Three leaders, three stories to be made on the weekend at the PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, and Corey Conners separated from the pack on Friday at the PGA Championship as they chase a major that would mean different things to each of them

Scottie Scheffler has already won a major championship. Viktor Hovland has come agonizingly close a few times only to come up short. And Corey Conners, who has spent a career in the middle ranks of the PGA Tour chasing a breakthrough that would elevate him into the upper echelon of golf’s elite, is finally getting his chance this weekend at Oak Hill.

These three players are tied atop the leaderboard at five-under after the second round of the PGA Championship. They are two shots clear of Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Suh in fourth place.

History suggests that one of them will be lifting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday; in the previous six majors contested at this iconic track in Rochester, New York, no one has ever come from further back than third place after 36 holes to win.

They still have two pressure-packed rounds to play, but each of them has shown they know how to navigate around this punishing course. Hovland leads the field so far this week in Strokes Gained: Approach; Scheffler and Conners aren’t far behind him, in third and sixth place, respectively. Scheffler didn’t make a bogey for his first 24 holes of the tournament. Conners and Hovland both made just one on Friday.

Scheffler began the round a shot behind DeChambeau’s lead and opened by firing his approach on the first hole to within two feet for a birdie to tie for the lead. On the par-three 15th hole, his tee shot rolled to just over a foot as he tapped in for another birdie to tie Conners for the moment at six-under before a finishing bogey on the 18th.

Scheffler, still just 26 years old, would get back to No. 1 in the world with a win this week. He’s already won twice on the PGA Tour this season and hasn’t been outside the top-15 in his last 12 starts. He and Jon Rahm have separated themselves as the “Big Two” on tour, overtaking everyone to become the dominant players in golf.

Scheffler, who won the Masters for his first major last April, would join the legendary foursome of Byron Nelson, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods as the only players to win a Green Jacket and PGA Championship before the age of 30.

“I find myself comfortable in these situations. These are the positions I want to be in. I want to be near the lead. I don’t want to be in 30th place or going home,” he said following his round on Friday. “I show up to the tournaments to perform at my best. I’m proud of how I did the first few days, and I’m excited to be in a good position going into the weekend. With that being said, I’m going to keep my head down and keep doing what I’m doing.”

Viktor Hovland, Corey Conners have sights on first career major

Scheffler is the one player who can turn this weekend into a mere coronation and run away from the pack. It’s up to Hovland and Conners, as well as the rest of the field, to keep the powerful Texan from doing just that.

Hovland, though, hasn’t proved he could do that in his career. He’s been inside the Top 10 after 10 consecutive major championship rounds but has let the last two slip away from him.

At the Open Championship last July, he was tied for the lead heading into the final round then shot 74 on Sunday to fall back to fourth. He was tied for the lead after the first round at Augusta last month and just three back through 54 holes. Another disappointing 74, which included only two birdies, saw him drop to seventh.

Hovland has learned something from those experiences about how to play major championships. It’s often not about the spectacular shot or hitting it close. The player who wins is the one who manages their mistakes and misses the best.

“I think that’s been because I’ve just been a little bit young and stupid,” he said about those past near-misses, per Reuters.

Scheffler and Hovland are two of the biggest young stars in golf, accustomed to having enormous galleries following them. Conners also has a following this week, and that’s because the tournament is being played in the shadow of his home country. Oak Hill is less than 100 miles from the Canadian border, and the proud Canadian is looking to join countryman Mike Weir as a major champion.

Conners is a two-time PGA Tour winner, including last month’s Valero Texas Open. But he’s never finished better than 17th in four previous PGA Championship appearances. He now has the opportunity he’s been hoping for his entire career.

The three leaders are at different points in their careers: Scheffler the established job, Hovland the exciting hopeful, and Conners the aspiring journeyman. A win on Sunday would mean something different for the three of them. They have different experiences but the same shared aspiration: lift the Wanamaker Trophy.