The 108th PGA Championship began May 14 at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia, marking only the second time the venue hosts the event since 1962 [1, 2, 3]. The par-70 course stretches 7,394 yards and features challenging greens and numerous bunkers, made slightly longer by overnight rain [1, 2, 3].
World number one Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion and the betting favorite at +480. Rory McIlroy, recently a two-time Masters winner and world number two, is the second choice at +850 odds [1, 4, 5, 6]. McIlroy reported a blister on his right little toe during the week, which cut short his Tuesday practice round, but he said it would not affect his tournament play [1]. "Strategy off the tee is pretty non-existent," McIlroy said about Aronimink, while Scheffler added, "You can hit it pretty far offline and still kind of get away with it" [2].
The 156-player field includes many top names such as Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Young, and Matt Fitzpatrick, with a mix of PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and international players, including 11 from LIV Golf [2, 7, 3, 8]. Michael Block, a club pro who performed well in last year’s PGA, made the cut but was later eliminated after early strong rounds [9, 10].
Weather for the first days was mostly cloudy with drizzle and wind, though sunnier and warmer conditions are forecast later in the week [2, 9, 10, 11]. Scoring has been competitive. Through three rounds, leaders stood at around 4-under par. Chris Kirk shot a 62 in round three, tying the men's major record for lowest round [10, 11]. Starting rounds have featured threesomes teeing off early, with McIlroy, Spieth, and Rahm grouped together on the 10th tee [8].
Keegan Bradley noted the key difficulty of the tournament lies in the greens, saying, "What makes this place difficult are the greens... So to put the ball in the right spot is really important" [3].
Play continued May 17 with Scheffler and Harris English near the top of the leaderboard and McIlroy still in contention [11]. The final round is underway as the players vie for the championship's Wanamaker Trophy.
