Ludvig Aberg is quietly making his presence felt at the PGA Championship, sitting in a tie for ninth place as we head into the weekend. The Swedish star followed up his opening round of 72 with an impressive four-under 66, putting him right in the mix at Aronimink.

Aberg shares the two-under mark with a group of notable names, including world number one and defending champion Scottie Scheffler. But it hasn't been all smooth sailing at the course. Scheffler stirred the pot on day two, calling some of Aronimink's pin placements "absurd," though he was quick to add that the overall setup was still fair.

Rory McIlroy, sitting three shots back, offered a different take. "The only thing I would say is, I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup," McIlroy said. "When it's as bunched as it is, it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves."

Now Aberg, McIlroy's Ryder Cup teammate, has weighed in with his own thoughts on the course after his strong second round. When asked if he's feeling optimistic about the weekend, Aberg didn't hold back. "Yeah, absolutely. Optimistic is a good word," he said. "I like that yesterday I didn't hit the ball very well, but I was able to sort of get back into hitting golf shots again today. I felt like I was striking it nice all day. If I can keep that up tomorrow and keep the patience, I'll be happy."

As for those tricky pin placements that had Scheffler frustrated? Aberg agreed there were plenty of them. "The one that stands out is definitely 11, where you probably know going in you're not going to get it close," he explained. "What's cool about this place is it gives you short clubs on a lot of these par-4s, but it's still really hard to get it close. Then you mix that in with some strong par-3s and it's a good test."

Aberg's calm approach paid off Friday. "I didn't try to force anything. I was okay with 20 feet, and I was okay with 25 feet at times. I think that's what you've got to do when you play this golf course," he said.

With his maiden major win still up for grabs, Aberg is proving that patience and precision might just be the winning formula at Aronimink this week.