The drive from Buffalo to the media shuttle lot took one hour and two minutes. It included five vehicles that didn’t know left lane from right lane, at least two healthy rain showers, and a few cashews. Fran the Bus Man made sure to keep me entertained on the shuttle ride in, and my entry to the tournament grounds was seamless. When the PGA Championship was held here in Augusts of 2003 and 2013, I was able to spend four to five days on course. Now that it is celebrated during the school year, my access is truncated.

The weather systems tossed an unexpected series of squalls at Friday’s play. Despite the arrival of the wet stuff, the band played on. No delays, just a spritz or two on the golf course. Saturday might look worse, but getting 36 complete and a cut established is pretty great stuff for western New York in May. On that squishy note, let’s take a look at five things that we learned on Friday at the 2023 PGA Championship.

1. Making putts on 18 to make the cut is sweet

Within the space of two groups, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth made 10-15 feet putts for bogey and par, respectively. Each stood near the cut line, and needed to make those critters to have a seat at the table over the weekend. Each one buried the palpitation-inducers in the heart of the cup, as champions do. One group later, Matt Fitzpatrick came to the same hole, also on the line. His drive found a right-side fairway bunker, and his approach slipped over the lip, landing fifty feet below the hole. His approach putt stormed past the hole, into Spieth territory. His read was not as accurate as Spieth’s, and the weekend slipped away for the 2022 US Open champion.

Sometimes they drop, and sometimes they don’t.

Beauty from @JustinThomas34 sets up birdie to get inside the projected cutline pic.twitter.com/SZZACRvIOt

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 19, 2023

2. We met the new neighbors

There’s this young guy named Justin Suh, who made his debut on the PGA block this week. How did he get a spot in the neighborhood?

I would say I started driving it a lot better. We made a few adjustments before the tournament started, and I think it clicked right when the tournament
started. I would say hitting fairways are pretty crucial out here, but I play pretty conservative with my iron shots just because greens are pretty important on this golf course, and I rely
on my speed with my putter.

Adrian Meronk from Poland is a new exchange student, and Callum Tarren is also spending some time in the states, having grown up in England. Suh dropped a stroke from his opening 69, and found a spot in the penultimate pairing with his day-two 68. Callum Tarren is right there with Suh, going from 71 to 67 overnight, to move inside the top ten. Adrian Meronk didn’t fair nearly as well as the aforementioned lads, but he did move inside the cut line with a Friday 69. We all love over-the-fence talk about the new kids on the block, and there’s no reason to think that this trio won’t make some noise on the weekend.

Suh. Dude knows how to putt. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/ZCS9VmjZqp

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2023

3. The guy that all of western New York supports is … Keith Mitchell?

You bet. Howza come? Well, Mitchell has partnered with the Buffalo Bills #QB1, Josh Allen, at the AT & T pro-am in California, for a few years. Each one extols the other’s virtues, and rumor has it that Mitchell is now a table-breaking member of the #BillsMafia.

Don’t expect Mitchell to don the red, white, and blue zubaz sweats for the weekend, but understand that he sits in a pretty positive space after 36 holes. If he can figure out the par-five holes (he’s two-over par on them through two rounds) and avoid the bogeys that lurk along Allen’s Creek, Mitchell might move within a handful of shots by Saturday night. As we all know, Sundays are shootouts and Mitchell is a gunslinger.

It's evident Keith Mitchell studied the Round 2 hole locations.

He tapped this in for birdie and moves into T6 (-2) #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/9XthHHsQll

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2023

4. Say Goodbye to Hollywood and …

In addition to Matt Fitzpatrick, Tom Kim, Jason Day, and Cameron Young missed the cut. Young and his caddie somehow failed to replace a ball marker that had been moved for another player’s putt. The ensuing, two-stroke penalty dropped Young from +6 to +8 and crushed all momentum. Joining that trio on the train out of town are Sungjae Im, Sam Burns, and 19 out of 20 PGA professionals. Only Michael Block, from Mission Viejo, California, survived the 36-hole cut among the club professionals. He did it in style, matching a Friday 70 to his Thursday one, finding himself tied for 11th at the halfway post.

Class is in session with Cam Young. The New York native puts a little English on it to set up a tap in. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/XmKltp3xRT

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2023

5. Wear out the center of the green

Those are the words of one of our tri-leaders. Viktor Hovland.

… 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 and 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.

Hovland did precisely that, and made a nifty birdie at the last, while Scottie Scheffler had a sloppy bogey. The pair ended up at the same address: five-under par for 36 holes. Joining them is Corey Conners, who made a somewhat-benign par at the closing, 502-yard par four. Scheffler and Conners will be paired in the final twosome, while Hovland will match wits with Justin Suh.

Viktor Hovland has birdie on the brain. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/4dEdSU2Kpq

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2023