Scheffler remains in hunt at halfway despite ‘absurd’ pin positions at US PGA

• Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy lead on four under

• Rory McIlroy makes progress after poor opening day

“Golf should be a pleasure,” wrote Donald Ross, the man who designed Aronimink, “not a penance”. And a fine sentiment it is, too, even if it wasn’t immediately clear that any of the many men competing here for the PGA Championship was having very much fun doing it. Shane Lowry didn’t seem to be when he shanked the ball into the water at 17, nor did Scottie Scheffler when he threatened to slam down his wedge after hitting one thick on the 6th, and Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley didn’t look too enthused when they were busy ranting at the rules officials who put them on the clock for slow play.

The pleasure, such as it was, seemed to be mostly in purists’ appreciation of the high standard of lag putting on show, and everyone else’s schadenfreude at watching the world’s best golfers endure the same sort of frustrations amateur hackers suffer every weekend.

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