Check in each day of this week’s PGA Championship for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topic in the tournament, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.
Rickie Fowler, Cam Young, Jason Day and Matt Fitzpatrick are headed home after missing the cut. Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners are leading. Oak Hill has showed some teeth and, well, lots of other quirky things have happened so far this week in New York. What’s the biggest surprise at the midway point of the PGA Championship?
Sean Zak: It has to be Bryson DeChambeau. I thought for sure BDC would take a step back Friday, and it seemed like he would, sitting at three over through six holes. But then he settled in. The wind laid down. And the birdies started to show up again. I think he’s close to playing winning golf again. I don’t think it happens this week but it will be soon. And that’s a lovely surprise.
Jessica Marksbury: Totally agree, Sean! DeChambeau wasn’t even on my radar in terms of LIV favorites this week, let alone when I took the whole field into account. His first round was easy to explain away as a flash-in-the-pan one-off, but today’s round — especially the three-birdie back nine after dropping three shots on the front — demonstrated some real grit and staying power. It’s cool to have an interesting player like him back in the spotlight. I can’t wait to see what happens on Saturday.
Ryan Barath: When it comes to surprises at the PGA Championship, I do my best to expected the unexpected, but to see both Cam Young and Matt Fitzpatrick miss the cut is a bit of a shock. On the other side of things seeing Bryson back up his good play on Friday reminds me of the D’Jango Unchained quote: “You had my curiosity, now you have my attention.” I fully expected a regression to the mean on Friday but he just kept it going and that is going to make for more exciting golf.
Now, before I get my citizenship revoked I have to mention that I am beyond excited to see Canadian Corey Conners playing well and knocking down flagsticks. The man has proven to be an absolute ball-striker and he’s answering the questions Oak Hill is asking so far.
Josh Sens: DeChambeau, no doubt. But since that’s taken…Can’t say I’m shocked by Conners since I (ahem) picked him in our PGA Championship preview (even a broken clock is right once in a while; at least through two rounds). Maybe what’s most unexpected is that we don’t have an entirely unexpected leader at the top. The last two PGAs played here yielded out-of-the-blue winners. This time around, we are headed toward the weekend with a pre-tournament favorite (and a near pre-tournament favorite) tied for the lead. If Scheffler doesn’t wind up closing this one out, that would be, well, surprising.
