Emotional breakthrough as Aussie downs Bryson in $5.5m statement amid LIV turmoil<\/a><\/p>\nNow for the caveat. When Bradley, the winner of the 2011 PGA Championship, won at Aronimink back in 2018, the course played anything but tough. The 39-year-old shot 20-under and still needed a playoff to edge Justin Rose.<\/p>\n
It turned out that the New Englander had a harder time handling the taunts of Philly Eagles fans chanting 41-33 to him – the score line from the 2018 Super Bowl – than any threat posed by the dampened course.<\/p>\n
Heavy rain had rendered Aronimink, which is designed by legendary architect Donald J. Ross and famed for rewarding precision over power, unfortunately toothless that year.<\/p>\n
The course record is shared by five players at 62, which is 8-under the card, but four of those scores were shared when Aronimink\u2019s acclaimed checks and balances were blunted back in 2018.<\/p>\n
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – AUGUST 4: The 11th fairway at the Aronimink Golf Club (Photo by Dave Evenson\/PGA of America via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Tiger Woods shot his best score for the year, Rory McIlroy regained some lost touch, Kevin Na said yes and Tommy Fleetwood managed what would normally be a mighty feat twice. And he was still among the also-rans.<\/p>\n
It is well known that the characteristics of a course can change significantly based on weather and timing. <\/p>\n
This major will be held far earlier than that event, which was played in September preceding that year\u2019s Ryder Cup, though admittedly during a busy storm season. But it will pay to keep a close eye on the weather this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of our tougher tests but it just wasn\u2019t playing that way this year,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just soft and as it was hot early in the week, the ball was flying (and) guys were hitting driver, wedge every hole. It wasn\u2019t much of a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Kiddie, the head professional at the course for almost two decades, said the club had a clear wish for this year\u2019s PGA Championship \u2026 but admitted they needed a little help from Mother Nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like it to play firm and fast, but that won\u2019t be up to us,\u201d Kiddie told pga.com.<\/p>\n
Fox Sport\u2019s expert analyst Paul Gow said the venue will look appealing to regular golfers tuning in from Australia but warned they should not be deceived by its beauty, saying it is more than capable of becoming a beast.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019ve got to keep in mind that this is a parklands golf course, so it\u2019s going to be picturesque, it\u2019s going to be green,\u201d told foxsports.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe golf course itself, It\u2019s got elevated greens with what I would call complicated approaches to them. There is a of a false front type of thing. And there is a bit of elevation change here. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we have only seen a bunch of events there. Justin Rose won there. Keegan Bradley won there when it was a tour event. They have played a women\u2019s event there. Gary Player won the PGA there back in 1962.<\/p>\n
Aronimink GC, Pennsylvania: Gary Player after winning the PGA Championship in 1962.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019ll be a test of golf and depending on the weather really, especially Philly at this time of the season, if it dries out \u2026 it could be really challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE THINKING GOLFERS COURSE<\/p>\n
Commissioned to build a course on farmland in Newtown Square, about 25km from the centre of Philadelphia, Ross strove to create a masterpiece at Aronimink, which is said to have been named after the chief of the Lenape tribe.<\/p>\n
The great Scot wanted Aronimink to play like a chess board. This was to be a course for the thoughtful golfer, one capable of strategising and devising a way to handle its challenges. <\/p>\n
As the tournament\u2019s website notes, \u201cwith rolling fairways, strategic bunkering and classic green complexes that demand thoughtful shot-making, it\u2019s a course that challenges every part of a player\u2019s game\u201d. <\/p>\n
When he returned to assess his work two decades on from its 1928 opening, and 14 years before Gary Player clinched the PGA Championship there in 1962, Ross was tickled pink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realise I built it better than I knew,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some of the world\u2019s best golfers including Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm and, on the second row, Chris Gotterup, Cameron Young, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth are among those chasing PGA Championship glory this week. (AP Photo\/File)Source: AP<\/p>\n
Aussie Marc Leishman, who arrived at Aronimink in 2018 as the defending champion in the BMW Championship, noted the big wet had blunted its difficulty.<\/p>\n
But he stressed its bunkers, in particular, were hard to attack from and that the greens had the potential to be devilishly hard if the ball finished in the wrong spot in regular conditions.<\/p>\n
