Charles Krupa/Associated Press Brooks Koepka holds a massive seven-stroke lead heading into Saturday's PGA Championship action, dominating the leaderboard with a score of 12 under par. Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott are tied for second place at five under, while Dustin Johnson leads a group of players tied for fourth on four under. Justin Rose also finds himself inside the top 10 heading into moving day but is already chasing the leader by nine shots. Here is a look at the leaderboard after two rounds, per Sky Sports Golf: For a live look at the updated leaderboard, visit the PGA Tour's official website by clicking here. Koepka has been on a roll at Bethpage Black, playing record-setting golf on the tricky course: Bethpage is where Tiger Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open as the only player to finish below par. The high difficulty of the course was a major talking point ahead of the tournament, with Dylan Dethier of Golf.com highlighting its length, rough and bunkers among several factors that make it so challenging. Video Play Button Videos you might like Koepka's sheer dominance is perhaps best illustrated by the comparison to Masters winner Woods: Spieth's four-under 66 on Friday was just one shot below Koepka. That was good enough to put him in a tie with Scott, who shot six under. Unfortunately for Spieth's fans, his improvements on Friday follow a familiar pattern for the 25-year-old this season, per CBS' Kyle Porter: Scott's putting made all the difference on Friday, with a bogey on the 17th the only blip on his card. The Australian made birdie four times on the first five holes on Friday and will be gunning for another hot start. Johnson's putter wasn't nearly as hot on Friday, as he was four under through the first eight holes before a series of mistakes cost him a chance at the course record. His three-under 67 kept him among the leaders, but he'll have to pick up his short game to have any chance of catching Koepka.<doc-sep>Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images Brooks Koepka got his defence of the PGA Championship off to a superb start on Thursday as he shot a seven-under 63 at Bethpage Black in Long Island, New York. Koepka, who won the most recent of his three majors at the PGA Championship last year, carded a flawless round to open his tournament. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods shot two over for his opening round. Here's a look at the leaderboard: 1. Brooks Koepka -7 2. Danny Lee -4 T3. Tommy Fleetwood -3 T3. Gary Woodland -3 T5. Mike Lorenzo-Vera -2 T5. Chez Reavie -2 T5. Luke List -2 T5. Jordan Spieth -2 T9. Rickie Fowler -1 The full leaderboard can be found on the tournament's official website. Video Play Button Videos you might like Koepka started as he meant to go on, opening his round with a birdie on the 10th courtesy of a 50-foot putt. The American picked up another shot at the par-three 14th before rounding out his first nine with a third birdie on the 18th. He made a flurry of gains on his back nine on the first—where he managed to get within six feet on his approach despite finding the rough behind a tree with his drive—third, and fifth holes to pull away from the field. A long putt on the ninth completed an excellent first round: Fox Sports' Shane Bacon put his excellent form at majors in perspective: Much was expected of Woods after his sensational win at the Masters in April, but he struggled in his opening round. A double bogey on the 10th kicked off his round, and he made another at the 17th after a bunker shot, having pulled a shot back at the 15th. He looked to be getting back on track after an excellent start to his back nine saw him grab back-to-back birdies at the first and second, and an eagle at the fourth: However, his hard work to get back under par was quickly undone by some poor putting, which resulted in further dropped shots at the fifth, seventh and eighth. If Woods is to have a chance of being in contention for his 16th major title come Sunday, he has an enormous amount of ground to make up.<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>Julio Cortez/Associated Press There will be no amazing double pulled off by Tiger Woods in the second major championship of the golf season. The magic and romance that surfaced in Tiger's remarkable Masters victory last month disappeared in the PGA Championship under the weight of inconsistent shot-making and disappointing putting. After rounds of 72-73 left him at five-over par, Woods failed to make the cut at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, and has left the weekend rounds to a slew of brilliant and talented players. Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship last summer, appears to be a freight train that can't be stopped. After firing 63-65 in the first two rounds, he is 12 under par, and he has a seven-stroke lead over Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott. Here's a link to the PGA Championship scoreboard. It seems that many of the best golfers in the world are playing for second place. Koepka appears to have a stranglehold on the Wanamaker Trophy that goes to the PGA champion. Koepka's cumulative two-round score of 128 is the lowest ever recorded in any of the majors, breaking the record of 130 held by Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth, Martin Kaymer, Brandt Snedeker and Nick Faldo. Video Play Button Videos you might like Tee Times (All Times ET) 10 a.m.: Haotong Li, Alex Noren 10:10 a.m.: Charley Hoffman, Graeme McDowell 10:20 a.m.: Adam Hadwin, Henrik Stenson 10:30 a.m.: Kurt Kitayama, Sam Burns 10:50 a.m.: Joel Dahmen, Billy Horschel 11 a.m.: Aaron Wise, Marty Jertson 11:10 a.m.: Brandt Snedeker, Max Homa 11:20 a.m.: Webb Simpson, Beau Hossler 11:30 a.m.: Pat Perez, Danny Willett 11:40 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Paul Casey 11:50 a.m.: Lucas Bjerregaard, Ross Fisher Noon: Tyrrell Hatton, Francesco Molinari 12:10 p.m.: Matt Kuchar, Jimmy Walker 12:20 p.m.: Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson 12:30 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Keegan Bradley 12:40 p.m.: Charles Howell III, Matt Fitzpatrick 12:50 p.m.: Chez Reavie, Xander Schauffele 1 p.m.: Scott Piercy, Mike Lorenzo-Vera 1:10 p.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Bronson Burgoon 1:20 p.m.: Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama 1:40 p.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Louis Oosthuizen 1:50 p.m.: Harold Varner III, Erik van Rooyen 2 p.m.: Sung Kang, Jazz Janewattananond 2:10 p.m.: Justin Rose, Danny Lee 2:20 p.m.: Matt Wallace, Luke List 2:30 p.m.: Dustin Johnson, Kelly Kraft 2:40 p.m.: Adam Scott, Daniel Berger 2:50 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka Koepka explained that the key to his Friday round was his battle level, and not his ball striking. He said he made some mistakes in that area. "I didn't strike it that good. I was leaking a few to the right," Koepka said, per Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com. "The way I hung in there and battled it, I think that was probably more impressive than [the first round], not having your A-game but still being able to shoot a great score. I was very, very pleased with the way I played [on Friday]." Woods may not be playing the rest of the weekend, but he analyzed Koepka's game and said that he thought the leader might be able to widen the gap over the rest of the field. "He's got 9-irons when most of us are hitting 5-irons, 4-irons, and he's putting well," Woods said. "That adds up to a pretty substantial lead, and if he keeps doing what he's doing, there's no reason why he can't build on this lead." In addition to Spieth and Scott, Dustin Johnson is eight strokes behind, while Justin Rose is nine strokes behind Koepka. The quality of those chasing Koepka is not in doubt, because they are all elite names. However, the distance they have to make up is just too substantial unless Koepka starts to feel the pressure of leading the major. Since he already has two U.S. Open titles in addition to the 2018 PGA Championship, it doesn't seem likely that pressure will impact him negatively. Koepka and Spieth will tee off in the last pairing of the day at 2:50 p.m. ET, while Scott and Daniel Berger will play in the penultimate pairing. Johnson and Kelly Kraft, who got into the tournament when Justin Thomas had to withdraw because of a wrist injury, will tee off at 2:30 p.m. Koepka appears to have matters well in hand, and if he plays like he did Thursday and Friday, this tournament will be a coronation. However, if there are loose shots on moving day, it may not be the runaway it looks like at the halfway point.<doc-sep>
Patrick Smith/Getty Images The 2019 PGA Championship got underway on Thursday, and it is the first time the tournament is being played in its new slot in May as the second major of the season. Tiger Woods, a former winner on the Black Course in Bethpage State Park, New York, is seeking his second major win of the season after his success in the Masters in April. Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are some of the other standouts in what is a deep field of contenders. For a live look at the updated leaderboard, visit the PGA Tour's official website by clicking here. Bethpage Black has never hosted the PGA Championship before, but it has been the host for the U.S. Open on two occasions. Woods took the win in 2002, while Lucas Glover topped the field in 2009. In the 2002 edition, Woods was the only player to finish under par (three under), with a top score of three-under 67. That year, he also took the first two majors of the season. He's been on a tear in majors of late: Video Play Button Videos you might like Per CBS Sports, he hasn't played a PGA Tour event since winning at Augusta, and in his last visit to Bethpage, he shot five-over in his final round. Woods will play in the same group as Koepka and Molinari in his opening round, and that will be a group to keep a close eye on. Bethpage Black is known as a difficult course, even for the best players in the world, due to a variety of factors. Per Dylan Dethier of GOLF.com, it's long, at 7,459 yards, as well as hilly and sandy. The rough is also a major factor: The difficult playing conditions and length will favour some of the bigger hitters on tour, with Johnson and Rahm likely to be popular picks among punters. KDKA TV's Bob Pompeani believes the latter will have his breakthrough performance on Long Island: The 24-year-old Spaniard took fourth in last year's tournament and at last year's Masters, and his first triumph in a major only seems a matter of time. Koepka, Johnson and Xander Schauffele all finished just a single shot behind Woods at Augusta, and the ever-consistent Molinari seemed to be on course for the win until he started to struggle in the final round. The Italian will be looking to bounce back at the PGA Championship and win his second major, after last year's Open Championship.