Robert TheodorsonThis was not your average PGA Championship.
The 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club at Newtown Square, Pennsylvania had something for everyone, but most importantly, a tightly contested leaderboard that didn’t reveal a winner until the champion’s impossible putt on 17.
The Wanamaker Trophy has once again found its way into the hands of a first-time major champion who will be linked to this great tournament for all of history!
Aaron Rai, a Champion at Last
Aaron Rai, the first Englishman to ever win The PGA Championship, finished Championship Sunday with a score of 65, pulling away from a talented and crowded field. Rai capped off his first major championship with an impossible putt on the 17th that put the now-champ 9-under par, and left no doubt that Rai would claim victory after a grueling four days at Aronimink.
Rai’s putt was reminiscent of J.J. Spaun putting last season’s U.S. Open away earlier than anticipated which led the gallery to erupt in raucous cheers before the tournament had officially ended. For Rai, that putt and that moment must have felt surreal to be declared winner before reaching the clubhouse. Despite the commotion, Rai kept his cool and trotted off to the 18th where he easily made par and was able to strut to the scoring tent.
Throughout Sunday, Raid held off the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, and Ludvig Aberg, as well as two relatively unknown challengers in Matti Schmid and Alex Smalley who both had early Sunday leads before Rai leapfrogged them in the late afternoon.
Rounds of 70, 69, 67, and 65 were more than enough to put a 3-stroke lead over second place finisher Jon Rahm, who was the favorite amongst the leaders, but failed to do any significant damage against the back nine.
As time went on, Aronimink took care of the rest of field as Rai (along with an early day push from Justin Thomas) seemed to be the only one able to master the course on the most important day of the tournament.
Rai’s career, which has culminated in only one PGA Tour win (2024 Wyndham Championship), now includes his first major championship at 31 years old.
Aronimink: Finally, a Challenge for The PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is usually determined by whoever can run up the score the fastest. This was most noticeable two years ago during Xander Schauffele’s 21-under-par win with quite a few contenders right on his heels. For The PGA Championship, the courses are considered the antithesis of The U.S. Open: an easy cakewalk.
Aronimink saw this and said no, this time will be different.
Aronimink’s odd pin positions were frustrating to say the least, with several golfers including Scottie Scheffler calling them out for their absurd locations. It wasn’t just the course choices that made this PGA Championship particularly difficult. The unseasonably cold weather (high 40’s / low 50’s in the morning) took several yards off the professionals’ standard yardages.
The layout of Aronimink also aggravated already strong 20+ mph gusts, essentially turning most of the course into a wind tunnel. To make matters even worse, by Sunday the greens were firm as could be and as fast as any you’ve we’ve seen outside Augusta.
Natural and man-made conditions contributed to what became an extremely tight field, vying for strokes that became more and more difficult to come by as the days went on. The back nine was particularly savage against the world’s best, ruining several elite golfers’ momentum they had built earlier.
Biggest Tournament Surprises (Good)
- Aside from our champion, Alex Smalley the 54 Hole leader was by far and away the biggest surprise from Aronimink. For three days, Smalley took on an Aronimink course that swallowed up some of the best golfers in the world. Winless throughout his seven-year career, Smalley was one of the biggest underdog stories we could have possibly asked and hoped for.
- A similar story could be said for German Matti Schmid who flirted with victory throughout Sunday, but made several costly mistakes down the stretch. Despite the disappointing finish, Schmid has certainly put himself on the radar for the remainder of the season.
- Justin Thomas not only made the cut, he shot a Sunday 65 to secure a T3 finish. Many, including myself, did not give JT a chance in this tournament despite him being a prior two-time champion.
- LIV Golf, the league seemingly on life support had a number of their golfers finish in the Top 25 including: league leader Jon Rahm, a shockingly resurgent Cam Smith, 7-time winner Joaquin Niemann, and youngster David Puig who had his best finish ever in a major championship.
Biggest Tournament Surprises (Bad)
- Jordan Spieth’s lack of aggressiveness once again cost himself another chance at the elusive grand slam. Playing far too conservatively on the final round and seemingly just happy with making the cut, Spieth will go winless for at least one more weekend and will need to wait another entire year for his next shot.
- Scottie Scheffler’s title defense ended with a whimper. Scheffler’s putter once again got the better of him as the world’s number one golfer was unable to convert on a number of semi-decent chances. With so many climbing the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon, it never felt like Scottie had a real chance to win – a highly unusual feeling for himself and for fans alike to witness.
- Plenty of big names were not prepared for Aronimink and were sent home on Friday night to wonder how they finished so poorly when plenty of underdogs and lesser-known golfers figured out the course and made the cut. Favorites like Tommy Fleetwood, JJ Spaun, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, and Akshay Bhatia all failed to make it to the weekend, but there was no bigger disappointment than Bryson DeChambeau. Bryson suffered two huge blow-ups on Thursday and Friday (before a three-straight birdie end to Friday) and took himself out of the contest early. Once considered a favorite to win the 2026 Masters and 2026 PGA Championship, but failing to make the cut at each, DeChambeau is in desperate need of a fix for the remainder of majors season.
Conclusion
For everyone who attended or watched this tournament, The 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink will not easily be forgotten. This is exactly what we want out a major championship that had been somewhat criticized for being too boring, predictable, or easy in the past.
Now that Aaron Rai is a winner, he will gain his fans, his fame, and his place in golf. Every patron that follows the sport will remember Rai’s masterful performance of a course that took almost everything from everyone else, except him.
This PGA Championship will be incredibly difficult to outdo, not only for next year’s PGA Championship, but our remaining U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and The Open at Royal Birkdale as well!
Next Up on Tap
Here’s what’s next in the world of golf before the U.S. Open exactly one month from now.
- PGAT – The CJ Cup Byron Nelson (May 21 – 24) – Featuring two Texans in Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth who headline an all-star field for the PGA Tour’s first venture into The Lone Star State. Aaron Rai had previously committed to join the field.
- DP World Tour – The Soudal Open (May 21 – 24) – The Belgian tournament’s reigning champion is one of the PGA Tour’s newest winners in Kristoffer Reitan.
- LIV Golf – LIV Korea (May 28 – 31) – For now, all systems are go for the second iteration of LIV Korea which was won by Bryson DeChambeau in 2025.
