PITTSFORD, NY (AP) — Scottie Scheffler picked up where he left off at the PGA Championship.
The No. 2 player in the world started the second round with back-to-back birdies to climb to the top of the standings at Oak Hill.
Scheffler hit his hard approach shot on the par-4 first hole for a birdie tap and rolled in a 9-foot putt on the second hole to go 5 under for the tournament.
Scheffler is tied for the top with Corey Conners. The Canadian started on the back nine and birdied the 13th and 15th holes to join Scheffler at 5 under.
Scheffler started with a bogey-free 3-under 67, his first bogey-free round in 52 tries at a major tournament.
First-lap leader Bryson DeChambeau is in a group two shots behind. DeChambeau, who opened with 4-under 66, missed the third hole to lose some of the initial pace set by Scheffler and Conners.
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Justin Rose’s quick start in round two puts him one shot behind Bryson DeChambeau at the PGA Championship.
Rose birdied on three of his first seven holes and was 2 under for the day, 3 under for the tournament as he made the turn at Oak Hill.
Rose, 41, the 2013 US Open champion, used a hot putter to take advantage of conditions that looked more conducive to scoring than in the first round on Thursday. Rose didn’t hit a fairway on his first nine holes, but still managed to roll in birdie putts from 15, 20 and 26 feet.
Rose won her 11th PGA Tour at Pebble Beach in February. Rose has four top-10 PGA finishes and tied for 13th at Southern Hills last year.
Mito Pereira, who doubled down 18th in the fourth round at Southern Hills to squander a chance for a stunning victory, is 3 under on 11 holes to drop to 1 under for the tournament.
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Club pro Michael Block has joined a much more famous venture near the top of the PGA Championship standings.
Block, 46, the head pro at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, Calif., birdied on three of his first five holes of the second round to climb to 2 under as he heads for his second nine in Oak Hill. That put Block two strokes behind first-round leader Bryson DeChambeau, who will start his second round on Friday afternoon.
This is the fifth PGA appearance for Block, who qualified by finishing tied for second in the PGA Professional Championship this month. He’s yet to make the cut in six previous major championship starts.
Block started the second round with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-4 10th hole of the East course. He hit his tap-in range approach on the par-4 12th and drained a 12-footer for a birdie on the short par-4 14th.
Block puts himself in a solid position to make it to the weekend. The field of 156 players will be reduced to the top 70 and tied later on Friday.
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Bryson DeChambeau leads the PGA Championship, his first time to top a ranking in a major tournament since winning the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot.
That was assured when PGA Tour rookie Eric Cole returned to Oak Hill on Friday and sent his first shot on the sixth hole in the water and double-bogeyed.
DeChambeau started with a 4-under 66 on Thursday and has a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners and Cole.
The first round was suspended Thursday night due to darkness, due to a two-hour freezing delay at the start of the first round. Cole was 5 under and in the middle of the sixth fairway. He finished with three straight pars.
Phil Mickelson held on until the very end. His shot from the rough stayed below the rougher 18th green. He didn’t advance that to the green, chipped the next one 12 feet short and two putts for a double bogey. He finishes with a 73.
Even with the freeze delay, the PGA Championship is back on schedule. The second round began as 30 players completed their first round. Justin Rose contributed for a birdie on his last hole for a 69, making it 16 players who beat par in the first round.
The next task for Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm was to be in the top 70 and the ties that make the cut.
DeChambeau plays in the afternoon.
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