Round two of the 2026 PGA Championship delivered exactly what is expected from a major tournament. Difficult conditions and a tightly packed leaderboard led to frustration for many players by the end of round 2.
Strong winds whipped through Aronimink Golf Club on Friday, creating challenges for even the best players in the world. Among them was Scottie Scheffler. The World No. 1 did not hold back when discussing the course setup and pin placements following his second round.
Scheffler Calls Pin Placements “Absurd” at PGA Championship
According to Paul Hodowanic, while speaking about the 215-yard par-3 14th hole, Scheffler described one pin location as one of the toughest he has ever seen.
“That was one of the craziest pins I’ve seen,” Scheffler said. “They put the pin on like this microphone, like it was just like a high point. I hadn’t seen anything like it.”
It was true. The small landing area on the green left little room for error, especially with strong winds blowing throughout the day in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
“I’m sitting there, the wind’s blowing 20, 25 miles an hour right-to-left, and I got a green that goes like down right-to-left into a valley, up left-to-right, back right-to-left,” He said.
Scheffler, however, did not stop there.
“Most of the pins today were kind of absurd,” He said. “I was a bit surprised how far they pushed a lot of these pin locations.”
He went on to compare Friday’s setup at the PGA Championship to some of the most difficult courses in professional golf.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on Tour, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont,” Scheffler said. “It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.”
While Scheffler made it clear that he enjoys the difficult tests, he still questioned whether extreme pin placements are the best way to challenge players.
“I love hard tests of golf, but it’s also the hardest game in the world and we’re trying to make it harder and there’s different ways you can do that,” Scheffler said. “You can do that on a golf course like this. I mean, I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations. Is that the best test? Who knows. It’s a different test.”
Challenge at Aronimink
As the second round of the PGA Championship comes to a close, the projected cut line hovers around 4-over par, showing just how demanding the course has played over the day.
Scheffler finished the day with a 1-over 71. Starting on the back nine, he opened with a bogey on the 10th hole before adding back-to-back bogeys on 12 and 13. He later dropped another shot on the sixth hole but recovered with birdies on 17, 4, and 9.
Despite the difficult round, Scheffler remains in contention. He sits tied for seventh alongside players including Min Woo Lee, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young, David Puig, Patrick Cantlay, and Justin Thomas.
Even after criticizing the setup, Scheffler acknowledged that major championships often come down to which player adapts the best.
“I think that’s what is great about the harder tests,” Scheffler said. “A lot of times you see somebody figure it out. … Somebody always figures it out.”
This weekend at Aronimink will reveal who can do just that.
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