Clarkston native Joel Dahmen shoots 1-under 69, moves up PGA Championship leaderboard

May 19—Joel Dahmen birdied his first three holes and posted a 1-under-par 69 — one of 25 under-par rounds Friday in the field of 156 — to climb up the PGA Championship leaderboard.

Dahmen is tied for 35th entering the weekend, but only nine players are under par through 36 holes at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

Viktor Hovland moved five spots up the leaderboard with a second-round 3-under 67 and is tied for first place with Corey Conners and Scottie Scheffler at 5 under. Bryson DeChambeau, who led after the first round, dropped into a tie for fourth place after shooting 1-over .

Dahmen, who started on the back nine, immediately drained birdie putts of 5, 16 and 3 feet to temporarily move into the top 20. The Clarkston native had bogeys on Nos. 14 and 16, but he responded with an even-par 35 on his second nine.

On a key stretch, Dahmen made a short birdie putt on the 625-yard par-5 fourth, a 30-footer to save par on No. 5 and a 7-footer for par on the 503-yard par-4 sixth, the latter ranking as the hardest hole with a 4.75 scoring average.

Dahmen, who was tied for 76th after opening with a 74, found the range with his putter to overcome a rare off day driving, hitting just four of 14 fairways on Oak Hill's narrow landing areas. He led the field in strokes gained on approaches to the green.

Dahmen needed just 27 putts compared to 34 in his first round. His success scrambling improved from 33.3% to 62.5%.

Dahmen made the cut at the PGA Championship for the fourth time in five appearances. He finished tied for 10th in 2020 when Collin Morikawa was the champion at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Dahmen tees off at 8 a.m. Saturday.

North Idaho College golf coach Russell Grove finished with a 9-over 79 for the second straight day to miss the cut. He dropped a 9-foot birdie putt for his first and only birdie at No. 14, but he had four bogeys and three double bogeys.