2023 PGA Championship leaderboard breakdown: Scottie Scheffler co-leads as cream rises to top in Round 2

Scheffler is one of three co-leaders after 36 holes, but the top of the PGA Championship leaderboard is stacked

Some of the most reliable players over the last handful of years have made their way onto the first page of the leaderboard at the 2023 PGA Championship. World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler is among those to hold a share of the 36-hole lead as he continues to tee-to-green his way around the Donald Ross design.

Gaining more than two strokes on the field per round in every tournament since October 2022, Scheffler's reliability has consistently put himself in the mix of big-time tournaments. The result has been a pair of victories at designated events and this week it may materialize into a pair of major championship in his last six playings.

His co-leaders, Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners, are reliable for their own reasons. Hovland is reliably unique -- whether his clothing, his chipping action or even his taste in music. The young Norwegian marches to his own tune and for the last three major championships he has done so in rhythm as he arrived with a T4 finish at last summer's Open and a T7 result at last month's Masters.

And then there is the Canadian. One of the best iron players on the PGA Tour, Conners is following a path embedded by the last champion at Oak Hill. Twice a winner on Tour, Conners' reliability with his irons is often offset by his inability with his putter. This week, the wand is working, and if it continues to cooperate over the weekend, make no mistake his presence will remain. 

The most reliable player at major championships, Brooks Koepka, lurks at 2 under and just one behind Bryson DeChambeau. Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose are all within shouting distance and firmly in the mix at the 2023 PGA Championship.

Here is a full breakdown of the leaderboard after Round 2 of the 105th PGA Championship.

T1. Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Corey Conners (-5): The juxtaposition between Scheffler and Hovland will be fascinating moving forward. Hovland is the ultimate aggressor, and Scheffler is rubber -- whatever comes at him just bounces off. While Conners' presence is noteworthy and likely here to stay, the two younger stars have the spotlight on them. If Hovland is able to remain patient and take a page out of Scheffler's playbook, he may actually have an edge. Through 36, Hovland leads the field in strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained approach. And oh by the way, the last two time these two have battled, Hovland was victorious in both instances.

"I haven't done great in the majors that I've played before," said Hovland. "I've had some nice top-15 finishes and stuff like that, but I haven't quite been in contention. I think that's been because I've just been a little bit young and stupid, just going after some pins that I'm not supposed to go for even though I'm feeling good about my ball-striking. It's easy to just feel like, 'Yeah, I'm going to take it right at it and make a birdie here.' Then you hit a decent shot and then you're short-sided and make bogey or double, and you just can't do that in major championship golf. You just have to wear out center of the green. If that putter gets hot, you can make some birdies."

T4. Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Suh (-3): The new DeChambeau showed what he was made of. We know for certain it is not dairy, gluten or eggs as the artist formerly known as The Big Golfer signed for a 1-over 71 on Friday. After finding himself 3 over through his first six holes, the 2020 U.S. Open champion battled back with vengeance. Three birdies on his back nine put him in position to pounce before an ill-advised bogey on his closing hole. He has gained nearly six (!) strokes off the tee through his first two rounds, and his iron play -- while sketchy at times -- held up to the test yet again. The only difference between Round 1 and 2 was the putter as he was roughly five strokes worse on the greens.

T6. Brooks Koepka, Callum Tarren (-2): Koepka kept himself in the tournament with his short game in Round 1 and pushed himself into contention with his ball-striking in Round 2. The four-time major champion was vintage Friday as he carded nine straight pars before hitting overdrive on the back nine. Four birdies against just one bogey was the result and will see Koepka head into the weekend with a chance to raise another for a second straight major. Koepka's 4-under 66 was the lowest of the day as he ranked first in strokes gained tee to green and bullied Oak Hill into submission.

T8. Justin Rose, Taylor Pendrith (-1): Despite not hitting a fairway until his 15th hole of the day, the Englishman held steady. Rose will need to be much better with the driver as he has only hit 7 of 28 fairways -- the fewest hit by a player under par through 36 holes in the past 30 PGA Championships. With a win, Rose would become the fifth-oldest man to raise the Wanamaker Trophy. Whether he does or not, he won't be going anywhere. The 42-year-old has the most top 10s (11) in major championships without a win since 2014.

