Alex Smalley sets clubhouse lead, Chris Gotterup posts 65 at PGA – Southern Sports Today

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Alex Smalley closed with a birdie to set the clubhouse lead at 4-under-par 136 on Friday, while Chris Gotterup and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama put themselves in contention at the PGA Championship halfway through the second round at Aronimink Golf Club. Smalley, one of seven co-leaders after 18 holes, signed for a 1-under 69 at about 2:30 p.m. local time. He was tied with South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter and Australia’s Min Woo Lee, who were 1 under par early in their respective rounds. The other first-round leaders playing this afternoon are Germany’s Stephan Jaeger and Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune. Gotterup’s 5-under 65 was the best round of the tournament by two strokes. The native of nearby New Jersey burst onto the scene with last year’s Scottish Open title and third-place finish at the Open Championship before he won two events on the PGA Tour this winter. Gotterup birdied Nos. 7, 8 and 9 at the end of his round to surge up the leaderboard. “If you’re in the right spot you can make a putt, but it’s really hard to get it close,” Gotterup said of the scoring conditions. “I felt like I got it about as close
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