Five storylines going into the weekend at PGA Championship

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Conditions are muddy, the delayed second round will spill into Saturday, and Scottie Scheffler endured a surreal morning only to post a 5-under 66 to stay in contention.

It was a dizzying Friday at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, one that included plenty of firsts, lots of double-takes and countless utterances of: "Is this really happening?"

And yet there remains a tournament to decide. Someone will win; others will go down fighting.

Here are five big storylines going into the weekend at the PGA Championship, where Xander Schauffele (68) leads Collin Morikawa (65) by one and Sahith Theegala (67) by two.

1. Players are more in awe of Scottie Scheffler than ever

Tragic circumstances led to Shelbyville Road turning into a parking lot as Scheffler tried to make his tee time. After his arrest and booking for what he called a misunderstanding as he tried to drive into the club, as well as a brief stay in a holding cell, he was released and given a ride back to the course, where he shot 66 to reach 9-under for the tournament.

Incredibly, after all that, he’s only three off the lead.

“I mean, I saw as everybody did the mug shot and the police report,” said Mark Hubbard (68, also 9-under). “And I'm glad he made his tee time and, I mean, unbelievable that he gets arrested and then goes out and shoots 66. That just speaks to how good he's playing.

“He can't – you can't stop him right now.”

Scheffler has won four of his last five tournaments, including THE PLAYERS Championship for the second time in as many years and the Masters for the second time in three years, to build big leads in both the Official World Golf Ranking and FedExCup. With a victory at the PGA this weekend, the 10-time PGA TOUR winner and new father would be the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to get halfway to the calendar-year Grand Slam.

“It probably took a few holes to feel normal,” Scheffler said of his wild Friday.

2. Xander Schauffele, Mark Hubbard both chasing firsts

Xander Schauffele, who shot a second-round 68 to keep the lead (12-under) by one over Collin Morikawa (65), hasn’t won on the PGA TOUR since the 2022 Genesis Scottish Open.

More to the point, Schauffele, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has never won a major despite playing exceptionally well in them. Only Rickie Fowler (13) has more top 10s in majors without a victory than Schauffele (12), who keeps playing well in the biggest events.

“I know I'm playing really good golf right now,” he said. “And all can I could do is focus on my process and my talk with Austin (Kaiser, his caddie), and that's about it.”

Mark Hubbard (68, 9-under), on the other hand, is an eccentric, 34-year-old pro from Colorado who has not yet won on the PGA TOUR. He recently finished third at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (with Ryan Brehm) and has 13 made cuts in 13 starts this year.

“I'm kind of waiting for that week where it all comes together,” he said.

3. Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland have similar reunion stories

Morikawa, the winner of two major titles already – 2020 PGA Championship, 2021 Open Championship – has rediscovered his game since reuniting with coach Rick Sessinghaus.

Now he’s knocking on the door at Valhalla, where he made five straight birdies on Nos. 4-8.

“I know I still have it in me,” he said. “And that's what's exciting is that, after Augusta, it sucked to finish like that and it sucked to lose to Scottie, but at the end of the day, I knew I had three more majors coming up and to prep for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong. It's obviously nice to get off to this start.”

Meanwhile, reigning FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland, who shot a second-round 66, recently reunited with his coach, Joe Mayo, after an underwhelming start to this season.

“The game hasn't been all too easy the last few months,” Hovland said. “So happy to build some momentum and shoot two nice rounds in a row.

“Made some birdies out there,” he continued. “Chipped the ball really well. Made a couple putts. We're definitely trending.”

4. Sahith Theegala has gone from uncomfortable to very comfortable

Theegala slipped a rib the weekend before the Wells Fargo Championship, and while he stuck it out and played, he didn’t start to feel normal and pain-free until the third round. He shot 82.

He didn’t panic. What he knew and others didn’t was that he’d been through this once before, and with intense physiotherapy returned to 100 percent. It’s what he did this time, too.

“It was funny, the day I probably got healthy was Saturday,” Theegala said. “And it felt weird being fully healthy.” (Hence the 82.) “I had my full range of motion and all that back, and I didn't know where to hit the ball at that point.

“But I'm 100 percent right now,” he added. “It was not a – it was just kind of a freak injury. I was just sitting down, I just sat in the golf cart a little bit aggressively and just felt a little pinch.”

A one-time PGA TOUR winner (2023 Fortinet Championship), Theegala was at his best during an opening-round 65, and in Round 2 birdied Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 9 to turn in 31. He fell back with a bogey at the par-5 10th but erased the mistake with a birdie at the par-4 12th.

He finished up with a disappointing par at the par-5 18th in the fading light for a 4-under 67, but at 10-under he is contending for his first major not long after collecting his first win.

5. Three PGA Championship giants are not out of it

Three-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, the defending champion, birdied the last to shoot 68 and is 7-under, only five off the pace with two full rounds remaining.

Two-time PGA winner Rory McIlroy, vying for his first major title since the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla, birdied 18 for an even-par 71 and is 5-under, seven back.

And two-time PGA winner and Louisville favorite Justin Thomas shot 67 and is 6-under, six back. Considering how far back he was going into the final day when he won his second PGA two years ago – seven shots – that doesn’t seem like an insurmountable gap.

“I played really, really well today,” said Thomas, whose most recent of 15 PGA TOUR victories came at that 2022 PGA. “I felt it's nice to get off to a good start and kind of get the crowd into it a little bit. Definitely would have liked to make some more birdies on that back nine, but I made a nice one there on 15, a good up-and-down on 16.

“I feel like I'm doing a lot of really good things,” he added.