The PGA Championship at Aronimink this week will be a war of attrition more than anything else.
The best players in the world have certainly not had their own way at the PGA Championship, and it has been wonderful to see.
The likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Cam Young and Bryson DeChambeau have all endured their own separate struggles during the first two rounds at Aronimink.
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It’s worth remembering that many were predicting winning scores of 20-under par or better at the start of the week.
However, the PGA of America have set the golf course up magnificently well, and it seems like single-figures under par will win the championship.
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Of course, the weather has helped this week.
The wind has kicked up and the temperatures have been hovering around the mid-50s all week.
But the PGA of America’s course setup has been bang on the money.
The pin positions have been a nice mix of incredibly difficult and fairly benign.
The rough is patchy and players have been finding both horrendous lies and decent ones when they’ve missed fairways and greens.
Aronimink has played exactly how golf courses at major championships should be played.
Good shots have been rewarded and bad shots punished, just like they should be.
PGA of America have set the standards
The golf we have seen this week seems more US Open than PGA Championship.
They have been playing in Open Championship conditions as well.
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I can’t think of a time when one of golf’s governing bodies have nailed the setup as much as the PGA of America have done this week.
Augusta National got it right on day one but their fine work was completely undone after they eased up on Friday and allowed the players to tear up the golf course.
The PGA of America have not made the same mistake at Aronimink this week.
The golf course stretches out to just under 7,400 yards and it has proved to be an incredibly challenging test for the world’s best golfers.
This week proves that distance is not the only way to combat the skills of the modern-day players, and the R&A, USGA and Augusta National would do well to learn from what the PGA of America have done this week at Aronimink.
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