and distance control in particular, which are Morikawa strengths.
Three birdies in a row for Collin Morikawa. He now leads the championship on his own on -10. He’s -5 for the day with the par-five 7th up next. He groans at his drive but it’s sat up in the fairway fringe.
Thanks Scott and well done on completing a most unlikely shift. Yesterday the Sky Sports commentary team likened the Zoysia grass on the Valhalla fairways this week to an Axminster carpet. It’s a 1980s-style reference I’ve not been able to get out of my head ever since. I’m expecting (or maybe hoping) to have it revealed that marshals are wearing Le Coq Sportif quality apparel or that the catering is every bit as good as a Little Chef. Fingers crossed.
… and with that, I shall take my leave and hand over all of the operational levers of this blog, plus a big box of bells and whistles, to your friend and mine, Mr Matt Cooper. Hope to see you all again for tomorrow’s third round.
Scottie Scheffler is on a roll now. A third birdie in five holes, this time at 4, reward for a delicate wedge from 60 yards to three feet. Your regular reminder that Scottie was in the cooler this morning!
-9: Morikawa (14*), Hubbard (10*), Schauffele
-8: Scheffler (13*)
-7: English (17*), Detry (14)
A step back by Tom Kim. He nearly finds water on 6 and though he’s able to power his ball up to the fringe of the green, he can’t get up and down and slips to -6. He can take solace in the fact that 6 is the hardest hole on the course, playing at 4.31 this week and 4.48 today.
Collin Morikawa makes it back-to-back birdies, with a 20-footer on 5, and all of a sudden it’s a three-way lead at the top! Meanwhile Harris English, rebounds from bogey at 6 with birdie at 7, and it’s getting busy at the top of the leader board.
-9: Morikawa (14*), Hubbard (9*), Schauffele
-7: English (16*), Kim (14*), Detry (14), Scheffler (12*)
Austin Eckroat has a decent chance for a bounce-back birdie at 13, but his straight 12-foot effort shaves the lip. He remains at -6. But up on 5 …
Scottie Scheffler gets up and down from sand at 3. He nearly misses the right-to-left slider, but the edge of the cup grabs the ball and that’s par saved. Speaking of the man of the moment, here’s the great Andy Bull with his take on this morning’s absurd run-in with the local bobbies.
On Sky, the camera zones in on a cute little tortoise. Aw! Sadly I can’t link to the cool little fellow, but I can offer some PGA-related nature footage, an all-time duel from 2012 between Croc and Snake. It’s not for the squeamish, as it’s a bit of a rout. To quote the hole-by-hole report from back in the day:
Astonishingly, the whole thing was shown live and in its entirety on CBS Sports. Nobody could be bothered cutting away from it. Sadly, the most entertaining part of the whole affair is missing from this YouTube version. If memory serves, CBS later cut back to the croc, who was floating serenely, a big toothy grin plastered all over its visage, content, stuffed full of delicious snake. He looked like a golf-club captain filled to the eyeballs with gin. RIP ol’ snake.
… Mark Hubbard sends his drive at 18 perilously close to the water on the right. He bashes back out onto the fairway, laying up, then from 110 yards lands his ball pin high to seven feet. In goes the putt, and a man known to his pals as Homeless Hubbs (a nickname given to him after spending time sleeping on floors when starting out on tour) is currently joint leader of a major championship!
-9: Hubbard (9*), Schauffele
-8: Morikawa (13*)
-7: Kim (14*), Detry (13), Scheffler (11*)
Some careless work around the green at 12 costs Austin Eckroat a shot. A heavy-handed chip from one side of the green to the other. He slips to -6. But back on 4, Collin Morikawa sends his second to ten feet, then steers in a tickly birdie putt to join Mark Hubbard in second place. The 2020 champion looking in the mood to lift the Wanamaker Trophy again! And a birdie for Tom Kim at 4 puts last year’s Open runner-up into the mix. Oh, and birdie for Scottie Scheffler at 2, as expected. But no updated leaderboard quite yet, because …
You have to wonder whether all the mental and physical energy expended during this morning’s drama will eventually cost Scottie Scheffler. It’d be more than understandable if it does. But he’s showing no signs of running out of gas yet. A mud ball from the middle of 2. Not a problem. He clips an iron from the best part of 200 yards to six feet, and he’ll have another good look at birdie.
So far today, the front nine has been playing to a cumulative total of +53. The back nine by comparison just +15. All of which explains the relative lack of drama on the leaderboard this morning, and also puts the round Brian Harman is currently putting together – he’s four under through his first ten holes – into a very favourable light. See also Jason Day and Harris English, who are both three under after 14 and 15 holes respectively.
Alex Noren misses another short putt. This one, at 14, costs him a shot and he drops to -6. Meanwhile both Scottie Scheffler and Brian Harman miss serviceable birdie chances on 1 after fine approaches. Harman’s in particular, a 5-wood sent pin high from 230 yards to 13 feet, deserved better. They remain at -6 and -3 respectively.
