Olympic champion Xander Schauffele will take a one-shot lead into the third round of the 106th US PGA Championship at Valhalla.
Schauffele added a second round of 68 to his record-equalling opening 62 to reach 12 under, matching the championship scoring record in relation to par set by Brooks Koepka in 2019.
Former champion Collin Morikawa was a shot off the lead following a superb 65, with Sahith Theegala another stroke back and Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau part of a four-strong group on nine under.
Rory McIlroy’s challenge fell off with a frustrating even par round of 71. A double bogey on the 12th derailed his round he had previously birdied the first and seventh with a bogey at six in between. He missed chances to make up for the dropped shots on the back nine before a birdie on the par fvie 18th saw him back to level par for the day, seven shots behind the leaders.
Dave Hannigan: Behold a version of golf that’s fun and weirdly cool - but still ludicrously expensive
Golf lowdowns: Leona Maguire looks to turn fortunes around at LPGA Tour Championship
Tyrrell Hatton set for Ryder Cup warm-up as LIV rebels come in from the cold
Well-earned rest ahead for Shane Lowry after most consistent year of his career
Shane Lowry is one shot back of McIlroy on four under after his two under effort of 69. Padraig Harrington missed the cut after a second round 75 left him on 10-over after his first two founds.
Scheffler amazingly returned a 66 hours after being arrested – and subsequently released from police custody – following an incident outside the course.
Scheffler had attempted to get into the course amid heavy traffic caused by an earlier unrelated incident in which a male pedestrian died after being struck by a shuttle bus.
The world number one faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
The fatal accident resulted in a delay of 80 minutes to all tee times and meant 18 players were unable to complete round two before darkness fell.
Morikawa and Scheffler made up the last group in the final round at Augusta National in April, with Scheffler cruising to his second green jacket as Morikawa faded to a tie for third after a 74.
“I know I still have it in me,” said Morikawa, who won both the 2020 US PGA and 2021 Open Championship on his tournament debut.
“It sucked to finish like that at Augusta and it sucked to lose to Scottie, but what’s exciting is that, at the end of the day, I knew I had three more majors coming up and to prep for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong.
“It’s obviously nice to get off to this start.”
Starting from the 10th, Morikawa birdied the 13th and 18th to reach the turn in 34 before making five consecutive birdies from the fourth.
“The little five-birdie run was me just playing solid golf and sometimes when the putts drop, that’s what happened,” he added.
“But for the most part, that’s the kind of golf I’m going to ask for myself over the next two days and 36 holes, to just stay present, hit your shots, execute them and, if the putts drop, the putts drop.”
Belgium’s Thomas Detry lies three shots off the pace following a flawless 67 which included two birdies and an eagle on the par-five 18th.
“It was probably the perfect wind out there on 18, straight downwind,” Detry said.
“Didn’t really have to worry about the bunker or the water right. Everything was pretty straightforward. Hit a great drive and we had the perfect yardage.
“I hit a straight shot, pushed it a little bit. It probably went four or five paces further right than I wanted to, but perfect yardage and hit a really good putt. Read it well with my caddie.
“We missed a short one on 17 and I feel like that was a bit of redemption on that hole.”
