The 2026 PGA Championship may now be heading into the weekend rounds, but one of the tournamentâs biggest storylines remains the historic congestion atop the leaderboard following Thursdayâs opening round at Aronimink Golf Club.
Seven players â Scottie Scheffler, Min Woo Lee, Stephan Jaeger, Martin Kaymer, Ryo Hisatsune, Aldrich Potgieter, and Alex Smalley â all carded 3-under 67s to share the first-round lead. This created the largest opening-round tie for first place of a Major Championship in 57 years, according to DP World Tour.
While the leaderboard has since shifted entering round three, the opening-day traffic jam reinforced just how unpredictable major championships can become, even in an era dominated by elite stars like Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Rare Territory in Major Championship History
Thursday produced one of the tightest leaderboards seen in years. As said, seven players shared the lead after 18 holes, while another seven players sat just one shot back.
The last time a Major Championship had an opening-round tie that big was the 1969 PGA Championship at NCR Country Club in Ohio, when nine players shared the first-round lead at 2-under 69.
The nine co-leaders at the time were:
- Charles Coody
- Raymond Floyd
- Al Geiberger
- Bunky Henry
- Bob Lunn
- Larry Mowry
- Johnny Pott
- Tom Shaw
- Larry Ziegler
That tournament was eventually won by Raymond Floyd (-8), who captured the first of his four Major Championships, just one stroke ahead of Gary Player (-7).
The tightly packed leaderboard at Aronimink drew mixed reactions from players, some of whom believed the course conditions contributed to the lack of separation.
“I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it’s a sign of a not great setup …” McIlroy said. “It hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It’s easy to make a ton of pars, hard to make birdies, and not that it’s hard to make bogey, but it feels like bogey is the worst score you’re going to shoot on any one hole.”
Schefflerâs Presence Changes the Equation
Despite the size of the tie, Schefflerâs presence near the top immediately changed the narrative surrounding the tournament.
“Is it really a lead when you’re tied with six or seven other guys?,” Scheffler said. “… at this moment, it’s anybody’s tournament.”
The world number one became just the third defending PGA Championship winner and reigning top-ranked player to lead or co-lead after the opening round. The other two players to accomplish the feat, Tiger Woods in 2007 and Brooks Koepka in 2019, both went on to win the tournament.
Eleven of the last 12 winners were ranked either first or second in the world at some point before or after their victory, while recent champions have overwhelmingly been established major winners.
Even after the defending champ slipped slightly during Fridayâs second round, he remains firmly in contention entering the weekend at 2-under overall.
Aronimink Refusing to Let Anyone Pull Away
Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy currently share the lead at 4-under overall after 36 holes, but six players sit just one shot behind at 3-under, including Hideki Matsuyama, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Max Greyserman, and Chris Gotterup.
The congestion continues just behind them. Seven players are tied for ninth place at 2-under overall, including Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young, Harris English, Si Woo Kim, David Puig, and Ludvig à berg.
The difficult setup has also dramatically slowed scoring compared to recent PGA Championships. Two years ago, Xander Schauffele won at Valhalla at 21-under par. This week, reaching double digits under par may be enough to win the Wanamaker Trophy if Aronimink continues to play this brutally over the weekend.
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