Birdie for Thomas Detry at 12, the reward for sending his second to three feet. The 31-year-old Belgian moves to -7. A second birdie of the day meanwhile for Aaron Rai, at 15, and he’s climbing the leaderboard to -5. And up on 17, Mark Hubbard is this close to draining his 30-foot birdie putt, the ball stopping millimetres from the drop. So very nearly grabbing a share of the lead with Xander Schauffele! Hubbard remains at -8.
Mark Hubbard isn’t going anywhere. He sends his tee shot at 17 into deep bother down a bank to the left of the fairway. He’s in thick cabbage. Then he lashes an outrageously good escape up and into the heart of the green. He’ll surely take two careful putts to save his par and remain at -8. Meanwhile birdies at 17, 1 and 2 for Matt Fitzpatrick, who was below the projected cut line of level par, but has now catapulted himself up to -2 in short order.
It’s unlikely that the second round will be completed today. We’re already 80 minutes behind schedule because of this morning’s tragic accident; the forecasters are saying the weather will close in on Valhalla at around 5pm local time, 10pm BST. Hopefully there won’t be any electrical activity and play will be able to continue, but it’s likely to be pretty wet and so not likely to be fast. Earlier in the day, Dame Laura Davies did some quick back-of-envelope workings while commentating on Sky, and reckoned the final pairings would have to get around in four hours without delay to get home before darkness sets in. Which is not going to happen. And if that sounds right to Dame Laura, it sounds right to us. But that’s all the worst-case scenario, so having managed expectations, let’s see how things pan out.
A fourth birdie in a row for Austin Eckroat! The latest at 10. It took a while, but the leaderboard is beginning to jiggle around a bit.
-9: Schauffele
-8: Hubbard (7*)
-7: English (13*), Noren (12), Eckroat (10), Morikawa (10*)
-6: Kim (11*), Detry (11), Scheffler (9*), Finau, Theegala
-5: Hojgaard (11), MacIntyre, McIlroy
-4: Rai (14), Lowry (13*), Tosti (6), Moore, Koepka, Kohles
Another birdie for Brian Harman, whose putter has been hot, hot, hot this morning. This one comes at 18, and the Open champion has played the back nine in 32 strokes to move to -3 overall. Birdie for his playing partner Scottie Scheffler, too, who made a meal of making his way up the hole – a drive into thick rough, the second evading the fairway too – only to rescue the situation with a stunning punched wedge from 80 yards to six feet. In goes the putt and he moves to -6.
Rasmus Hojgaard is making his presence felt at a major for the first time. The 23-year-old Dane has made four starts in the biggest tournaments, and has missed the cut every time bar one, when he finished 79th at the 2021 PGA. Perhaps his brother Nicolai’s decent performances at last year’s Open (tied 23rd) and this year’s Masters (tied 16th) have inspired him to kick on? Whatever, a 68 yesterday, and now birdies at 5 and 10 have sent him up the rankings to -5.
Austin Eckroat is trending in the right direction: a top-ten finish at the US Open last year, his first PGA Tour win at the Cognizant Classic a couple of months ago. Now the 25-year-old from Oklahoma cards three birdies on the bounce to move to -6. Meanwhile birdie at 18 for Collin Morikawa, birdie for Alex Noren at 12, yet another for English, at 4, and after a period of little movement on the leaderboard, a few players are beginning to make their move!
-9: Schauffele
-8: Hubbard (6*)
-7: English (13*), Noren (12), Morikawa (9*)
Birdie for Harris English at 3. He joins the group at -6, and can the 34-year-old Georgian make the big leap? According to the man himself, he sure can. Our man Matt Cooper – who will be blogging for your leisure and pleasure later today – has sent this quote across, gleaned at the Players the other month, on the subject of English’s close pal Brian Harman: “He’s a competitor. I feel like I’ve pushed him a little bit. He’s definitely pushed me to be better. We all really love seeing each other’s successes, but it pushes me to be better. I know I can compete with Brian Harman, I can win a major, I can win some of these tournaments.”
That 16th-hole birdie total remains at 14, because Scheffler tickles his downhill putt towards the cup, but it’s always going to stay out stubbornly on the left lip. Not hit with the conviction of Harman, minutes earlier from over double the distance. He remains at -5 … but perhaps even more importantly, retains the optimistic support of Simon McMahon, who predicts: “Scheffler’s winning this now, isn’t he? And being presented with a pair of handcuffs as big as the Wanamaker Trophy by the Chief of Police on Sunday in best Rory/Ollie Medinah style.”
Well, there is a 14th birdie of the week at 16, but it’s got nothing to do with Scottie Scheffler! Brian Harmon sends a 25-footer straight into the cup for birdie of his own. Like an arrow. Shades of his antics around Hoylake last year, and not just because of the drippy weather. The Open champ is -2.
