McIlroy feeling 'back in it' at Aronimink after 67 leaves him five off PGA leaders

Irishman makes most of benign afternoon conditions to sit five off the halfway lead on a historically bunched leaderboard but joins Scheffler in questioning course set-up

NOT WAVING THE FLAG YET: Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the second hole during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on Friday, May 15, 2026 in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. Pic: Darren Carroll/PGA of America via Getty Images

Progress isn't always linear or simple. It can sometimes be a convoluted thing. Other times though, it's all pretty simple. 

Rory McIlroy's Thursday at the PGA Championship was summed up with one word by the man himself: "shit". 

What about his Friday then? "Not as shit," said McIlroy on Friday night with a laugh. We'll call it progress and move on to the weekend then. 

McIlroy is surely moving. His second round 67 was fully seven shots better than Thursday's opening salvo. Most pleasingly it was a clean round, blemish-free on a Friday which had begun with carnage on the greens with the morning wave racking up three and four-putts which put crooked scores on the cards. 

As one of the last finishers as dusk descended on the suburban corner of Philadelphia where the world's best had gathered, McIlroy had some interesting observations on the course setup and pin placements at Aronimink Golf Club. Scottie Scheffler, one of the early starters who suffered, had described the pins as the hardest he'd seen in his career while Shane Lowry, fresh from a vexing second-round 76, also questioned the PGA of America's location planning. 

McIlroy's marathon range session on Thursday night had focused on his big stick after the same driving woes he somehow overcame at Augusta last month resurfaced in Pennsylvania. The fixes worked enough for him to put himself very much back into contention thanks in part to a leaderboard which hasn't yet accordioned out to any great degree. 

Largely untested American duo Mav McNealy and Alex Smalley sit atop the field on 4-under but there are a whopping 43 players within five shots of them. Among that cohort are both Scheffler and McIlroy, pre-tournament fancies Ludvig Aberg and Cameron Young, multi-major winners Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele. There's a barrel load more who know what it takes to thrive on a high-stakes weekend. In short, a promising weekend awaits and McIlroy is firmly in the mix. 

"If you can get it going, it's been hard to make birdies out there because obviously, one, the wind the last couple days, but also where they have put these hole locations, I feel like they have really tried to protect the course the first couple of days. So it seems like they have used up a lot of the really hard ones," observed McIlroy, who made birdies on the second and fourth to get off to a fast start before carving out just one more on the 12th to go with 15 pars. 

"So depending upon a little bit calmer conditions and maybe a couple more favorable hole locations, I think guys that are here for the weekend feel...I think everyone's got to feel...like they have got a chance. Yes, it's bunched, but you get on a run with wedges on that front nine and you shoot 4-, 5-under and all of a sudden you're right in the thick of things.

"At five back I do feel like I'm right in the tournament, and that's really what I wanted to do today was to just get myself back in it, and I feel like I've done that."

The pace of play was agonisingly slow all day and McIlroy took an opportunity for a sit down as he waited to tee off on the 10th.

The Holywood native saw a golden birdie chance slipped away at the par-five 16th as he was unable to make further inroads.

The morning starters had battled a strong breeze which made the challenging greens even more of a test, but that dropped as the evening drew in and yielded birdie chances.

One man who was taking his opportunities was McNealy. He eagled the 16th before making birdies at one, two and five to stretch the leading mark to six under for the first time. But he came back to the pack with a couple of late bogeys to join Smalley, who began the day in a seven-way tie for the lead and posted a one-under round of 69.

There is a six-strong group a shot back at three under, including Chris Gotterup and former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, with 15 players within two shots of the lead at halfway for just the third time in major history.

European Ryder Cup star Aberg shot the second-best round of the opening two days, with a sparkling 66 bringing him back into the frame at two under. It was a chastening day for a host of European stars, Lowry foremost among them. He began it just one off the lead but a dire morning, including inexplicably finding the water at 17, resulted in a round of 76 as he just clung on to the cut.

Justin Rose made two double bogeys but a moment of magic on his final hole, chipping in from the rough for eagle, ensured he will tee it up again on Saturday at three over.

Lowry made the cut on the number and will have an early wake-up call on Saturday morning. His compatriot Padraig Harrington was enjoying the chaos of it all as he began in storming fashion as he started on the back nine and found birdies on 10, 15 and 16. That momentum slowed but the 54-year-old hung tight and shot a 1-under 69 which was enough to see him make the weekend. 

The last of the Irish quartet, LIV Golf's Tom McKibbin, missed the cut as he followed Thursday's 74 with a second-round 73 to finish on 7-over overall. 

With files from PA