There is a truth every golfer who plays Aronimink, be it the members of the private course of the professionals on site this week, knows. Do not leave the ball above the green.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s quite a bit of room off the tee but if you do hit it in the bunkers, they\u2019re very penalising,\u201d Leishman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think most people will be hitting a lot of fairways. But good iron play is probably the key, along with obviously holing the putts. But I think good iron play is a huge, huge advantage (in terms of) how the scoring will go. If you\u2019re in the wrong parts of the green, you have no chance.\u201d <\/p>\n
THE WEIRD AND AWKWARD TRAPS<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly for a course just a couple of years short of celebrating its 100th birthday, Aronimink has undergone a nip, tuck and freshen up to keep pace with the modern game.<\/p>\n
It is a decade since Gil Hanse took on the challenge of stiffening a course that, at 6700 metres in length and playing to a Par 70, is not overly long by current standards.<\/p>\n
He has more than doubled the number of bunkers to 174 – that\u2019s enough to make any golfer break out in sweats – in part by dicing and reshaping some of the larger traps situated around the greens.<\/p>\n
Gow, who has returned to Australia after an extended stint covering the PGA Tour beginning at the Masters, said the bunkers have the ability to frustrate the world\u2019s very best golfers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really weird. They\u2019re really small bunkers. They\u2019re annoying bunkers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201c(They have) unusual lies in the bunkers, you know, far from the lips, the back lips, the side lips and into the front side. They\u2019ve done a pretty good job taking it back to how Ross designed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Greens have been expanded to provide more locations to place the pin and challenge the putting of the professionals, while several fairways have been widened and lengthened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be somebody\u2019s creativity around the greens, the ability to get up and down, that will be the critical part. You\u2019re going to miss greens, and it\u2019s the scrambling ability that will be important,\u201d Hanse told the tour website. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs with any Donald Ross course, being able to read those greens will be key because they have such significant contours, but also an amazing series of subtle breaks within them that will be crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reading between the lines, the advice rings true. Don\u2019t leave the ball above the hole.<\/p>\n
A LONG TIME COMING<\/p>\n
Given its lofty status in several ratings, it might surprise the only major the Philadelphia course has hosted was the 1962 PGA Championship clinched by Gary Player.<\/p>\n
It was a vintage period, with Player sharing the spoils in majors that year with the other two members of the celebrated Big Three in Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.<\/p>\n
It was later that a controversy arose, one that points to the complex nature of American history. Aronimink was supposed to host the 1993 PGA Championship but withdrew from doing so amid a civil rights storm.<\/p>\n
In an essay titled \u201cThe Last Bastions of Bigotry\u201d, Time Magazine considered the furore surrounding a change in law in 1990 that thankfully brought all-white clubs into the modern age.<\/p>\n
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA – AUGUST 3: The 11th hole at the Aronimink Golf Club (Photo by Dave Evenson\/PGA of America via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
It noted that 43 years after Jackie Robinson was allowed to play Major League Baseball, the PGA was lamentably late when introducing anti-bias rules that year.<\/p>\n
At the time, 17 of the 39 courses that hosted PGA Tour events were hosted by private courses that did not allow black members. <\/p>\n
The law scarcely led to an influx initially as clubs with reputations glittering for their designs loosened their rules at the pace of \u2026 well, we all know a slow golfer and how frustrating that can be.<\/p>\n
Aronimink drafted junior members initially, but claimed that due to an extended waiting list, it would be some time until it was able to satisfy the demands introduced in 1990.<\/p>\n
As a result, it forfeited the rights to host the major and it has taken another 33 years for that right to be bestowed upon the course once again. <\/p>\n
They were not alone – fellow Pennsylvania course Merion Golf Club relinquished the rights to the US Open a year later after reaching the same conclusion. But it was a sobering period.<\/p>\n
Revered golfer Tom Watson, an honorary starter for the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club which also took its time to accept black members, blasted bigotry on the links.<\/p>\n
He resigned from the Kansas City Country Club in 1990 after it blackballed accounting mogul Henry Block who, like his wife and children, was Jewish.<\/p>\n
In a New York Times column he decried the \u201chypocrisy\u201d of admitting a single black to \u201cintegrate\u201d and urged, \u201cLet\u2019s discriminate right now, each one of us, privately, between what is right and what is wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE CHAMPION MAKERS<\/p>\n
