ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Scottie Scheffler is playing the long game this week at the 105th PGA Championship. The 26-year-old Texan posted 2-under 68 at Oak Hill on Friday to share the 36-hole lead with Canada’s Corey Conners and Norway’s Viktor Hovland at 5-under 135.
“These are the positions I want to be in. I want to be near the lead. I don’t want to be in 30th place or going home. I show up to the tournaments to perform at my best,” Scheffler said.
Playing during afternoon rain, Scheffler made four birdies on the day, carding back-to-back birdies twice in the round. His iron game was sharp early as he sent a dart inside two feet at the first hole for a birdie and nine feet at the second to jump into the lead. He dropped his first shot of the tournament at No. 7 and then skated along with a stretch of six straight pars.
“I felt like I did a good job of grinding today. I had some nice up-and-downs and kept the course in front of me for the most part,” he said.
Scheffler, who won the 2022 Masters and is ranked No. 2 in the world, made birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 but surrendered sole possession of the lead with a bogey at 18.
“To shoot 2-under, especially on a day where the rough got really wet and it was really tough to play out of, to post a number today was good, solid golf,” Scheffler said. “When you can kind of hang around the lead and stay in position and hopefully wait to get hot, it’s a good position to be in. I’ve done a good job the first two days of keeping the golf course in front of me and scrambling well…Tomorrow I’m hoping to hit a few more fairways than I did today, make it a little easier on myself, but ultimately, 2-under is a good round around this place.”
Here are four more things to know from the 105th PGA Championship.