No.1 Scheffler grabs share of PGA lead as McIlroy endures misery
Scottie Scheffler shares the lead at the PGA Championship while Rory McIlroy has a tough start.
The PGA Championship 2026 is being held at Aronimink Golf Club, marking its first major tournament. Key players include Jordan Spieth, aiming for a career Grand Slam, and Scottie Scheffler, who seeks to defend his title.
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PGA Championship cut line 2026: Projected cut, rules, updates for Friday's leaderboard originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For the first time 1962, Aronimink Golf Club is hosting a major tournament.
Golf's best and brightest talents have had to adjust to setting, even if they have traipsed its lush surfaces before. Early indications are it's not the easiest ground to play at, especially not when compared to sites like Quail Hollow -- the venue for last year's PGA Championship.
With 156 golfers on the prowl, the stakes feel amplified. Jordan Spieth is seeking the final gemstone to complete his career Grand Slam, while Scottie Scheffler is looking to become the first back-to-back PGA Championship winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018 and 2019.
All of that is to say, the pressure is on for those who are firing pellets across the lawn in Newton Square, Penn. That's also the case for those bubbling near and above the cut line, an ignominious place to be come the beginning of the weekend.
With that, here's what you need to know about the cut line, golf's version of an equator, striking fear in those who swirl near it at the 2026 PGA Championship.
MORE:PGA Championship live golf scores, results, highlights from Thursday's Round 1 leaderboard
The projected cut line for the PGA Championship 2026 will be determined based on the leaderboard updates as the tournament progresses.
The cut line in the PGA Championship typically includes the top 70 players and ties after the second round.
Top contenders include Jordan Spieth, who is aiming for his career Grand Slam, and Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion.
The 2026 PGA Championship is being held at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
Scottie Scheffler shares the lead at the PGA Championship while Rory McIlroy has a tough start.
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As the first round of action approaches its conclusion, the projected cut line sits at +1 for the weekend.
Aronomink is a fickle setting for a major tournament, with shorter plains than those that typically host PGA competition. Nevertheless, the earliest paces of the tournament seem to indicate that the course has been plenty challenging, even for golf heavyweights. Rory McIlroy (+4) and Bryson DeChambeau (+6) found themselves way out of contention at the end of the first.
Notable players in danger of missing PGA Championship cut
Here's a look at some noteworthy names who currently find themselves below the cut line:
The PGA Championship starts with a field of 156 players, with the pool slimming to just 70 (plus ties) by the end of the first two rounds of action. The PGA Championship's 70-player cut line is the joint-highest mark among golf's four majors, level with the Open Championship. The U.S. Open has a 60-player cut line, while the Masters has the smallest at 50.
Typically, PGA Tour tournaments feature a 65-player cut line limit (plus ties). The field expands ever so slightly when the Wanamaker Trophy is up for grabs, however.
In total, 70 players (plus ties) will make the cut at the PGA Championship. The golfers who posted scores above the cut line will be culled, forced to watch on as the remaining golfers vie for one of golf's grandest prizes.
Last year, 73 players missed the cut after the second round.
MORE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: