2021 PGA Championship live updates: Round 2 leaderboard, tee times, scores, TV coverage, news from Kiawah Island

The second round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island begins Friday morning, with the cut looming over the field and Corey Conners holding on to a two-shot lead. Notable names that are in real danger of missing the cut: Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Kisner (4 over); Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar (5 over); Adam Scott and Max Homa (6 over); Kevin Na and Daniel Berger (7 over).
2021 PGA Championship live updates: Round 2 leaderboard, tee times, scores, TV coverage, news from Kiawah Island

Summary

The second round of the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island begins Friday morning, with the cut looming over the field and Corey Conners holding on to a two-shot lead.

Notable names that are in real danger of missing the cut: Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Kisner (4 over); Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar (5 over); Adam Scott and Max Homa (6 over); Kevin Na and Daniel Berger (7 over).

Fans can watch the action on ESPN+ from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., with coverage then starting on ESPN.

Matsuyama a major player again

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama is heading into the weekend at 3 under after a second-round 68. His phenomenal ball-striking has put him in contention to win back-to-back major championships. Just two shots behind Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen, Matsuyama is bidding to become the first player to win the first two majors of the year since Jordan Spieth captured the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2015.

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Trunk slammers

The cut will fall at 5 over. Among the cut casualties, all of whom finished at 6 over:

• World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who eagled the 7th, his 16th hole of the day, on Friday, and birdied the last — but bogeyed the 8th.

• Justin Thomas, who three-putted from 9 feet at the 13th, rolled in a birdie bomb at 17 and just missed a birdie putt from the collar at 18.

• Xander Schauffle, who played the last eight holes in 4 over, including a bogey at the last.

• Sergio Garcia, who bogeyed one of the easiest holes on the course, the par-5 7th, his 16th hole of the day.

• Adam Scott, who tripled his first hole on Thursday en route to a 6-over 78 but was at 2 under through 13 holes on Friday, only to make three straight bogeys. A birdie at the 18th wasn't enough.

• Marc Leishman, who finished double-bogey, bogey.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a leaderboard

Let's behold what this thing looks like right now:

1.Brooks Koepka -6

1.Louis Oosthuizen -6

2. Phil Mickelson -5

4. Hideki Matsuyama -3

4. Bryson DeChambeau -3

4. Christian Bezuidenhout -3

4. Victor Hovland -3

4. Branden Grace -3

If it holds here, we'll certainly take that going into Saturday. Koepka the dominant pro working past knee injuries. Mickelson the aging legend capturing the magic. Matsuyama the defending Masters champ. DeChambeau the prodigious driver of the golf ball. Some storylines are there, for sure.

Eye on the cut line

The cut has moved to 5 over. Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel and Jason Day are among those who should be resting a little easier. Given how difficult the closing holes on the back nine are playing, it's hard to see the number moving back to 4 over.

Brooks Koepka vs. Bryson DeChambeau?

Brooks Koepka just rolled in his second eagle of the day and is now tied with Phil Mickelson at 5 under, one shot behind leader Louis Oosthuizen. Combined the trio at the top have 10 major championship trophies. Bryson DeChambeau is currently tied for fourth at 3 under. Anyone else rooting for a Koepka/DeChambeau pairing on Saturday?

The Ocean Course, in numbers

The toughest holes during the 2020-21 PGA Tour season by average score over par are:

  • 18th at Bay Hill: +.464
  • 18th at Quail Hollow: +.456
  • 5th at Augusta: +.431
  • 3rd at Winged Foot: +.410
  • 18th at Winged Foot: +.402

The toughest holes at Kiawah so far …

  • 17th: +.752
  • 14th: +.581
  • 15th: +568
  • 18th: +.544
  • 3rd: +.377

The caveat here is that obviously, these numbers will drop as the cut is made and half the current field plays the weekend. But this place is clearly showing its teeth, especially the closing holes.

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Rory vs. the par-5s

The par-5 struggles continue for Rory McIlroy. He bogeyed three of the four long holes on Thursday, and after a birdie at the 1st today, he followed up with a 6 at the next, despite being in a greenside bunker in two. He parred the 7th, but it was another missed opportunity for a long hitter who was in the middle of the fairway with his tee shot and hit 9-iron with his second. He found the bunker with his approach and missed a 7-footer for birdie. Amazingly, Rory is 3 over on the par-5s and 1 under on the rest of the Ocean Course.

Observations from the morning wave

• Remember when Dustin Johnson shot that record 20-under score at the Masters in November? It's been a battle pretty much ever since, and at 6 over after rounds of 76-74, it doesn't look as if DJ will be around for the weekend. He never got anything going over the two days, and an eagle at the par-5 7th, his 16th hole of the day, was a case of too little, too late.

• Players best have a firm grip on the steering wheel when they reach the 13th hole. Branden Grace was leading at 6 under through 16 holes but finished double bogey-bogey. Ian Poulter was 6 under for the day through 12 and at 4 under for the tournament, but he bogeyed four of the last six to drop back to even par.

• Speaking of the par-3 17th, the pin position is brutal, tucked hard against the water. Wouldn't want to be facing that tee shot while staring at the cut line. Can't imagine where the cup will be cut on Sunday.

• Jordan Spieth had it going early. but the putter continues to be an issue. He had a trio of three-putts over his last 10 holes, including a missed par putt from inside of three feet at his last hole that didn't even touch the cup. He's at 4 over and will probably make the cut, but he has made exactly one putt outside 10 feet and at last check was hovering around the bottom 10 in the field in strokes gained putting.

The cutline is going to be a big number

With the current conditions, everything suggests we're going to see some absolute carnage with this afternoon wave.

DataGolf.com is projecting as such — it is giving an 88.5 percent chance currently that the cut line ends up being 5 over.

The group in the house at 5 over (which is currently tied for 89th) includes Jason Day, Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson. We'll go ahead and assume they're not going to pull a Bryson and bounce before the round is over.

Phil Mickelson is in the lead after disaster for Branden Grace

Phil Mickelson is in the lead after disaster for Branden Grace

Branden Grace has found the water at 17. Grace, on top of the leaderboard for most of the day with four birdies and zero bogeys through 16 holes, now is in trouble for the first time all day, having to take the lonely walk to the drop area. It’s 125 yards from there, and he just barely kept it on the green. Seriously, there was real danger there of him putting a second ball in the water. He finished with double bogey after missing an 18-foot bogey putt.

Phil Mickelson, who just carded a 69 and is at 5 under, is now your leader. In 2021. At a major. What a time to be alive.

Mickelson credited his brother/caddie, Tim, for his work judging the wind and putting Phil in good spots.

“Right now there’s a lot of work to do,” Mickelson said of his lead to ESPN. “I don’t know if it’s going to stand.”

Max Homa misses another major cut

Max Homa will not see the weekend at Kiawah. He carded a second-round 76 this morning and is tied for 138th at 10 over. It's another major cut missed for Homa, who has won this year on the PGA Tour and been in the mix several times. Just not yet on the game's biggest stages.

From Brendan Quinn's story on Tuesday about Max Homa:

“I’ve done a horrible job in the majors so far,” Homa said last week. “I just haven’t played well. Some of them have just been because I was playing poorly and got exposed by a great golf course. I think both times I went to the Masters I let all of it envelop me a little bit. But you know, you have to get used to these things. Not everyone can be Will Zalatoris, where it just seems to click on the first one or the first couple.”

The back nine at Kiawah just crushed him — he shot a 42 there on Thursday, then a 40 starting out there on Friday.

My "Max Homa for the Ryder Cup" take remains in the bag for a little while longer, I guess.

GO FURTHER

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Find an ankle ...

Great moment here picked up by the microphones involving Jordan Spieth.

Teeing off at No. 3, a 390-yard par-four, his drive is going right from the start, with immediate FORE shouts. "Get down." "Get on the ground."

And then, as the spectators scattered from the ball and it rolled into just a terrible lie ... "Don't get out of the way guys. Let it hit your ankle."

The result? He still ended up with a birdie putt. Left it long and settled for par. The full Jordan Spieth Experience.

Here comes Lefty

With birdies at three of his last four holes, Phil Mickelson has moved to 3 under for the tournament. He's T4. That's it. That's the post.

AN UPDATE: He birdied No. 7 to move to 4 under, tied for second.

Putter betraying Spieth

Everyone was wondering how Jordan Spieth would drive it around the Ocean Course. Well, during an opening-round 73, he hit 10 of 14 fairways, and today he has hit 8 of his first 9. The putter is the problem. He has made three straight bogeys starting at the 17th, the last two coming on three-putts. At 3 over, he needs to steady the ship if he wants to be around for the weekend.

Don't overlook Jon Rahm

Jon Rahm has moved to plus-2000, 20-1 to win in live betting at BetMGM. Although he closed out the back nine today with a double bogey and a bogey at 17 and 18 he gained some ground on the field, turning in 1 over for the day. He's also 1 over for the tournament. The front side has played considerably easier than the back and he has a shot to get under par and set himself up for a good shot on the weekend.

Is it 2012 all over again? Ian Poulter is on the move

Highlighted by an eagle hole-out from the sand at the par-5 7th, Ian Poulter played the front nine in 4 under and moved to 2 under for the tournament. Poulter knows his way around the Ocean Course. He started the final round of the 2012 PGA Championship with five consecutive birdies, putting some heat on Rory McIlroy. Poulter would birdie eight of the first 12 holes but bogeyed four of the last six to finish in a tie for third.

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Branden Grace pulls ahead

Taking advantage of the "easier" front nine, Branden Grace moved to the top of the leaderboard at 4 under through eight holes after birdies at both of the front-nine par 5s. The South African knows how to go low at a major. No player had shot better than 63 in a major until Grace fired a 62 in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Maybe I'm just overreacting ...

to Jon Rahm putting his tee shot on 17 into the water, but it feels like today is the day that 17 just becomes total carnage. The wind is really swirling up there, making already one of (if not the) the toughest par-3s these guys will see all year just that much harder.

As for Rahm, as I type this he's hit his drop out of the penalty area safely onto the green, but he came to 17 at 2 under and will do well to walk away with double bogey.

Club pro watch

The PGA Championship features a tournament within a tournament, as the 20 club professionals in the field are grinding to make the cut — and cash a check. Ben Cook, a 27-year-old from Caledonia, Mich., opened with an even-par 72 and started his Friday round with pars at 10 and 11. Cook is making his third consecutive start in the event but has yet to make the cut.

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