Oak Hill is doing a little bit of everything at this PGA Championship. Instead, Scotty Scheffler has maintained consistent performance and shown that he is getting used to trophy chasing in the majors.
A delay in the start because of snow on the grass prevented the conclusion of Thursday’s round. Friday morning was rather hot and windy, before rain brought out umbrellas in the afternoon.
Scheffler was as consistent as ever, shooting a 2-under 68 to share the lead with Corey Connors and Victor Hovland.
“These are positions I want to be in,” Scheffler said. “I show up to do the best I can in the tournament. I’m proud of how I’ve performed over the first few days and I’m excited to be in good shape heading into the weekend. Having said that, I’m Going to put my head down to focus on continuing to do.”
Hovland, who shared the first place after 54 holes at St Andrews last summer, is also getting used to it. He missed just one shot on his opening round 67 and closed with a 7-iron about five feet out into the thick, wet brush that gave him birdie.
It was his 10th consecutive round in the majors to finish the day in the top 10 on the leaderboard.
Connors had a card of 68. At one point he held a two-shot lead until he had to rely on his short game to make up for some missed drives and some tricky holes in the first half.
The leaders are at 135 strokes, five under par. He is two over ahead of Bryson DeChambeau (71) and Justin Suh (68).
The first seven came from the same side of the field. Among them is Brooks Koepka, who shot 31 on the back nine in his round of 66. They were delayed for two hours due to freezing temperatures and a sheet of snow on the turf.
He avoided the Friday morning wind and then saw rain take some of Oak Hill’s momentum away.
“The rain … luckily it didn’t mix with the wind, so that helped us in a way,” Hovland said. “With all that rain, the ball was a little smaller, and if you hit the rough, it gets more waterlogged. In the end, the greens were softer, and maybe could have been a little more aggressive.
