Scottie Scheffler didn't have his best Friday at PGA. It's still his to lose

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Scottie Scheffler prepares to play a shot at Aronimink Golf Club

“On the second hole, with how much the wind is blowing and where the pin is located, this isn’t really the time for me to try to shove one back in there,” Scheffler said. “Just get in there about 30 feet and two-putt and get out of there and maybe you can steal one with a long putt. And then get to the fourth hole, get the right number, and it’s like okay, let me try and get it in there a little bit closer.”

He stuffed it to five feet and made birdie to get to 2 under, where he sits after 36 holes, two shots off the 36-hole lead.

He’s two back, but this PGA Championship still feels like Scottie Scheffler’s to lose. He went out early Friday in cold, blustery conditions and hit just half of his fairways. He ranked 42nd in the field in Total Strokes Gained in Round 2 as of this writing. He ranked 82nd in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and 126th in Strokes Gained: Putting. He made almost nothing and couldn’t find a fairway.

But good iron play (he ranks seventh in approach) and his greatest weapon — an elite ability to think his way around major championship tests when he doesn’t have his best stuff — have him on the front page of the leaderboard, close enough for everyone to notice.

Scheffler said the pins at Aronimink have been “kind of absurd,” given the windy conditions. The test was hard but not unfair. However, it didn’t come as a surprise to him that the PGA of America opted to push the envelope. On Wednesday, as the winds whipped around Philadelphia, many of Scheffler’s competitors opted to shorten practice rounds or cancel altogether. Scheffler said he elected to play in the high winds, ensuring he’d be prepared for everything. If there’s an edge, the best find it. It was there Friday morning as he fought his way around Aronimink, throwing enough punches to enter the weekend as defending champion and favorite to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy again, and do what he’s the best in the world at doing: solving golf’s major puzzles.

“I think you can always see it, and I think that’s what is great about the harder tests,” Scheffler said on Friday when asked if he saw low scores out there. “A lot of times you see somebody figure it out.”

Everyone in the field is searching for answers. After two rounds at Aronimink, it’s not hard to see who has the best chance at solving that riddle this weekend.

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