T10. Rory, McIlroy, Michael Block, Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley and five others (E): Similar to DeChambeau, McIlroy showed some guts. He hasn't had anything go his way through 36 holes, but still, Rochester's adopted son is firmly in the equation. He hit two balls in the water on his front nine and once again leaned on a timely putt to push him forward. Three birdies in his final 10 holes have McIlroy in a position to steal this major championship and break a nine-year major drought.

"I think how terribly I've felt over the golf ball over the last two days, the fact that I'm only five back -- yeah, not saying I could be up there with one of my best performances, but when I holed that putt at the last, I looked at the board and I thought, 'I can't believe I'm five back,'" said McIlroy. "I guess that's a good thing because I know if I can get it in play off the tee, that's the key to my success over the weekend. If I can get the ball in play off the tee, I'll have a shot."

The story early Friday was that of Block. The PGA Professional from Southern California nearly touched the lead at one point as he narrowly missed a birdie bid to reach 4 under. While there was an ugly shank involved later in his second round, the total tallied to an even-par 70 for the second consecutive day. This is Block's fifth PGA Championship and there is nothing fluky about his performance thus far as he ranks inside the top 10 in strokes gained off the tee and is rolling the rock nicely. His goal has always been to be the low PGA Professional, but the goal posts may have moved heading into the weekend.

"I feel like I've got the game this week to compete, to tell you the truth," said Block. "I've made the cut, which is obviously ... a huge goal. I feel like I could shoot even par out here every day. I feel like, at the end of the four days, that might be a pretty good result."

T19. Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and eight others (+1): Johnson was nearly flawless on Thursday with an opening 67 that leaned heavily on the flat stick. The two-time major champion needed to improve from tee to green and that he didn't in the second round as he ranked outside the top 140 on the day resulting in a 4-over 74. While Johnson fell short, Cantlay thrived and bounced back from a miserable effort on Day 1. The world No. 4 drove the ball beautifully and signed for the round of the day with a 3-under 67. Cantlay missed four birdie chances from inside 12 feet and a par effort from just outside 4 feet on his last. If those fall, he is right in the thick of this tournament.

T30. Adam Scott and four others (+2): After playing so well on Thursday, Scott was half a dozen worse on Friday. The booming drives that consistently found the fairway in Round 1 were nowhere to be found and caused the Australian to play defense into the greens of Oak Hill.

Rick Gehman is joined by Kyle Porter and Mark Immelman to break down Round 2 of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

T35. Max Homa, Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama and nine others (+3): Homa made an early charge and looked ready to put his major championship woes in the past. Four birdies in his opening nine saw him turn in even par for the tournament where he remained until his final four holes. Hitting not one but two balls in the water on the par-4 6th, Homa dropped three shots over this closing stretch and may have put him too far off the lead heading into the weekend.

T48. Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele and eight others (+4): Someone tell the Olympic gold medalist how to play the first three holes at Oak Hill. After playing them in 4 over on Thursday, Schauffele was 3 over across Nos. 1-3 on Friday. The good news is Schauffele is 3 under over the other 30 holes he has played, but the damage may already be done as he finds himself nine strokes off the lead heading into the weekend.

T59. Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, Phil Mickelson and 13 others (+5)

[May 19, 2023 at 7:03 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Rory finishes strong

Three birdies in his last 11 holes sees Rory McIlroy in the clubhouse at even par and only five off the pace. Viktor Hovland joins the lead late with a birdie on 18 and will head into the weekend atop the leaderboard alongside Scottie Scheffler and Corey Conners.

[May 19, 2023 at 6:34 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Koepka closes strong

That's five back-nine birdies for the four-time major champ. Koepka fires a 4-under 66 and is 2 under for the championship and firmly in the conversation. Major Brooks is back yet again.

[May 19, 2023 at 6:05 pm ET · Patrick McDonald]

Spieth gets back inside the cut

After blading a bunker shot onto the golf course next door, Jordan Spieth has rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 15th. He stands at 5 over with three holes to play and will need to be even par the rest of the way if he is to see the weekend.