McNealy and Smalley lead PGA Championship, Scheffler and McIlroy chasing

Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley turned Aronimink Golf Club into a pressure cooker, sharing the lead at 4-under par while Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy chased the names expected to own the weekend. With 36 holes gone at the 108th PGA Championship, the first two rounds had already split the field between the lesser-known leaders trying to hold their nerve and the sport’s biggest stars trying to claw back into position.

McNealy and Smalley were tied at the top after Friday’s play in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, while Scheffler stood two shots back at 2-under and McIlroy was five behind the leaders after a second-round 67. The championship began with 156 players, and only the top 70 and ties advanced into the weekend, a cut line that sharpened every mistake and made every birdie feel more valuable. At a major championship, the margin for error narrows fast, and Aronimink had already made that obvious.

The course itself added to the strain. Aronimink was playing at 7,349 yards and par 70 for the opening rounds, with the Donald Ross design asking for precision off the tee and patience on the greens. Narrow margins, heavy bunkering and demanding green complexes left little room to recover. PGA Championship chief championships officer Kerry Haigh said Aronimink was in among the best conditions he had seen for a PGA Championship, but the players did not hide their frustration. Scheffler said some pin positions were the hardest he had faced, and McIlroy agreed with him, calling the setup “absurd.”

That tension gave McNealy and Smalley a chance to stand in front of the game’s established stars. McNealy entered the week with one PGA Tour victory, the 2024 RSM Classic, and his best major finish before this week had been a tie for 18th at the 2026 Masters. Smalley’s best major result before this week was a tie for 23rd at the 2023 PGA Championship. Neither arrived carrying the weight that followed Scheffler, the world No. 1 and betting favorite, or McIlroy, who came in after completing the career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters and defending his title at the 2026 Masters.

Aronimink’s return to the PGA Championship for the first time since 1962, after an extensive preparation effort from the PGA of America and the club’s 800-plus members and PGA professionals, has already delivered the kind of volatility major-championship golf often promises but rarely sustains. By the end of two rounds, the old course had done both: it elevated two leaders few expected, and it set the stage for the game’s most familiar contenders to spend the weekend chasing them.