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Brooks Koepka says he wants to channel his inner Tiger Woods and steamroll further into the US PGA Championship lead after smashing more major records on day two at Bethpage.

After equalling the PGA Championship's scoring record with a 63 on Thursday, Koepka backed up with a five-under-par 65 on Friday - leaving Australia's Adam Scott in his wake seven shots behind.

Koepka's total of 128 smashed the 36-hole scoring record at the majors by two - a total only five players had previously achieved.

Poised for a fourth major victory in less than two years, Koepka has no intentions of slowing down on the weekend.

"I'd like to see that lead grow as large as it possibly can," Koepka said.

His attitude is reminiscent of Woods' most dominant era, highlighted by his record 15-shot victory at the 2000 US Open.

Incidentally, Woods himself struggled to a 73 to plummet to five-over and he missed the four-over cut.

Koepka has also made a mockery of Bethpage Black's reputation as a brut course, racing to 12-under.

Although Scott sizzled during a 64 which earned him a share of second at five-under, he faces an enormous deficit.

However Scott is reluctant to hand the 29-year-old the PGA's Wanamaker Trophy just yet.

"His good front-running has to come to an end eventually," Scott joked. "Let's hope it's not 12 years like Tiger's front-running lasted."

But Koepka, the defending PGA champion who has also won the US Open twice, said going on to victory this week was a simple equation.

"I have to keep putting the ball in the right spot, make sure I don't make any double-bogeys, and I should have a good chance of winning the championship," he said.

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth (66), who needs a PGA Championship win to complete the career grand slam, shares second with Scott.

Scott was on track to become just the second player to shoot 62 at the majors, but missed a two-foot putt for par at the par-three 17th.

He was then forced to save a miraculous par at the 18th.

Scott made an incredible 165 feet of putts on Friday, including long-range birdies on his first three holes.

But he missed five putts inside 10 feet.

World No.1 Dustin Johnson (67), Daniel Berger (66), Kelly Kraft (65), Matt Wallace (67), Luke List (68) share fourth at four-under.

Former PGA champion Jason Day shot 74 and, at three-over, he is tied with countryman Cameron Smith (70).

Lucas Herbert (70) was the only other Australian to make the cut, while Marc Leishman's 74 plummeted him to eight-over.

Also missing the cut were Australians Brendan Jones (15-over), Stuart Deane (18-over) and Craig Hocknull (19-over).

John Daly and his bum right knee rode away from the PGA Championship happy to get the chance to play, even with the aid of a cart that caused some controversy.

Daly shot a six-over 76 on Friday and finished 36 holes at Bethpage Black at 11 over, a score that will miss the cut for the weekend.

The results were not surprising, considering the 53-year-old has been playing in the PGA Tour Champions, a 50-and-older circuit that allows for carts, since 2016, winning once in 2017.

He has not won on the PGA Tour since capturing the 2004 Buick Open.

The decision by the PGA of America to allow Daly to use a cart in this event because of his arthritic right knee has been an issue for many.

But the fans loved seeing the cigarette-smoking, long-hitting Daly, who looks more like an average weekend golfer than a pro.

"I was happy I played," Daly said after the round.

"I played good. It's a major championship. If you miss a fairway here and there by just a little bit, you are going to score bad and I did."

The worst might have been the bogey on the 18th, his final hole. His drive found a bunker. His second shot found another bunker and his third found a greenside bunker.

After the second shot, he drove to his bag as the caddie manicured the sand, grabbed a club and slammed the bag down.

Daly drove to the greenside bunker, hit the sand wedge to within half a metre and knocked it in for a bogey.

The crowd roared.

Daly said he felt obligated to play in the PGA Championship after he won at Crooked Stick in 1991 at the ninth alternate.

He added a second major, capturing the British Open in 1995.

"This is a week I can't leave disgusted because I played good golf," Daly said.

"It played long and you just miss fairways by a little bit, the rough is so thick; probably the thickest I have ever seen, you are just laying up. I'm not strong enough to get it anywhere near."

