NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — It was too little and far too late for Bryson DeChambeau to get it going at the end of his Friday round at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
DeChambeau made just one birdie Thursday and one birdie through his first 15 holes Friday — both came at the mild, par-5 ninth — before he rolled in birdies at Nos. 16, 17 and 18 to finish his round and his tournament.
The two-time major winner shot a 71 but missed the cut by three strokes at 7 over, after his 6-over 76 in the first round put him too far behind the 8-ball.
DeChambeau has now missed the cut at three of the past four majors, and while he sits second in the LIV Golf season standings, he is not close to his best self at these stringent tests of golf. He opened the Masters with a 76 en route to missing the cut, and his first-round 76 this week was his worst score at a PGA Championship in his career.
On an Aronimink setup with pin locations Scottie Scheffler described as “absurd,” DeChambeau ranked 153rd out of 156 golfers in strokes gained around the green. At the 11th hole in the first round, he tapped a putt from just off the green and watched it roll all the way down to 57 feet away, 27 feet further than where he started. At the 10th on Friday, he had a chip not make it onto the shelf of the green and roll back down toward him — though he managed to chip in for par on the next swing.
DeChambeau did not meet with the media either before the tournament or after either of his rounds.
Garrick Higgo of South Africa will be kicking himself after missing the cut by one shot.
Higgo made headlines Thursday when he was less than a minute late to his first-round tee time and incurred a two-stroke penalty. He still managed to shoot a 1-under 69, which would have been a 67 and tied him for the lead had he avoided the penalty.
But on Friday, Higgo made his tee time but crashed back down in a 6-over 76. He needed to make an eagle putt at the par-5 ninth, his final hole, to make the cut on the number but missed it narrowly to his left.
Had Higgo not been penalized, he would be at 3 over and preparing for the weekend; instead, he’s 5 over and packing his things.
The best player in terms of world ranking to miss the cut was Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, whose Friday round of 73 included a messy double bogey at the par-3 14th.
Fleetwood was joined at 5 over by Wyndham Clark, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, South Korea’s Sungjae Im and PGA professional Michael Block, who became a fan favorite at the 2023 PGA Championship where he tied for 15th. Block opened this week with a 70 but stumbled to a 75 Friday.
U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (6 over) has missed the first two major cuts of the year. Also heading home are Keegan Bradley (6 over), Norway’s Viktor Hovland (6 over), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (6 over) and Max Homa (12 over).
Rory McIlroy was in the danger zone after an opening 74 that he described simply as “s–.” But the six-time major winner from Northern Ireland rebounded in style with a bogey-free 67 to move up to 1 over, just five back of leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley and well inside the cut line.
“It’s been hard to make birdies out there because obviously, one, the wind the last couple days, but also where they have put these hole locations, I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days,” McIlroy said. “So it seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones.”
McIlroy’s driving accuracy was only slightly better Friday, as he made 8 of 14 fairways in regulation rather than 5 of 14, but he stayed away from trouble while making a 12 1/2-foot birdie putt at the second, a 7-footer at the fourth and a 10-footer at the 12th.
“At five back I do feel like I’m right in the tournament,” he said, “and that’s really what I wanted to do today was to just get myself back in it, and I feel like I’ve done that.”
