Free of a full schedule and liberated of expectations, Lexi Thompson is breezing. The Texas heat, the six-hour round, the long waits, nothing stopped her from carding a 2-under 70 yesterday at Frisco. Thompson is four shots behind the leader, Jeeno Thitikul, with 36 holes left to play.

You would think a decade-long major drought would put some pressure on her back. That would be an error in judgment. She is only looking forward to the off days ahead. Regardless, it puts her mind at ease. And you get this in return:

Lexi draining monster 43-foot right-to-left benders like this.

The mid-round leader, Jeeno Thitikul, hasn’t stopped smiling either. A 2-under 70 has put the Thai phenom on the doorstep of her first major victory. If she wins, and Nelly finishes outside the top 10 (she is currently at 16th), Thitikul will be the new World No.1.

For that, she needs to fend off the threat from a former major champ—Minjee Lee.

The Aussie is only three shots back, after shooting even par yesterday. She is one of the only seven players who are still under par after two rounds. Field's Ranch East is proving to be a tougher test than many thought.

Lilia Vu, Amy Yang, Mao Saigo, Georgia Hall, and Ayaka Furure all had to book the return flight early. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship has $12M on offer, matching the U.S. Women’s Open purse. Which figures because the layout looks even more lethal than Erin Hills. Good luck to those who survived the 36-hole guillotine!

There is an excessive heat warning around TPC River Highlands. You might blame the Travelers leaderboard for that, and you wouldn’t be wrong either. There is a three-way tie at the top, largely thanks to defending champ Scottie Scheffler.

The World No.1 was leading by two with two to play. Then on the penultimate hole, his tee shot found a bunker, his approach came up short of the green, and from there he landed on water. A 6 and his lead vaporized. Was he frustrated? You bet.

But interestingly, his frustrations started some 4 hours before that double bogey… with just his second shot of the day. Now it’s what you and I would call a ‘beauty’. But look at how Scottie reacted below. You’d think he landed in a bunker!

Along with Scheffler, Fleetwood and Thomas also stormed the leaderboard. JT fired a 6-under 64 featuring five back-to-back birdies between the 11th and 15th.

The Englishman, on the other hand, carded multiple eagles (yes, more than one in the same round) and birdies en route to his -5 for the day. Just look how beautifully chipped in for his 2nd eagle at the 15th.

But it’s still anyone’s game to steal. Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day, and Keegan Bradley are all within reach of the $3.6M winner’s check. The Ulsterman (T9) bogeyed the 17th but in the most bizarre way possible.

Rory had to fly over a lake on the 17th. Guess what happened? The ball kissed the water and bounced off to the green–just watch the miracle unfold live here. He is now four shots off the leaders, and 36 holes is time enough to erase that.

All the summer heat is worth it if Rory and others can continue firing on all cylinders.

Rory’s power off the tee drives the conversation so much that his short game doesn’t get nearly enough attention—remember this Ryder Cup gem? McIlroy is 33rd in overall scrambling; 17th in scrambling from 10-20 yards. The Ulsterman recently even appeared in a PGA Tour tutorial episode to share his secret sauce. And here it is for you:

That’s three tips from Rory McIlroy. And if you still want to kick things up a notch, take a look at everything else he had to say:

Imagine you and your big brother sharing the same birthday. Unreal, right? But it’s very much true for Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim. Both cut their cake on June 21. Scheffler turns 29 today; Tom Kim, 23. Neither cares about that six-year age gap, though. Back in 2023, they went out to celebrate the birthday by hitting a Pizza joint, and later some cupcakes—see for yourself how delicious they looked.

Last year was more fun. Because both of them were locked in contention at the Travelers. Somehow, they had a hunch and celebrated their birthdays ahead by driving to… another pizzeria. Well, what’s in store this year? It’s anybody’s guess.

Kim has become a big part of the Scheffler family. At the 2024 CJ Cup, Bryon Nelson, even though Scottie wasn’t playing, his parents were in attendance. Why? Yes, they were following Tom!

Happy Birthday, you both 🍻