Daly, who visibly limped when he walked on the course, is the first player to ride in a cart at a major since Casey Martin in the US Open at Olympic Club in 1998 and 2012.

He also has asked for an exemption for the British Open and is awaiting a response.

Jordan Spieth says the opportunity to complete golf's coveted career grand slam won't cross his mind despite firing his way into weekend contention at the US PGA Championship.

Spieth, who has won the Masters, US Open and British Open, needs a win at the PGA Championship to become just the sixth golfer to claim all four major titles.

The quest has eluded the 25-year-old since it became possible with his 2017 British Open victory.

But with a four-under-par 66 in round two of the PGA Championship at New York's Bethpage Black, his hopes are alive with two rounds to go.

Spieth (69, 66) finished 36 holes with a five-under total and he currently sits five back of leader Brooks Koepka.

But Texas native Spieth, whose winless drought stretches back to the 2017 British Open, says the career slam is not on his radar at Bethpage.

"It certainly hasn't (crossed my mind)," Spieth said.

Only Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have won the career slam.

Spieth's dismissal of his chance to make history is perhaps a reaction to his near two-year slump.

The former world No.1 has not recorded a top-10 on the US PGA Tour since July, at last year's British Open, and has plummeted to world No.39.

"I can't imagine (the career slam) will (cross my mind) because I haven't been in contention on a Sunday since the Open last year," Spieth said.

"If I'm able to put some good work in tomorrow, then I will be in contention on Sunday.

"At that point, it will be just more of trying to win a golf tournament.

"I'll be pleased to be in contention, knowing that the work I put in from being pretty far off has really come back nicely on a very difficult golf course."

His rough patch comes after igniting the golf world with 11 PGA Tour victories, including three majors, as well as two Australian Open titles.

Spieth admitted at the start of the PGA Championship week he was "in a bit of a slump" but carded six birdies and two bogeys to start a major with two rounds in the 60s for the fourth time.

He won the other three.

THE LEADERS - Brooks Koepka (63) at seven under; Danny Lee (64) second at six under; and Tommy Fleetwood (67) third at three under.

THE AUSSIES - Jason Day (69) at one under; Adam Scott (71); Cameron Smith (73); Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman (74); Brendan Jones (78); Stuart Deane and Craig Hocknull (82).

BEST ROUND - 63 - Koepka, set the course record at Bethpage Black.

TALKING POINT: Tiger Woods struggled to a two-over 72, extinguishing hopes he can follow on from his Masters win in April, but Koepka's 63 has him in position for a fourth major victory in two years.

QUOTE OF THE DAY - "I was freaking out and asking my wife, 'Are we going to open up a Korean barbecue restaurant now?'" Second-placed Lee on a career-threatening back injury in 2017.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka has put himself in prime position for a fourth major victory in two years with a record-setting start to the US PGA Championship in New York.

The big-hitting Koepka, who was won three majors since the 2017 US Open, fired a course-record 63 on the notoriously difficult Bethpage Black layout to take the first-round lead at seven under.

Koepka's 63 was the 17th time the score has been recorded in PGA Championship history, but he became the first player to do it twice.

The 29-year-old carded a 63 in round two of the PGA Championship he won last year.

Florida native Koepka also became just the third golfer with multiple rounds of 63 at the majors, joining Australia's Greg Norman and Fiji's Vijay Singh.

On Thursday at the 7459-yard Bethpage, Koepka made no mistakes as he rattled off seven birdies and zero bogeys to equal his lowest round in relation to par at the majors.

He holds a one-shot lead over New Zealand's Danny Lee (64), with England's Tommy Fleetwood (67) third at three under.

The athletic, muscular Koepka is in career form and shows no signs of slowing down on the major championship stage.

He finished just one shot back of Tiger Woods at last month's Masters.

Koepka said it was satisfying to make a statement at Bethpage with so much hype surrounding Woods, his playing partner, who won his 15th major at Augusta National.

