'Hardest I've seen': World No.1 Scottie Scheffler fires up over major 'absurdity' as Cameron Smith ends ugly drought

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler has fired up at the brutal conditions at the PGA Championship after a second-round performance that saw him fall out of the leading group.

Starting the day in a seven-way tie for the lead at 3-under, Scheffler made three birdies and four bogeys to sign for a 1-over 71 to be 2-under for the tournament and four shots back from the lead.

But on a day marred by brutally slow pace - some players took six hours to complete their rounds - Scheffler said how hard the course had been set up didn't help the situation.

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"This is the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on tour, and that includes US Opens, that includes Oakmont," Scheffler said, referring to last year's US Open host which is renowned for difficult setups.

"They said maybe Shinnecock (which will host the US Open next month) is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.

"It's different in a sense on this golf course because Oakmont, their greens are extremely severe, but they're extremely severe in one direction.

"Here, it's like the green may slope all this way and then we put the pin down here and then there's also a slope this way.

"It's not as natural to the slopes that are there. There's a bit more that's manufactured into the greens, and it's just very difficult."

But despite Scheffler's struggles, Aussie Cameron Smith finally stitched together two good rounds to make the cut for the first time at a major since the 2024 US Open.

There were widespread fears heading into the tournament the relatively wide-open nature of the course would lead to ridiculously low scores. The general belief among the golf community is majors should be the most difficult challenges in golf, and scores of 20-under or more go against that thought.

To allay the fears, course superintendents at the Aronimink Golf Club have let roughs continue to grow, while also mowing greens and fairways shorter.

Scheffler said the plans had worked.

"It's difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It's difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that's why you see the scores so close to par," he said.

"Most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd. They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be.

"The one on 14 was probably the hardest pin that I've seen in a long time just because there's literally just like a spine and they're like, 'Oh, we'll just put the pin right on top of it,' and you're like, 'All right, well, I'll see what I can do.' Just challenging.

"When the pins get this hard, you really have to choose your moments when you're going to try and maybe get after a pin or try and play a little bit smarter. A lot of it is just managing your way around."

Meanwhile, bogeys on his final two holes cost a could-have-been Aussie the chance to beat a 30-year-old Tiger Woods record.

Aldrich Potgieter took the outride lead early in the day and at 21, could have been the youngest 36-hole leader at a major since Tiger Woods at the 1997 Masters.

The South African was born in Pretoria before his family moved to Perth when he was eight. He spent the next decade in Australia and won the 2020 South Australian Junior Masters by nine shots.

He returned to South Africa during the pandemic as COVID-19 policies in Western Australia hindered his ability to travel to tournaments.

He signed for an even-par 70 and sits two back from the lead.

Min Woo Lee remains the best of the Aussies, also signing for an even par round to also sit two shots off the lead.

Jason Day is another two shots back in a tie for 15th. Cameron Smith is even-par in a tie for 23rd, four shots ahead of LIV teammate Elvis Smylie who made the cut on the number at +4.

Travis Smyth and Adam Scott, playing his 100th major, both had nightmare second rounds to miss the cut.

PGA Championship leaderboard (top-10)