2025 PGA Championship Second Round Leaderboard and Notes

Second Round Bits and Bobs from Quail Hollow

What Are the Odds? – Jhonattan Vegas, the 36-hole leader at eight under, has four PGA Tour wins under his belt and is looking to claim his first major championship this weekend. If he’s successful, it will be the second time he has won an event despite entering in awful form. When Vegas defended his 2017 RBC Canadian Open title, he had missed the cut in eight of his prior 10 starts, including five in a row. Coming into this week’s PGA Championship, he missed four straight cuts before a T-13 at the birdie-fest CJ Cup Byron Nelson. – Adam Woodard

Too Hot To Hold – Late in the day on Friday, around 6:15 p.m. ET, Jason Sobel of SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio reported that Rory McIlroy’s driver was deemed non-conforming on Tuesday, and that he had switched drivers before the first round on Thursday. McIlroy hit 10 of his first 27 fairways this week, placing him almost last in the field. The tours and broadcasts, meanwhile, have continued to waterboard viewers with ads for official betting partners. Rory was one of two heavy favorites. This isn’t a personal health matter or private issue. It happened on Tuesday. This information has to be disclosed if we’re going to embrace gambling as a business. – Brendan Porath

Return of the Max – The struggle has been real for Max Homa this season. With just one top 25 and five missed cuts in 11 starts, the six-time PGA Tour winner hasn’t looked like his usual self on the course, except at the majors. He finished T-12 at the Masters and shot up the leaderboard at Quail Hollow on Friday with the day’s low round, a seven-under 64. Already this season he has changed his caddie, swing, equipment, and coaches, but it’s slowly starting to look like Max is back (once again). – Adam Woodard

Alex the Alternate – Alex Smalley may not be a household name, but the 28-year-old was a stud in college at Duke and went back-to-back at the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur in 2018 and 2019. He has worked his way up through the developmental tours and has done everything but win this year on the PGA Tour. This season, he ranks seventh in Strokes Gained: Total, behind only Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, and Sepp Straka. After 36 holes, the last alternate in the field sits T-7 at four under. – Andy Johnson

The Captain’s Conundrum – Sitting at two under after 36 holes, Captain Keegan Bradley may soon make his decision on whether he should suit up for the U.S. squad at Bethpage Black even harder. If he moves up the leaderboard this weekend and continues his string of solid play up to the U.S. Open, expect the debate to reach a fever pitch at Oakmont. That’s when Bradley says he will reevaluate where things stand. He could even end up taking the critical decision off his plate by earning an automatic spot on the team. Cue the chaos! – Meg Adkins

Mudballs and Meltdowns – The mud has created a subsurface tension throughout the first two days of the championship, and, like the mud kicking up through the turf onto the ball, it has occasionally erupted in frustration. The blow-up of the day goes to Shane Lowry, who didn’t quite catch a mud ball but was the victim of the soft, wet conditions as his ball bounced into another pitch mark on the eighth hole. This resulted in Lowry taking a massive chunk out of the turf and eventually flipping off his ball shortly before it found its home for bogey. The players are quite mad at the inanimate objects this week. – Brendan Porath

The Kid – Playing in just his fourth major championship and first PGA Championship, Michael Thorbjornsen (T-7) finds himself in contention at a major for the first time in his young career. A dominant amateur player, Thorbjornsen has two runner-up finishes (John Deere Classic and Corales Puntacana Championship) but will need to manage his nerves this weekend on the biggest stage he has ever seen. – Will Knights

Cutline Drama – Did you enjoy following the moving target of Friday’s cutline? Did watching names like McIlroy, Schauffele, Lowry, Spieth, and Straka fight to make the weekend interest you at all? Yeah? The struggles of big names heightened the importance of this week’s cut watch, especially considering that a star who barely snuck inside the line could still find themselves in contention on Sunday afternoon – not something we normally see at major championships. While I do appreciate the plight of a PGA Tour Signature Event wanting to ensure its headliners (and sponsor exemptions) show up for the fans on all four days, a major championship cut gives these guys something to really play for late on Friday afternoons. I hope everyone appreciated the drama today at Quail Hollow, because it’ll probably be the last time we see it there for a while. – PJ Clark