"It was great that Tiger won Augusta, but we're at a new week now," Koepka said.

"Obviously, everybody in New York is going to be cheering for him, and it's going to be loud, especially if he makes a putt.

"You've just got to keep battling and find a way to get through it."

Woods, who struggled to a 72, claimed Koepka could have shot a lower score given he did not birdie either of the two par 5s.

"That was probably the (worst) score he could have shot today," Woods said. "He left a few out there with a couple putts that he missed. But it could have easily been a couple better."

Jason Day finished as the leading Australian with a 69 to claim a one-under score.

Next best was Adam Scott, who was humming at one under until he double-bogeyed his second-last hole to sign for a one-over 71.

Cameron Smith (73), Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman (74), Brendan Jones (78), and Stuart Deane and Craig Hocknull (82) rounded out the Australian contingent.

Jason Day believes US PGA Championship leader Brooks Koepka will struggle to run away with the tournament on a golf course as brutal as New York's Bethpage Black.

Day, the 2015 PGA champion, emerged as Australia's best hope to reel in Koepka given the Queenslander was the only player to shoot under par among seven countrymen.

Former world No.1 Day fought back from a two-over score through 10 holes, with three back-nine birdies giving him a one-under-par 69.

He sits six shots behind defending PGA champion Koepka, who fired a course record 63 to take the first-round lead at seven under.

Koepka's 63 was the 17th time the score has been recorded in PGA Championship history, but he became the first player to do it twice.

The 29-year-old from Florida carded a 63 in round two of the PGA Championship he won last year.

Koepka has a one-shot lead over New Zealand's Danny Lee, who navigated Bethpage with just 21 putts during a 64.

England's Tommy Fleetwood (67) is third at three under.

World No.3 Koepka has won three of the past eight major championships starting with the 2017 US Open.

But Day is not ready to hand him the title after day one.

"It's Bethpage," Day said, referring to the Long Island course's narrow, tree-lined fairways and thick rough.

"I feel like there's going to be more bogeys than birdies out here.

"You never know where Brooks could be at the end of the week; he could be outside the top 10 or top 20.

"You can play tremendous golf one day and then wake up the next day and not know where it's going. That's just how golf is."

Day admitted his 69 could have been a stellar opening round if his usually world-class putting hadn't deserted him.

He missed six putts inside 11 feet.

"I think if I can just kind of tidy that up (in round two), that would be great," Day said.

Next best of the Australians was Adam Scott, who was humming at one under until he double-bogeyed his second-last hole to sign for a one-over 71.

"It's a shame because I played pretty good today, so I'm a little dirty at myself at the moment," a frustrated Scott said.

Cameron Smith (73), Lucas Herbert and Marc Leishman (74), Brendan Jones (78), Stuart Deane and Craig Hocknull (82) rounded out the Australian contingent.

John Daly will not play next month's British Open in Northern Ireland if he is not allowed to ride a cart, the 1995 champion said on Thursday.

Speaking after the first round at the PGA Championship, Daly said he had applied to the R&A organising body for permission to ride at Royal Portrush for the July 18-21 tournament and was awaiting a reply.

Daly, who has an arthritic right knee and walks with a slight limp, is riding a cart at the PGA Championship under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

"Ireland is big on the ADA like most countries should be," Daly told reporters at Bethpage Black.

"Trust me, if I could walk I would rather walk. I feel like I always have played better when I walk.

"I'm not one who wants to ride all the time. It's just something, if I don't I'm not going to be able to play, not going to be able to finish."

Daly said it had been almost embarrassing riding a cart at Bethpage Black, where he limped and puffed his way around the long and hilly course on Thursday.

"It's very awkward, to a point it's almost embarrassing, but I love the PGA, and I feel like as past champion I belong to play ... I feel obligated," the 1991 champion said after shooting five-over-par 75.

Daly walked two years ago at Royal Birkdale, where he missed the cut, and did not play last year.

He ruled out walking at Portrush.

"I wouldn't be able to," said the 53-year-old American.

