Aronimink Carnage & Bryson’s Early Exit - May 16th, 2026

On May 16th, 2026, freezing 25 mph winds and brutal pin placements at Aronimink wreaked havoc on the PGA Championship field, leaving Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy as the surprise 36-hole co-leaders at -4.THE CARNAGE AT ARONIMINKFreezing low-50s temperatures and relentless 25 mph winds turned Round 2 into an absolute survival test, pushing the cutline to +4 and leaving surprise co-leaders Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy atop the leaderboard.Dustin Johnson summed up the grind perfectly, claiming the wind was "blowing one hundred," while local Chris Gotterup fired a tournament-low 65 despite noting some pins "did not even look like they were on the green."21-year-old Aldrich Potgieter fired a brilliant 70 to sit just one back at -3, narrowly missing Tiger Woods' 1997 record for the youngest 36-hole major leader.SCHEFFLER'S GRIND & BRYSON'S BUSTScottie Scheffler battled to a 71 to stay in the hunt at -2, while Bryson DeChambeau suffered a career-worst missed cut at +7 amid struggles with his single-length irons, LIV investor meetings, and YouTube commitments.Scheffler called the setup the "hardest set of pin locations" since Oakmont, comparing the 14th hole's pin to a "microphone," while Bryson's coach Dana Dahlquist insisted they need "nothing drastic" to fix his swing.CBS's Johnson Wagner didn't hold back on Bryson, heavily criticizing his inability to play the wind and the awkwardness of using 6-iron length wedges on Aronimink's uneven lies.CUTLINE DRAMA & BOUNCE BACKSThe +4 cutline provided incredible late-round theater. Justin Thomas fought officials over pace-of-play during his 69, while Rory McIlroy blasted a 344-yard drive en route to a bounce-back 67 to safely reach the weekend.JT fired back at rules officials during his round, asking "what is time par" when dealing with 25 mph gusts.Shane Lowry nearly threw his weekend away by topping a 164-yard tee shot into the water on 17, sweating it out to land exactly on the +4 number.Quick HitsJustin Rose's miraculous 76-foot chip-in eagle on the par-5 9th to make the cut • Rickie Fowler's clutch 60-foot birdie bomb on 17 to survive at +1 • Scottie Scheffler's absurd 80-foot par save on the 14th hole Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.