The long par-four 16th is one of the hardest holes at Valhalla. It’s playing fourth most difficult so far this week. Just the 13 birdies so far. Number 14 could be coming up soon, though, because from the centre of the fairway, Scottie Scheffler has just creamed an iron from 226 yards to ten feet. Whatever happens with the putt, that’ll be one of the sweetest shots of the day.
Alex Noren yips a three-foot birdie opportunity at 10. He smacks his lips in frustration, and remains at -6. It continues to rain. Nothing dramatic, just a steady stream. No threat of more serious weather coming in just yet.
Jason Day birdies 18 to turn in 33. He’s -3 overall. Early birdies for Thorbjorn Olesen, at 3 and 5, send the Dane up the standings to -4. Aaron Rai is this close to making his second birdie of the day, at 10, only for the putt to shave the hole; he remains at -4. And on 16, Cameron Young teeters atop a mound of rocks in the middle of the stream running down the side of the fairway, and demonstrates his impressive core strength by lashing his ball back into play without toppling into the drink. Shades of Tom Kim last year, only without the mud-caked comedy.
Jon Rahm is in the middle of an existential golfing crisis. An LIV dude now, yet not quite able or willing to shake off his PGA Tour past, he came into the week struggling for form and out of sorts. He then bogeyed four of the first six holes he played yesterday. But what a response by the former Masters and US Open champ! Back in 32 last night to salvage a 70, and now birdies at 13 and 15. He’s -2 and fighting like mad to stay involved. Despite it all, Rahm’s presence at the business end of this major far from a pipe dream.
Alex Noren has ten European Tour wins to his name, but the 41-year-old Swede hasn’t done too much in the very biggest competitions. Top-ten finishes at the Open in 2012 and 2017, and that’s about that. But he did finish in the top-20 at the Players a couple of months ago, and third at the Byron Nelson at the start of May. So he’s in form, and he’s carrying it over to Valhalla. Birdies at 4, 7 and now 9 have whisked him up the standings to -6.
Back to Scottie’s golf, and he’s short of the green at the long par-three 14th. No matter! He takes out the Texas Wedge and lags a 50-footer up from the apron to tap-in distance. He remains -5. Meanwhile Mark Hubbard clips his second at 12 to eight feet, and tidies up for another birdie that takes the 81st-ranked player in the world to within a shot of the lead!
-9: Schauffele
-8: Hubbard (3*)
-6: Morikawa (6*), T Kim (6*), Detry (6), Finau, Theegala
Louisville police have issued a report of their own. They claim the officer who held onto Scheffler’s moving car, Detective Gillis, was dragged “to the ground” and suffered “pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after the car “accelerated forward.” Gillis was taken to hospital for his injuries.
Scottie Scheffler’s attorney, Steve Romines, has spoken to the Associated Press about this morning’s incident involving his client, and the subsequent arrest. “We will litigate the case as it goes. The main thing is he was proceeding exactly as he was directed in a marked vehicle with credentials. He didn’t do anything intentionally wrong.”
Tom Kim bounces back with a 15-footer on 15. He’s back to -6. Meanwhile over on 16, Min Woo Lee finds himself out of position high on a bank to the left of the green, but swishes confidently at his chip and sends the ball floating down the hill, scampering across the green and into the cup. Birdie out of nowhere! His third of the day, and after yesterday’s 72, Minjee’s brother is now -2 overall.
Shane Lowry has two top-ten finishes at the PGA, in 2019 and 2021. The 2019 Open champion is positioned nicely for a tilt at a third, or something even better: he’s just carded his third birdie of the day, at 16, to move to -4 overall.
Mark Hubbard is making his first impression at a major championship. Before this week, his best finish at one was a tie for 51st at the 2020 PGA; the 34-year-old from Denver’s next best effort is 75th in last year’s event. This week could be his breakthrough, though: a late-in-the-day 65 posted yesterday, and now an opening birdie at 10 to move into second spot all on his own!
-9: Schauffele
-7: Hubbard (1*)
-6: Detry (5), Morikawa (4*), Finau, Theegala
-5: English (8*), T Kim (5*), MacIntyre, McIlroy, McNealy
Tom Kim can’t find the green at the monster par-three 14th. It’s only playing at 246 yards today, to be fair, a whopping ten yards shorter than yesterday. Still. It costs him the shot he picked up with that rake at the previous par-three. Back to -5. “If Scheffler somehow ends up winning this tournament, should the US PGA introduce an Orange Jacket for the winner?” wonders Adam Hirst, because let’s face it, someone was going to say it at some point.
Scottie Scheffler missed a miserable par putt from close range on 11. He responds by draining a one-in-ten 40-footer on 12 to move back to -5. A gentle punch of the air. Nothing fazes him. He was in the jug a couple of hours ago!
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