The cut day at the PGA Championship was eclipsed by Scottie Scheffler’s arrest in the morning. Will Zalatoris now says some of the players wondered if they should even tee up today or not. Regardless, the play started with a short delay, and the day progressed with the usual business of a cut day at a major championship. 

So far, Valhalla has sprung no surprises. Traditional long and precision hitters in the field, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, and Brooks Koepka are all lurking near the top ten on the leaderboard. Scoring has been low in wet conditions at Valhalla. The cutline is projected at 1-under. Here are the top five players who look favorable to book a weekend spot. 

Viktor Hovland

The Norwegian is back with his former swing coach, Joe Mayo. It’s not clear whether Viktor Hovland has given up on his experiment of going back to his previous swing. The reigning Tour champion carded a 3-under 68 and is already 3-under through front nine at Valhalla. Hovland looks to be making the cut at the 106th PGA Championship. The six-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut at the Masters last month and has only three top-25s this season. 

Joaquin Niemann

The Chilean bettered his two-over opening round with a 3-under 68 on Friday. Except for his double-bogey on par-4, the second hole, Niemann was flawless. The 25-year-old strung together five birdies on Friday. But Niemann’s lead is slippery; he just hangs by the cutline. Niemann is one of the 16 LIV Goflers on the field. The Torque GC captain is teeing off on a special invitation. 

Talor Gooch

Gooch, like Niemann, is playing on a special invite. Gooch cared even par on the opening day and went one-under today. Gooch’s second round was rather uneventful. The 2023 LIV Golf Player of the Year made the turn at 35, then carded his first birdie of the day. The Oklahoma resident followed that up with a bogey and another birdie at the par-5 18th. Gooch, however, sits just at the projected cutline. 

Justin Thomas

The ‘Hometown Hero’ has found his form somewhat back at the Valhalla. The 15-time PGA Tour winner is five-under as of the moment the report went to publication. Thomas, after two back-to-back top-10s in his first two appearances this season, lost momentum. The 31-year-old crashed out of the Masters last month. The 2022 PGA Championship winner has missed the cut at three back-to-back majors since Oak Hill last year.

Min Woo Lee

The Australian was 1-over in the opening round. On Friday though, Lee kick-started a birdie run that went till the par-4, 16th. Even with a bogey, Lee was well within the cutline. Currently, he is T25 thanks to three neat chip-in birdies. Last year, the 25-year-old was T18. Let him cook.

Notably, Tiger Woods has all but crashed out of competition. The four-times PGA Championship winner is 8-over through 14 holes. As has Phil Mickelson, who carded a 4-over after the second round. In other news, Xander Schauffele broke another record at Valhalla. The 31-year-old broke the PGA Championship 36-hole scoring record after carding 13-under through 10 holes. The 36-hole scoring record in relation to par at a major championship is 14-under set by Jordan Spieth in the 2015 Masters. Whereas, Brooks Koepka holds the lowest 36-hole around at 128.