NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Standing atop the hill that looks down on Aronimink Golf Club below, there are flags as far as the eye can see. Flags by the clubhouse. Flags on top of grandstands. Flags on the green.
For the first two days of the PGA Championship, the wind whipped them all with a fervor that turned devilish pin placements into diabolical ones, simple holes into byzantine ones, treacherous greens into nearly impossible ones, and forced the best players in the world to dig deep into their bag in order to find a combination of skill, artistry and patience that this major championship has failed to demand in recent years.
The setup by the PGA of America this week has sparked an onslaught of opinions — from players, pundits and fans — about whether this tournament was offering a proper test. Some argued that it is not allowing the best players to separate from the field. Others relished the challenge in part because it was keeping them within an arm’s reach of contention.
Yet no matter where you fall on the spectrum, there is no mistaking that what Aronimink and its Philadelphia wind have wrought, through three rounds, is one of the tightest leaderboards in history — 21 players are within four shots of the lead, eight of them major champions. The stage this tournament has set for Sunday is one that figures to be epic and, as Xander Schauffele put it, “an absolute free-for-all.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ludvig Åberg, just two shots back, said.
“It’s quite literally anybody’s tournament,” Scottie Scheffler said. He’s lingering at 1 under, five shots back.
On Saturday, the PGA of America eased up slightly on its tough setup and, with the wind not showing its full face in the morning (while also blowing in a different direction), the hard-earned pars that were prevalent the first two days turned into birdie opportunities. It allowed players who were well behind the lead to rise — five players shot 5-under 65, all of them teeing off before 12:30 p.m.
“There’s a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen during the course of a golf tournament. I’ve progressively just got a little bit closer to the lead each day,” Rory McIlroy said. “I feel like I’ve still got a good chance.”
McIlroy had also started his round before noon, playing in benign conditions until the very last stretch. As he fist-pumped following a par save on the 18th hole, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He had shot a 4-under 66 and grabbed the clubhouse lead at 3 under, just as the flags had started to whip again. Schauffele, who shot the same score and is also just three shots back, was right behind him.
“It’s very tricky, and I think that’s why you’re seeing the leaderboard so dense and so compact and everyone within striking distance,” Schauffele said. “But, hey, I’m just here to compete, and I’m enjoying the challenge.”
Once the wind became a main character in the proceedings again, throughout Saturday afternoon there was a certain aversion to staying atop the leaderboard. Players traded the lead back and forth, and some jumped up to grab it only to relinquish it quickly. Both Jon Rahm and Chris Gotterup touched 5 under and ran into bogeys that set them back.
“It’s an extremely difficult golf course,” Rahm, who is at 4 under and two shots back of the leader, said. “Today is probably the easiest setup of the three, but still with the wind the way it’s going and the greens right now, you have to play really good golf to give yourself a chance out there.”
The “moving day” moniker given to Saturday at a golf tournament turned out to be true, but instead of a few players moving up the board and away from the field, the movement made the leaderboard even more crowded. Separation was nowhere to be found. Sixteen players held at least a share of the lead throughout the day. Then, as the sun set on Aronimink and the flags slowed their flapping just slightly, Alex Smalley found something on the back nine.
“By the time that I teed off, the wind had picked up, and it became very difficult to hit a fairway, hit a green, or even make a 3- or 4-footer,” Smalley said. “It certainly wasn’t as easy as some of the guys had it in the morning when the wind wasn’t as strong … but the wind died down a little on the back nine.”
The third-round leader began the day 3 over through four holes. But because the lead did not balloon, he was able to fight back. Smalley birdied four of his last six holes to finish 6 under and take the first outright lead of the week by two strokes. He gave the rest of the field something it hadn’t had until now: a singular player to chase.
The leaderboard now reads like a riddle, dotted with heavyweights and journeymen, with bombers and shorter players, good putters and mediocre ones, too. The cream has risen to the top at Aronimink, but so too have the outliers.
In recent years, the PGA Championship has seemed to trend in the direction of pulling every possible lever to create a tight leaderboard filled with big names and a thrilling Sunday finish. Whether you agree with the strategy or not, in this regard, Aronimink might be the PGA of America’s masterpiece.
“It’s frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a hell of a entertaining championship,” said McIlroy, who was 105th after Thursday and is now T-7. “If I wasn’t playing this tournament, I’d love what’s going on this week, but watching and playing are two different things.”
“As hard as it is to play, the challenge can also be kind of fun if you do well,” Rahm said. “It’s going to be such a good Sunday tomorrow. In that sense, showmanship-wise, they’ve done a great job.”
History and statistics say that a player like Rahm, Schauffele or McIlroy, even Scheffler at 1 under, should be the one lifting the Wanamaker on Sunday. But due to the sheer number of players in contention over just 18 holes at this particular venue, trying to predict what might happen is a fool’s errand.
There is always a chance that a player emerges Sunday and never looks back. Perhaps it is Smalley who breaks through, or Åberg. Maybe it’s Rahm who senses how close he is to his third major and takes hold of it with authority.
Yet if Aronimink has shown us anything this week — from its wind to its greens to its leaderboard — it is that its beauty is in its chaotic unpredictability. Tomorrow should be no different.
