Hideki Matsuyama shot a 67 on Friday at the PGA Championship, staying in the hunt at Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pa., as cold wind and treacherous greens turned the second round into a grind.
Chris Gotterup delivered the low round of the tournament with a 5-under 65, while Scottie Scheffler salvaged a 1-over 71 after struggling to find fairways. Alex Smalley’s 69 put him at 4-under 136 and two ahead of Scheffler among the early finishers, with Dustin Johnson carding an even-par 70 and Cameron Young closing with an 8-foot eagle putt for a 67.
The round was played in morning air that felt colder than the low 50s for much of the day, and Aronimink’s slick greens punished anything that drifted off line. That was the backdrop for Matsuyama, who is playing for a second major and needed a steady score just to stay within range as the tournament tightened around him.
Gotterup, No. 10 in the world and already a winner of three PGA TOUR titles since July, was the player who made the best of it. He said the conditions were so severe that from the couch they would have looked impossible, then added, “I really battled all day” and “It was very hard. There were some pins that didn't even look like they were on the green.”
His 65 left him at 2-under 138 and briefly set the standard for the day, but the leaderboard still had room to move. Aldrich Potgieter, the 21-year-old, was chasing the chance to become the youngest golfer with a 36-hole lead at a major since Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters, a target that underscored how much was still on the line going into the weekend.
For Scheffler, the damage was limited. He pieced together a 71 after a rough start, and that was enough to keep him in striking distance rather than out of the event. Smalley’s 69 was the early number to beat, but the course kept asking for precision that few players could provide.
Aronimink offered little margin and no easy recovery, and Friday’s scores showed it. Matsuyama’s 67 was good, but not enough to separate him from the field. Gotterup’s 65 was better, yet even that only cut through the day’s difficulty rather than breaking it open. The tournament now moves into the weekend with the leaders still bunched and the course still asking the same question: who can keep the ball in play long enough to survive it.
