PGA Championship 2019: 5 players who could still contend for the title

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FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – MAY 17: Adam Scott of Australia plays his shot from the 18th tee during the second round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 17, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

Adam Scott (-5, T-2)

Tell me you don’t want to hear the New York crowds chanting “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” this weekend. You can’t, right? Didn’t think so.

Despite the fanfare given to some of the other players in the field on Friday, it was Adam Scott, not Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth or even the dominant Koepka, who posted the low round of the day. His six-under 64 brought him firmly into the conversation heading into the weekend, and he’s a strong contender to stick around the top through the end.

Scott carded just a single bogey in the second round, even as he hit just six of 14 fairways in regulation. Despite the struggles off the tee, he found 14 greens, and made the most of his scoring chances.

The former Masters champion and world No. 1 took just 26 putts on Friday, gaining 4.4 strokes on the field with the flat stick. Considering that has largely been the weakest part of Scott’s game since the anchor ban a few years ago, this is quite the turnaround. And it couldn’t be coming at a better time.

Adam Scott came in to this PGA Championship week with a tremendous level of confidence in his game, and it’s showing on the scoreboard. In a lot of ways, the seven-stroke deficit takes even more pressure off of him, because all he has to do is play his own game. The rest is out of his hands, and that will play to his favor this weekend.

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