Aronimink Acquits Itself Thursday at the 2026 PGA Championship

The first time you scrolled through the 2026 PGA Championship leaderboard on Thursday, you may have been a bit surprised, both by some of the names near the top and the 3-under score leading the championship.

Of the 14 players at T-8 or better, only three are ranked inside the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking: Scottie Scheffler (No. 1, T-1), Xander Schauffele (No. 11, T-8), and Patrick Reed (No. 24, T-8). By the end of the week, expect the cream to rise to the top and overtake some of the less polished players. The most notable individual result is, of course, the world No. 1 grabbing a share of the lead, marking the first time Scheffler has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead in his major championship career. Entering the week, Scheffler had been within one stroke of the 18-hole lead four times at a major. He won two of them (2024 Masters, 2025 Open) and never finished worse than T-4.

As for the golf course, the general consensus leading into the tournament was that Aronimink would get torn to bits, with prevailing belief that the winning score would land closer to 20 under than 10 under. Instead, Thursday’s opening round produced a much sterner test than expected, as the course played 2.26 strokes over par.

Despite receiving a quarter inch of rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning, the greens still played fairly firm, increasing the value of playing from the fairway. Cold, windy weather, and cleverly designed, heavily contoured green complexes protected by thick rough mounted enough of a defense to provide a stern major championship test.

“(There) certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway,” Rory McIlroy said after a poor opening round 4-over 74. “Probably more than what I anticipated after being here, whatever it is, two Fridays ago.”

Tricky hole locations added another layer of difficulty. Bryson DeChambeau discovered that early into his tournament.

“The pins are the defense too of the course,” Jordan Spieth said after his round. “Even when you're hitting it in the fairway, it's very difficult to get it on the right tier and have a putt that doesn't do a couple things.”

Several players also discussed the thick rough after their rounds, emphasizing the difficulty of playing from the rough around the greens, more so than missing the fairway off the tee.

“It can be unpredictable,” shared Min Woo Lee. “The ones that sit down, you give it a little bit more, and then it just jumps. Then the ones that sit up, you think it's going to come out hard, and it comes out soft.”

Sahith Theegala agreed. “The rough around the greens, it's impossible to judge,” he said. “That was probably the main focus of my practice. It's still a completely total educated guess…it kind of squirts both ways for me, like left and right too.

Not only is it a distance problem, it's a left and right thing. You can't see the grain because it always kind of sticks up in the air. It's really hard. You'd rather be in a greenside bunker all day. It's a fun challenge, but it's really tough to get up-and-down out of the rough.”

Through 18 holes, it is clear that a firm, windy Aronimink has enough teeth to bite the best players in the world. Without much rain lingering in the forecast, those concerned that the golf course would be proven defenseless can rest much easier, at least through Friday. Chilly, breezy conditions are expected on Friday morning before friendlier weather arrives on the weekend.

“There was some chatter (earlier in the week) where people thought 15- to 20-under was going to win,” Jon Rahm told media post-round. “And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it's not going to be anything like that.”