The PGA Championship has cut its field in half, with Maverick McNealy advancing while Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut. Players needed to score +4 or better to continue in the tournament.
The PGA Championship is on its way toward deciding a winner, as the tournament has now cut down its participants in half.
This tournament includes one of the bigger fields among the four men's majors, giving a wide array of players a chance to make it to the weekend. In some cases, making the cut is just one step towards the ultimate goal, but in others, missing the cut is the end to a very disappointing week.
Aronimink played tough over the first two days and required players to overcome difficult greens and thicker rough. Players who shot a +4 or better survived to the weekend, while the rest of the field can now head home early.
Therefore, here's who came out of Friday's second round in good shape, and who should be most disappointed.
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Winners
Maverick McNealy
McNealy has been a pretty steady player for a few years, and that is now starting to translate to majors. The 30-year-old has made the cut in each of the last six majors, and after four top-40 finishes last year, had a tied-for-18th finish at the Masters this year for his best major finish.
Therefore, McNealy's presence at the top of the leaderboard isn't too much of a surprise even if he's never finished in the top-15 at a major. This presents McNealy's best chance to compete for his first major title, and at the very least, should give him experience competing in a big tournament.
Alex Smalley
Smalley makes an unlikely appearance at the top of the leaderboard after shooting two under-par rounds to begin the tournament. The 29-year-old shot a 67 on Thursday to tie for the -3 lead entering Friday, and at one point had a two-shot lead at -5, but came back to the back with three-straight bogeys.
Still, this is clearly Smalley's best performance at a major tournament. He's played in four prior majors, appearing in the last three PGA Championships along with one U.S. Open appearance in 2017. Even if he doesn't win, Smalley is in line for a finish that could help him get into other majors moving forward.
Aldrich Potgieter
The PGA Tour's longest driver, Potgieter was the PGA Championship leader for much of the first two rounds before bogeying two-straight holes to end his Friday. Still, Potgieter is in prime position entering the weekend and looks like he can compete at a major for the first time.
Potgieter is still just 21 years old and has only played in four majors in his career, which includes three missed cuts. This is already his best performance ever at a major, and he still has two rounds to make it a more memorable weekend.
Ben Kern
Kern is the lone PGA of America to make the cut at the PGA Championship, an impressive feat in itself. Kern manages the Hickey Hills Golf Club near Columbus, Ohio, and he shot a 67 on Friday to post a +1 through two rounds and beat out many of the game's best.
While Kern won't win this tournament, making the cut should be considered a success for him regardless of where he finishes.
Losers
Bryson DeChambeau
Amid the LIV Golf drama, DeChambeau hoped to compete for another major at Aronimink. Instead, he had a disastrous two days and missed the cut for the second time at a major.
DeChambeau opened his tournament with a 76 that included five bogeys and a double bogey before making his lone birdie of the day on his final hole. Then, it didn't get much better on Friday as DeChambeau continued to go backwards.
Tommy Fleetwood
Fleetwood is one of the best players in the world without a major in his career, and this week seems to be another wasted opportunity. The Englishman wasn't a mess, but did shoot +2 on Thursday and +3 on Friday to miss the cut.
This is just Fleetwood's second missed cut at a major since 2022, but he hasn't finished in the top 15 in his last nine major starts. Now that Fleetwood has a PGA Tour win on his ledger, the pressure mounts for him to perform on a major weekend.
Garrick Higgo
Higgo made waves on Thursday when he was penalized two shots for missing his tee time, which ended up being the difference between making and missing the cut. Higgo ended his first two rounds at +5, which was a shot behind the cut line at +4.
This will be a learning experience for Higgo, as he'd only appeared in six majors prior to this year. Still, this is an incident that will stick with him for a while.
