PGA Championship Round 2: Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy Share the Lead in an Aronimink Logjam

Two days in, the PGA Championship has a pair of leaders, 15 players inside two shots and a lot of grumbling about the pins.

Alex Smalley shot 1-under 69 and Maverick McNealy posted 67 to share the lead at 4-under 136 at Aronimink Golf Club. That is the highest 36-hole score to par for a PGA Championship leader since 2012 at Kiawah Island, per the AP. One shot back at 3-under 137 sits a six-man group: Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup, Stephan Jaeger, Aldrich Potgieter, Min Woo Lee and Max Greyserman. Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young and Ludvig Åberg lead the next wave at 2 under, and the AP called it the biggest logjam heading into a major weekend since 2002.

McNealy Touches 6 Under

McNealy owned the round's best highlight. On the par-5 16th, McNealy holed a bunker shot for eagle and climbed to 6 under, the only player to reach that number all week. Two late bogeys trimmed the lead back to a share, but for a player who had never been inside the top 25 of a major through 36 holes, sleeping on a piece of the lead at a major is new air.

"This is unfamiliar territory for me," McNealy said.

Smalley got there the hard way. After a share of the first-round lead, Smalley ran off three straight bogeys after the turn and looked like he might drift into the pack. Instead, Smalley steadied and finished with a birdie to keep his name on top of the board in just his fifth major start.

Gotterup Finds the Only 65

The low round of the championship came from the morning wave, which makes it even better. With temperatures barely touching 50 degrees and the wind howling, Gotterup, the former Rutgers player and world No. 10, signed for 65, the only score that low through two days, and finished it with three straight birdies. Gotterup had been 2 over after Thursday's 72. Now Gotterup is one shot back.

Matsuyama matched McNealy's 67 and is lurking at 3 under. Jaeger played the most quietly stubborn round of the day: 18 pars, no birdies, no bogeys, and Jaeger stayed one back. Potgieter and Lee each shot 70 to stay in the mix after their Thursday 67s.

Scheffler Survives a Rough Morning

For a while, it looked like the defending champion's week could go sideways. Scheffler did not hit a fairway until the 18th, his ninth hole, and dropped three shots in a four-hole stretch after driving into the thick grass. Then came the recovery: an 80-foot lag to save par on the par-3 14th, and an up-and-down birdie on the par-5 ninth to close out a 71 that kept him at 2-under 138.

Scheffler was blunt about the setup. "This is the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on tour," Scheffler said, per the AP.

Åberg made the biggest climb among the contenders. His 66 included four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine and jumped Åberg into that 2-under group alongside Thomas, the two-time PGA champion, and Young.

McIlroy Bounces Back and Sounds Off

Rory McIlroy needed a response after Thursday's four-bogey finish and got one. McIlroy went bogey-free for a 67, moving to 1-over 141, tied for 30th and five shots back. The Masters champion, still the only player alive for the calendar Grand Slam, made it clear he was not a fan of how the course is being presented.

"A bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup," McIlroy said, per the AP. "Anyone who makes the cut, they've got to feel they have a shot in the tournament."

Jordan Spieth is also at 1 over after a Friday that never caught fire, keeping his career Grand Slam chase alive but well off the pace. Jon Rahm shot 70 to sit at 1-under 139, three behind, and Aaron Rai is right there with him after a 69.

The Cut and the Casualties

The cut fell at 4-over 144, and 82 players made it, with only eight shots separating first from last. Bryson DeChambeau was 10 over at one point and closed with three straight birdies, too little and too late to stick around. Garrick Higgo missed by a single stroke, which stings even more after Thursday's two-shot penalty for arriving 10 seconds late to the tee. Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland were also among the notable names heading home early.

Martin Kaymer, one of the seven first-round co-leaders, slid back with a 75 but stayed safely inside the number.

Moving Day Math

Forget the usual math about how far back a winner can come from. The story at Aronimink is density. With 15 players separated by two shots and the course playing this firm and this tricky, one hot nine on Saturday could vault someone from the middle of the pack into the final group. The flip side holds too. On greens like these, one loose stretch can send a co-leader back into the crowd just as fast.

Catch up on how Thursday unfolded in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 recap and leaderboard), AP. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.