"Hard pan (surfaces typical of links courses) is better to walk on. I would probably get nine holes and that would be about it.

"Out here (I could walk) maybe four before I couldn't even swing."

New Zealand's Danny Lee emerged as Brooks Koepka's nearest challenger after the first round of the US PGA Championship, less than two years after suffering a career-threatening back injury.

The Korean-born Kiwi withdrew after just two holes of the 2017 BMW Championship with a lower back injury and was unable to feel his legs the next day.

"I was freaking out and asking my wife, 'Are we going to open up a Korean barbecue restaurant now?'" Lee joked after finishing round one a shot behind leader Koepka.

Defending PGA champion Koepka fired a course record 63 at New York's Bethpage Black to top the leaderboard at seven-under-par.

But 28-year-old Lee fired a 64 in the afternoon wave.

Lee's score is remarkable given he hit just seven of 14 fairways and 10 greens, spending considerable time in Bethpage's brutally thick rough.

But 21 putts gave Lee hope of chasing down Koepka and the former child prodigy says he now has the firepower to remain high on the leaderboard.

"I wasn't hitting it far enough to compete in majors but now I can carry my driver about 295 (yards)," Lee said.

Lee feared for his career in 2017 when he tore a ligament between the L4 and L5 discs in his back.

"When I got up from my bed, I could not move my legs. I've never had that kind of injury before," he said.

Apart from 2015, when Lee earned his only PGA Tour victory, he has had to fight to retain his status on the American circuit.

He has admitted it has not been the career he envisioned after becoming the youngest ever winner of the US Amateur Championship in 2008, beating Tiger Woods' record by six months.

He also won the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Classic as an amateur in 2009.

Now world No.119, Lee says playing among the bottom end of the PGA Tour is not as glamorous as it seems.

"Some of the top 20 guys in the world make it look easy, but it's not always fairytales and unicorns out here," Lee said.

"Outside of 100 in the world, your endorsement money is not great. I mean, even I wouldn't pay (a player) outside 100," he joked.

Lee was two shots off the pace after the first round of the 2015 PGA Championship, eventually won by Australia's Jason Day.

But Texas-based Lee is confident he can finish off the tournament better this time.

"This is the first time I've got to play in a major with this distance," he said.

"I'm actually interested in myself what I can do out there this week."

Australian golfer Brendan Jones arrived at the US PGA Championship just three weeks after earning a 15th win on the Japan Tour which took his career earnings well past 1 billion Yen ($A13.2 million).

But New York's notoriously difficult Bethpage Black course brought Jones back down to earth spectacularly during an eight-over-par 78 in the first round.

It left Jones a whopping 15 shots behind clubhouse leader Brooks Koepka, who fired a course-record seven-under 63.

The 44-year-old Canberra native was shell-shocked at the nightmare start to his sixth appearance at the US PGA Championship.

"It's a little bit frustrating and it's a little bit embarrassing," Jones told AAP.

"I came here with a bit of form but (78) was not part of the plan."

World No.101 Jones recently pipped countryman Matt Griffin to win the Token Homemate Cup in late April, taking his Japan Tour career earnings to 1.066 billion Yen ($A14 million).

A sublimely talented golfer, Jones hit just seven from 14 fairways and 10 greens in regulation on Thursday at Bethpage.

He made no birdies, but remarkably avoided a double-bogey.

"I don't want to make excuses, but getting in from Japan on a Monday afternoon and trying to compete with the best in the world on no sleep is not going to cut it," Jones said.

"I didn't have my best stuff today and got found out."

Bethpage is one of the PGA Tour's toughest courses, ranking 12th most difficult when it last hosted a PGA Tour event - the 2016 Barclays.

Its biggest obstacles are tree-lined, narrow fairways, thick rough and boldly-contoured greens.

Bethpage Black has a famous warning sign on the first tee which recommends only "highly-skilled golfers" play.

On Wednesday, six-time major winner Nick Faldo called it a "beast".

