There’s a mindset that sports psychologists discuss with their golfers that says if you’re thinking about making the cut when you start a golf tournament, you’re not thinking about something that will have you playing your best. Rather, you’re limiting yourself with a semi-negative mindset that has a non-successful outcome attached to it.

Of course, the reality for any player in the field at the 2026 PGA Championship is that in order to win the tournament you have to first make the cut. The goal, of course, is to make it without having to worry about making it, posting two good early scores that won’t have you looking on your phone to see where you are in relation to those around 70th place.

Indeed, white-knuckle Fridays are no fun for pro golfers, and the same will hold true at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia. An amazingly tight leaderboard after Thursday’s play sees 48 players within three shots of the lead, shared by defending champion Scottie Scheffler.

Of course, that leads to an obvious question: How exactly do they determine the cutline at the PGA Championship? According to the tournament’s official guidelines:

“Following the first 36 holes of play, the field of 156 players will be reduced to the low 70 scores and ties. Those players will advance to complete the final two rounds.”

In other words, the cutline won’t be influenced by the play of any of the seven(!) first-round leaders who finished at three-under 67 on Thursday, or anyone else at the top of the leader board. The PGA of America does not use a 10-stroke rule to help determine who will be playing all 72 holes.

At the start of Friday’s second round, Datagolf.com was projecting a 37.8 percent chance the cut comes at three-over 145, 36.1 percent it falls to two-over 144 and 12.6 percent chance to lands at four-over 146. By 10:30 a.m., with the course playing almost a stroke harder on Friday than Thursday, so the projection for three over was up to 62.7 percent with four over now getting a 31 percent chance. But by 4 p.m., the projections were that four over had a 89.7 percent chance of happening, with three over down to 10 percent. 

Among those who will be looking closely at the cutline is Bryson DeChambeau. The two-time U.S. Open champ who has finished runner-up at the PGA the last two years, got off to a tough start Thursday at Aronimink, posting a six-over 76 that leaves him tied for 135th place. This is the fifth time in his major career that DeChambeau has shot four-over par or higher in his first nine holes of a the first of a major. To his credit, he’s made the cut two previous times, but he’ll have a lot of work on Friday.

Another multiple-major winner who is in need of a good Friday is Rory McIlroy, who shot an opening round 74 and was tied for 105th after Round 1. The Northern Irishman entered the tournament among the favorites, thanks to winning a second straight Masters title in April. But McIlroy’s driver was anything but cooperative on Thursday, as he struggled to find fairways, making four bogeys over his final four holes, the first time he’s done that in 990 rounds on the PGA Tour. Instead of talk about winning the second leg of the 2025 Grand Slam, McIlroy now has to grind just to make the weekend.

The PGA of America’s “cut rule” is the same used at the Open Championship. The U.S. Open makes a cut at the low 60 players and ties. The Masters has a cut at the low 50 players and ties, bumping that number up and eliminating its 10-stroke rule in 2020.

Here’s how the cutline has shaken out in the last eight PGA Championships:

2025 Quail Hollow: one-over 143 (74 players advance)
2024 Valhalla: one-under 141 (78)
2023 Oak Hill: five-over 145 (76)
2022 Southern Hills: four-over 144 (79)
2021 Kiawah Island: five-over 149 (81)
2020 Harding Park: one-over 141 (79)
2019 Bethpage Black: four-over 144 (82)
2018 Bellerive: even-par 140 (80)

The PGA Championship instituted a cut when the tournament changed from a match-play to stroke-play format in 1958. Originally, however, the championship had a double cut, one after 36 holes and a second cut after 65 holes. The championship reverted back to a single 36-hole cut in 1965 and has had it ever since.

For history buffs, Raymond Floyd, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson have made the most cuts—27—of any players in PGA Championship history. Floyd made 27 in 31 PGA starts, Nicklaus in 37 appearances and Mickelson in 31.

Here’s the next best players in PGA history:
Tom Watson, 25 of 33
Hale Irwin, 24 of 26
Arnold Palmer, 24 of 37
Jay Haas, 23 of 28
Tom Kite, 23 of 28

One of the bigger questions at the PGA is also whether any of the 20 club professionals competing will make the cut. Prior to 2019, only three club pros had made the weekend in the championship since 2011 (Brian Gaffney in 2015, Omar Uresti in 2017 and Ben Kern in 2018). However, two years ago at Bethpage, three club pros made the cut: Rob Labritz (T-60), Ryan Vermeer (T-80) and Marty Jertson (82nd). And three years ago at Kiawah, there were two who played on the weekend: Ben Cook (T-44) and Brad Marek (78).

And of course two years Michael Block not only made the cut but played great on the weekend, finishing with a one-over 281 total that left him tied for 15th. And Block, soon to be 50, once again made his presence known in the PGA, shooting a an even-par 70 to be part of the group tied at 34th but only three shots off the lead.