World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is setting a ruthless pace at the 108th PGA Championship. Navigating the newly restored Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, the defending champion surged to the top of the leaderboard early in the tournament. The rest of the field is now fighting to close the gap as the weekend approaches.
Aronimink is playing as a par 70 at 7,394 yards this week. The classic Donald Ross design features widened fairways, but it is heavily fortified by over 170 bunkers and severely contoured putting surfaces.
Players are already feeling the course’s teeth. Competitors including Xander Schauffele and Keegan Bradley explicitly identified the mounded greens as Aronimink’s ultimate defense. Schauffele warned that aggressive, short-sided approaches will be severely penalized given the firm and fast conditions, according to AP News.
The historical implications for this weekend are incredibly high. If Scheffler maintains his lead and wins, he joins Tiger Woods and Brooks Koepka as the only players to win consecutive PGA Championships in the stroke-play era. Meanwhile, 2026 Masters champion Rory McIlroy is actively chasing the first two majors of the year, a feat last achieved by Jordan Spieth in 2015.
A significant shift in the sport’s ongoing divide is also playing out behind the scenes. Heavyweights Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed reportedly dumped their LIV Golf affiliations heading into the tournament in an effort to regain their standing as traditional major contenders. Other prominent figures like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau continue to navigate the field under their LIV contracts, a dynamic outlined by The Economic Times.
Spieth is also battling the difficult Pennsylvania layout as he attempts to secure the final leg of the career Grand Slam. The tournament continues through Sunday.