Justin Thomas shot a one-over 71 on Thursday at TPC Harding Park.
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This post will be updated as the second round progresses and the 2020 PGA Championship cut line changes. Check back for updates.
UPDATE (8:40 p.m. ET): As the second round winds down, the projected cut remains one over, with 77 players at one over or better. Rory McIlroy made four straight birdies on Nos. 7-10, but gave most of that back with a triple bogey on 12. He’s now even overall. Tiger Woods is two over on the day and even overall through 13 holes, and Justin Thomas, the third member of that star-studded trio, is one over for his round and two over overall.
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While Jason Day, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka seem to be among the big-name pros who have safely secured a spot for the weekend at TPC Harding, some stars might miss out on the final two rounds of the PGA Championship.
The PGA Championship cut line is the top 70 and ties, and after the first round 89 players were at one under or better (with Day and Brendon Todd leading at five under).
After the first round, analytics gurus Matthew and Will Courchene of DataGolf crunched the numbers to project the 36-hole cut, predicting a 29.4% chance it becomes 1 over, with a 25% chance it’s 2 over and 19.5% chance it’s even par.
As of 3 p.m. ET on Friday, the projected cut is even or better (it was one over an hour earlier) with 75 players inside the cut line. With the afternoon wave just now starting to tee off, things can change quickly.
Players who are around the cut line with afternoon tee times are Rory McIlroy (even), Justin Thomas (one over), Patrick Cantlay (three over) and Jordan Spieth (three over). Other marquee names who teed off in the morning, like Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia, are battling to stay inside the cut line.
Tiger Woods opened with a two-under 68 and looks to be in good position for a weekend tee time, but anything can happen at a major championship.. His Friday tee time is 4:58 p.m. ET.
This post will be updated as the second round progresses.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.