"Oh it is a beast," Jones said. "I didn't make a birdie and every time I missed a fairway, or was slightly out of position, I made a bogey.

"I didn't play that bad and I've had an absolutely shocking score.

"We never play anything like this in Japan; Japan Open courses are always tricked up, but you don't get this many par 4s over 500 yards."

Asked what would motivate Jones to salvage a respectable score in Friday's second round, Jones said: "Well, I don't want to come last."

WHAT: PGA Championship

WHERE: Farmingdale, New York (Long Island)

WHEN: Thursday, May 16-Sunday, May 19

THE COURSE: Bethpage Black is among the most difficult courses on the US PGA Tour. The course has a famous warning sign on the first tee which urges "only highly-skilled golfers" to play. It was designed by legendary course architect AW Tillinghast and measures 7,459 yards

PURSE: $US11 million, with the winner receiving $US1.98 million

TV Times - Live Coverage on FoxSports 3, Kayo Sports and GolfTV (AEST)

Friday: 3am-9am

Saturday: 3am-9.30am

Sunday: 4am-9am

Monday: 4am-9am

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Brooks Koepka: The defending champion. Koepka has won three of the past seven majors, including last year's PGA and back-to-back US Opens. Is one of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour.

Rory McIlroy: A four-time major winner who has two PGA Championship titles. McIlroy boasts prodigious length and is in form, having won the recent Players Championship.

Dustin Johnson: The world No.1 boasts the firepower and accuracy required from the tee to tackle the 7,459-yard Bethpage Black.

Jason Day: Day won the 2015 PGA in stunning fashion, while he also has a runner-up among five top 10s from nine appearances.

Tiger Woods: Woods is gunning for his 16th major having just won the Masters in April. His stellar record at Bethpage includes winning the 2002 US Open in wire-to-wire fashion and a sixth at the 2009 US Open.

AUSTRALIANS IN THE FIELD

Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott, Cameron Smith, Lucas Herbert, Brendan Jones, Stuart Deane and Craig Hocknull

WHAT THE PGA WINNER RECEIVES

* $US1.98 million

* Lifetime exemption into the PGA Championship

* Five-year exemption to the Masters, US Open, British Open

* A five-year exemption on the PGA Tour

TEE TIMES (AEST)

AUSTRALIANS

9.40pm: Sergio Garcia (ESP), Kelly Kraft (USA), Adam Scott (AUS)

9.51pm: Graeme McDowell (NIR), Chez Reavie (USA), Brendan Jones (AUS)

10.57pm: Lucas Herbert (AUS), Cory Schneider (USA), Im Sung-jai (KOR)

3.38am: Rory McIlroy (NIR), Phil Mickelson (USA), Jason Day (AUS)

3.49am: Satoshi Kodaira (JPN), Matt Kuchar (USA), Cameron Smith (AUS)

4am: Corey Conners (CAN), Jim Furyk (USA), Marc Leishman (AUS)

4.11: Jorge Campillo (ESP), Stuart Deane (AUS), Chesson Hadley (USA)

4.22am Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Craig Hocknull (AUS), Jhonattan Vegas

NOTABLES

10.02pm: Rickie Fowler (USA), Bubba Watson (USA), Justin Rose (ENG)

10.24pm: Brooks Koepka (USA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Tiger Woods (USA)

3.16am: Jon Rahm (ESP), Dustin Johnson (USA), Jordan Spieth (USA)

PAST WINNERS

2018: Brooks Koepka (USA) (Bellerive)

2017: Justin Thomas (USA) (Quail Hollow)

2016: Jimmy Walker (USA) (Baltusrol)

2015: Jason Day (Whistling Straits)

2014: Rory McIlroy (NIR) (Valhalla)

2013: Jason Dufner (USA) (Oak Hill)

2012: Rory McIlroy (NIR) (Kiawah Island)

2011: Keegan Bradley (USA) (Atlanta Athletic Club)

2010: Martin Kaymer (GER) (Whistling Straits)

2009: YE Yang (KOR) (Hazeltine)