The PGA Championship: How to watch, betting odds for golf's second major of 2026

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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Bring the PGA Championship to Aronimink for the first time in 64 years and there's more traffic on the leaderboard than the Schuylkill Expressway at rush hour.

Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy are tied for the lead at 4-under 136. That's the highest score to par to lead the PGA Championship after 36 holes since Kiawah Island in 2012.

Right behind them is a who's who in golf, and hardly anyone is missing — Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas. Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth were tied for 30th and still only five shots behind.

It's the biggest logjam at a major going into the weekend since the 2002 British Open at Muirfield.

Here's what you need to know heading into the final two rounds:

McNealy has never been among the top 25 going into the weekend at a major. He was the only player to reach 6-under par at any point, and then he bogeyed two of the last four holes and had to settle for a 3-under 67.

Smalley is playing only his fifth major. He's yet to win in 140 starts on the PGA Tour. Even after making three straight bogeys after he made the turn, he was bogey-free the rest of the way and shot a 69.

It's a long list.

There are 15 players within two shots of the lead. Matsuyama (67) and Chris Gotterup (65) were one shot behind along with Max Greyserman (71), Aldrich Potgieter (70), Min Woo Lee (70) and par machine Stephan Jaeger (18 pars for a 70).

Most prominent, of course, was Scheffler after he salvaged a 71. That left him two shots behind along with a large group that included Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, Ludvig Aberg and Harris English, the runner-up last year at the PGA.

Jon Rahm (70) was three back. Patrick Reed was four back. And McIlroy was five back. They all had company alongside them.

This major will be carried by two networks — ESPN and CBS Sports — which combine for 26 hours of live coverage on the weekend.

For Saturday and Sunday, ESPN+ will get it started from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., followed by ESPN coverage from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CBS and streaming platform Paramount+ will go from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Scheffler started as the betting favorite at +450. He had rounds of 67-71, was tied for ninth place and how is at +375.

Scheffler is followed by Cameron Young (+900), with co-leader Maverick McNealy and Ludvig Aberg at +1200 and co-leader Alex Smalley at +1400 along with Hideki Matsuyama, Chris Gotterup and Min Woo Lee.

Rory McIlroy was at +2500 at five shots behind in a tie for 30th.

Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut for the second straight time this year. It was a late meltdown at the Masters. It was a bad start at the PGA Championship (76) and he never recovered.

Other notable names to miss the cut: Tommy Fleetwood, J.J. Spaun and Russell Henley from the top 10 in the world ranking. Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Adam Scott and Tyrrell Hatton also missed the cut. The list included Keegan Bradley, who won the BMW Championship at Aronimink in 2018.

And there there was Garrick Higgo. The South African was penalized two shots Thursday for being late to the tee. He shot 76 and missed the cut by one shot.

It's all about the pin positions, which have been tucked on knobs and slopes and have been downright dangerous. Scheffler says they're as tough as any he's ever seen. That includes the U.S. Open. And he said it even includes Oakmont.

Smalley and McNealy will be in the final group, a first for both of them. Scheffler will be with David Puig. Young and Thomas play together for the third straight day. Their fathers are both longtime PGA professionals who once served on the board. McIlroy plays with Brooks Koepka.

And a blast from the past is Jordan Spieth with Dustin Johnson. They were regulars in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am before Johnson went to LIV. The only disappointment is Johnson's father-in-law, hockey great Wayne Gretzky, won't be joining them.

The winner gets the Wanamaker Trophy and a lifetime exemption to the PGA Championship, along with five-year exemptions to the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.

For Jordan Spieth, there's even more at stake. This is his 10th attempt at completing the career Grand Slam by winning the PGA Championship. He is tied for 30th, five shots behind. Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015, and the British Open in 2017. The last player to complete the career slam was McIlroy at the Masters.

Mostly dry for the weekend, with slightly warming temperatures and not quite as much wind. This could lead to slightly better scoring.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf