Multiple big-name golfers struggling at PGA Championship

Some top-tier names in golf, such as Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland, have found themselves in contention at this week’s PGA Championship. But other stars have had a much rougher go of things at Oak Hill Country Club. 

Take Rickie Fowler, for instance. The Oklahoma State alum came into the week off of five consecutive top-20 finishes on the PGA Tour, including a joint 13th showing at the Players Championship. After multiple years in the golfing wilderness, Fowler appeared to have his swing and vaunted putting stroke back on track. Was this the week to get back in the mix at one the four grandest events of the year? 

Not quite. Fowler fired two rounds of 73 to kick things off, and currently sits outside the cutline at +6. According to Data Golf, there is an 83.8 percent chance that the cut falls at five-over, with a 16.2 percent chance it slips to six-over. Those probabilities are, naturally, subject to fluctuate depending on the rest of the evening's course.

No matter if the cut falls at five-over or six-over, Phil Mickelson is sure to be a part of the festivities over the weekend. But the 2021 PGA champion finds himself well out of contention. Mickelson opened with rounds of 73 and 72 and sits at five-over for the tournament.

Two days before a final-round 65 yielded a stunning runner-up at the Masters last month, Mickelson bragged that he was “closer to going on a tear.” That tear manifested itself in the aforementioned Sunday surge at Augusta, but so far in Rochester, N.Y., it has been a struggle. 

It has also been a struggle for Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, a quartet of pre-tournament favorites. All four remain on the course, but are hovering around the cutline. 

Further down the leaderboard, we have the likes of Tom Kim (eight-over), Cameron Young (nine-over), Talor Gooch (10-over), Sungjae Im (13-over) and Sam Burns (14-over). Kim is already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour at the ripe age of 20, while Young finished joint third at this event a year ago. Gooch, on the other hand, won LIV Golf events in consecutive weeks last month. Im and Burns, to their credit, have amassed two and five wins on the PGA Tour, respectively. 

All this is to say one thing. Recent form can give you momentum going into a major. But once you actually tee it up, you have to bring your A-game. If not, the best setups in the world will bite you.