Why the Scot who designed Aronimink described PGA Championship course as his 'masterpiece'
Aronimink set for week in spotlight as McIlroy & Co battle for Wanamaker Trophy
Dornoch man Donald Ross called it his “masterpiece” and even surprised himself by the job he did. “Not until today did I realise I built better than I knew,” he famously said after paying a visit later in his life. Yet Aronimink will be relatively unknown to the majority of golf fans when it stages the 108th PGA Championship this week.
Not since 1962, when Gary Player got his hands on the gigantic Wanamaker Trophy, has this particular event been staged at the Philadelphia venue. That, of course, makes the wait of both Muirfield and Turnberry to stage The Open again seem short in comparison.
Aronimink created history in 2020 when it became the first venue to stage the PGA Championship, Senior PGA Championship and Women’s PGA Championship while it has also hosted three PGA Tour events, the most recent being the BMW Championship in 2018, won by Keegan Bradley.
But, as it prepares to stage a tournament that will mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding in 1776 in Philadelphia, it will be unusual for one of the game’s marquee events to be played on what, for the vast majority of TV viewers anyway, will be virgin ground.
“I like the style of golf,” declared Rory McIlroy, a two-time PGA champion, in delivering his verdict. “I like the bunkering. There's a lot of bunkers (more than 170). I think it provides quite a nice bit of variety with shorter par 4s, a couple of longer par 4s. The par 3s, there's three pretty long ones and a shorter one.”
‘It’s a bash driver down fairway course’
Ross designed Aronomink to be a “supreme test”. It plays to a par of 70 and, from the championship tees being used this week, it can stretch to 7,394 yards. Like so many of the classic old courses, though, it is likely to be overpowered by the world’s top players.
“I think in this day and age I'm not sure if it's going to test all aspects of your bag,” added McIlroy, who, after a successful Masters defence last month, is now aiming to move on to the seven major mark this weekend. “It's, basically, bash driver down there and then figure it out from there.”
Which, by all accounts, will be where this tournament could be very interesting indeed because the greens have been the big talking point in the build up to the second men’s major of the season, which also includes an exciting US Open visit to Shinnecock Hills next month then an eagerly-anticipated return of The Open to Royal Birkdale in July.
“Greens are diabolical,” said Xander Schauffele, the winner at Valhalla two years ago, in providing his assessment of the level of test on the putting surfaces. “The greens are definitely the thing to prepare for for this tournament. I think it will be fun to watch.”
No-one, of course, has been more fun to watch when it comes to majors in recent years than Scottie Scheffler. The world No 1 is the defending champion this week after storming to a five-shot success at Quail Hollow 12 months ago before also turning The Open into a procession at Royal Portrush.
“Golf course is good,” said Scheffler, the man to beat yet again, of this week’s venue. “If they can stay firm like this, I think it's going to be a pretty awesome test as there's certain spots on this golf course where I think it can get really challenging if it's firm and fast.”
When Bradley, another past PGA champion, landed his PGA Tour win eight years ago, the course had been softened by rain. “It’s not going to play like that,” he said of this assignment. “They have made a lot of the finishing holes a lot harder. 18 was already difficult and they added 30-40 yards there; same with 15 and 17. Seems like they have made a lot of the harder holes even harder, but it's just an amazing venue for a PGA Championship.”
Justin Rose is another past Aronimink winner, having landed the AT&T National in 2010. Responding to McIlroy’s remark about it now being just a “bash” from the tee, he admitted: “Yeah, that's a shame to hear that because that's not what a Donald Ross course is designed to be or historically has been.”
Aronimink rough described as ‘gnarly’
The evergreen Englishman was happy to point out, though, that the rough is long enough to demand “respect” from everyone in the 156-strong field, with Schauffele sharing that view as he described it as “gnarly”.
In addition to the usual suspects, notably Scheffler and McIlroy, in-form Matthew Fitzpatrick could be a strong contender over the next four days. The Englishman already has a US Open title under his belt, of course, and comes into this event on the back of three wins in his last four starts. “Yeah, definitely,” he declared of this being the best golf he’s ever played.
For Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, it’s attempt No 9 to complete a career grand slam and the Texan is feeling quietly confident about his latest chance to join that exclusive club. “I feel like I've been driving the ball really well and I feel like that puts me in a position to contend here versus maybe when I hadn't been in other PGAs,” he reported earlier this week. “My game has been getting better and better. It's plenty good to have a chance to win. It's about working my way into contention.”
At a venue where Longniddry man Andrew Whitelaw is the general manager, Bob MacIntyre is flying the Saltire on his own, having paid a visit to Aronimink just before the Ryder Cup last September to help him get prepared for a seventh start in this event. “It's going to be long and tough,” predicted the Oban man of what he’d learned from that visit.
Hot on the heels of a new statue of him being unveiled at Royal Dornoch, it now seems fitting that the world is about to clap eyes on this Donald Ross “masterpiece”.
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