Aronimink's 174 Bunkers Are About to Wreck the Best Golfers on the Planet

It's PGA Championship week, and we're headed to Aronimink Golf Club just outside Philly. If you thought last year's event at Quail Hollow was a coronation, think again. This week is built to punish.

Let's rewind to what went down in 2025 for a second. Scottie Scheffler rolled in with a 3-stroke lead heading into Sunday and, on paper, it looked like a coronation. But golf doesn't work that way. Scottie started rough, bogeying the first hole and playing the front nine at 2 over. Meanwhile, Jon Rahm was right there, catching him briefly at 9 under after back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11. For a moment, we had a real tournament on our hands.

Then Scottie did what Scottie does. He birdied 10 to take the outright lead and never looked back. Rahm? He completely fell apart, going bogey-double-double at the stretch and tumbling all the way back to a tie for 10th. Scottie finished with birdies on 14 and 15 to lock in a 5-stroke victory over Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English, and Davis Riley. Clean, clinical, dominant. Scheffler's first PGA Championship, and honestly, probably the first of several.

The Course Will Test Everything

Aronimink is a classic Donald Ross design playing as a par 70 at 7,394 yards. Built in 1928, the course has been through renovations before, but the 2016-17 restoration by Gil Hanse (right before the 2018 BMW Championship) completely changed the vibe. The headline: 174 bunkers. They're everywhere, and many of them line or even cross fairways to force real decisions off the tee.

The rough is thick, the greens are tiered, and the fairways are tight. If you can't hit them, you're in trouble. The greens might not be as firm as August would bring, but the setup here is all about precision and control. These guys need to hit fairways, control their approaches, and position themselves on the correct parts of the greens.

The Par 3 17th Is a Signature Shot

At 229 yards, the 17th is the best hole on the course. A long par 3 down the stretch means Sunday drama is almost guaranteed. The green is massive with multiple pin positions in play. Expect to see back left putting the water in play, front right tucked beyond a bunker for maximum tension, and middle-right on the backside of that knob. One bad swing here changes everything.

The Setup

It's stroke play, 72 holes, 156 golfers. The PGA Championship still uses the traditional Top 70 and ties cut, unlike the PGA Tour's 65-man format. If it goes to a playoff, that's three holes of aggregate scoring: 10, 17, and 18, with 18 repeating if needed.

This field includes world-class players who've earned their way in on current form, past PGA Championship winners, and 20 PGA professionals (mostly club pros). Usually only a couple of those guys make the cut, so the real field is closer to 125 golfers.

Expect ESPN and CBS to have this one covered all week. Aronimink is ready to show why it deserves major championship respect.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.