Long Gone LIV – Nearly half of the LIV Golf contingent at Quail Hollow is heading home early. The players leading the way for LIV are Bryson DeChambeau and (*rubs eyes*) Richard Bland at three under, with Jon Rahm not far behind at two under. Tom McKibbin, Tyrrell Hatton, and Joaquin Niemann are at one under, with Spaniards Sergio Garcia and David Puig on the other side of par at one over.

The seven LIV players to miss the cut did so mainly in embarrassing fashion, with Dustin Johnson (12 over), Brooks Koepka (nine over), Phil Mickelson (nine over), and Martin Kaymer (eight over), all finishing among the host of PGA professionals at the tail end of the leaderboard. Cameron Smith (seven over) and Dean Burmester (six over) are also heading home early, while Patrick Reed (four over) ended a streak of 11 major cuts made. – Adam Woodard

Hot Takes and Haters – I find it hard to condemn players for skipping press obligations while also condemning them for being whiners. To be clear, it’s rather easily done. Media, social media, and past players-turned-media can critique everything six ways to Sunday. But I find it difficult to do in a way that’s intellectually honest.

The perspectives of Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffle on mud balls immediately after their first rounds were incredibly valuable. We got two major winners explaining their viewpoints and feelings on the matter, and how it impacts their craft, which very few on the planet can speak to. They were specific and measured, relatively unemotional. You don’t have to agree with it, but it’s not “soft” or whining. This is what we want, these perspectives from the scant few who could express them as elite players. – Brendan Porath

Earning Its Name – The Green Mile, Quail Hollow’s final three holes, has been keeping the field on its toes through the first two rounds of play. On Thursday, Nos. 16-18 were three of the four hardest holes on the course, with the par-4 16th averaging 4.41 strokes. On Friday, the par-4 18th was the most challenging of the trio, with a scoring average of 4.54. – Adam Woodard

Sent Packing

By Will Knights

Jordan Spieth (2 over) – Nine bogeys in two days isn’t going to cut it. The chase for the career Grand Slam will go on another year, making the 2026 PGA Championship Spieth’s 10th attempt.

Ludvig Aberg (3 over) – The guy seems like a robot and yet has fallen flat and missed the cut at two PGA Championship venues that aren’t exactly the most demanding. Six majors into his career, he has three top-12 finishes and three MCs.

Justin Thomas (3 over) – The 2017 champion at Quail Hollow made nine birdies in two days but made far too many mistakes to see the weekend.

Will Zalatoris (6 over) – Adjusting to life after back surgery in 2024, many had hopes that Zalatoris would get back to being a regular contender in majors in 2025. With two MCs this year and four in a row, Willy Z is yet to show that he can return to top form.

Phil Mickelson (9 over) – The 2021 PGA champion didn’t show up to Quail Hollow this week until late Wednesday night, opting to practice elsewhere instead of dealing with the early-week storms. He’ll be returning to said elsewhere for the weekend after a Thursday 79 derailed his week.

Justin Rose (9 over) – The only player to finish in the top 15 of each of the last five PGA Championships and runner-up in each of the last two majors, the veteran showed this late career run isn’t bulletproof.

Brooks Koepka (9 over) – The surly one extended his streak of lackluster major performances to eight as he flamed out with big numbers on both Thursday (75) and Friday (76). Without much to say for himself right now, Koepka needs a really strong back half of the season if he wants to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Dustin Johnson (12 over) – There’s no need to kick someone when they’re down, especially when I’m not sure they’re getting back up. DJ’s major performances have been troubling for some time, and there’s hardly anything to suggest we’ll see his top form ever again.

‍This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.