Gow has identified the most challenging hole that will sort the championship contenders from the chaff and suspects it could well prove extremely difficult if the weather is dry.<\/p>\n
A feature of Aronimink is its par threes and the 17th, a 210m par three that heads downhill and is designed for drama, is certain to provide some thrills and spills.<\/p>\n
The tournament website provides this description; \u201cAny ball heading to the left will likely find the pond that runs down the entire left side of the green. The safe shot is to the middle of the large putting surface, but that will almost certainly leave a difficult two-putt. The front right hole location just beyond the bunker will also create a lot of challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
That, according to Gow, is an accurate assessment of its difficulty, saying it \u201cwill be a true test\u201d, while he is also a big fan of the opening hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first is an interesting hole. It is straight up hill and is 400-odd metres, so there are a couple of really good holes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 11th, which is another par 4, it\u2019s another really solid uphill test. There are a lot of holes where you just can\u2019t see the bottom of the pin, and that adds a challenge to the distance control there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bradley, when discussing some of the changes to the course this week on The Smylie Show vodcast, acknowledged the course will be almost new for him if it is dry, despite his success back in 2018.<\/p>\n
And he identified the 18th, which has been lengthened about 35 metres, as a particularly difficult finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis hole is brutal,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
I could not believe they have lengthened it, because I hit a 4-iron in on the Sunday at the BMW (when successful) and they have lengthened it 40 yards. It is a classic north-east (finale), coming into this huge clubhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leishman, when assessing the par threes on the 5th, 8th, 14th and 17th prior to the 2018 BMW Championship, recommended a cautious approach to attacking the quartet, with three of the four longer than 200m. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think you have got to be pretty conservative on eight and 17. You have just got to hit good shot,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe fifth is the short one? That\u2019s a good hole, you know, (but on) any of them, you can\u2019t really short-side yourself on. Anything in the middle of the green is a pretty good shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you hit good shots, you can make birdies but (it is) the same as the second shots into the greens on the par-4s. You have to be hitting your irons good and hitting your spots. If you don\u2019t, it\u2019s going to be tough. It\u2019s going to be very tough.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to long-range weather forecasts, throwing forward nine years might seem a stretch, but America\u2019s Ryder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[321140,321137,2095,321160,49720,12739,64,59820,63,321163,321134,296471,321139,14403,34871,223858,103129,321150,321151,321132,321141,226834,3567,321157,320921,201582,321156,2057,42141,14604,755,9262,321142,321147,321158,321161,24415,321133,321145,321168,6920,321165,15813,246276,321162,321159,5882,2270,173456,2041,2067,3583,321154,265601,12274,321153,5136,321135,216703,64924,321166,321138,756,321144,159022,321131,321148,85,321167,321130,321155,9244,117309,37088,42347,321164,321136,321129,321149,3586,2614,321146,172661,321152,321143],"class_list":["post-664905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-accurate-assessment","tag-advice-rings","tag-america","tag-annoying-bunkers","tag-arnold-palmer","tag-aronimink-golf-club","tag-au","tag-augusta-national-golf-club","tag-australia","tag-ball-heading","tag-black-members","tag-borough-of-reading","tag-busy-storm-season","tag-cautious-approach","tag-championship-contenders","tag-checks-and-balances","tag-chess-board","tag-classic-courses","tag-classic-green-complexes","tag-controversy-bites","tag-course-plays","tag-course-record","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-demand-thoughtful-shot-making","tag-donald-ross","tag-east-coast","tag-elevation-change","tag-europe","tag-expert-analyst","tag-gary-player","tag-golf","tag-golf-course","tag-golf-journals","tag-head-professional","tag-honorary-starter","tag-iron-play","tag-jack-nicklaus","tag-jackie-robinson","tag-jeff-kiddie","tag-junior-members","tag-justin-rose","tag-kansas-city-country-club","tag-keegan-bradley","tag-kevin-na","tag-long-range-weather-forecasts","tag-long-running-comedy-classic","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-nature","tag-new-york-times-company","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-parklands-golf-course","tag-paul-gow","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-course-merion-golf-club","tag-philadelphia","tag-private-courses","tag-professional-golfer","tag-putting-surface","tag-regular-golfers","tag-right-hole-location","tag-rory-mcilroy","tag-safe-shot","tag-score-line","tag-scrambling-ability","tag-side-lips","tag-sports","tag-strange-assessment","tag-thinking-golfers-course","tag-thoughtful-golfer","tag-tiger-woods","tag-time-magazine","tag-tom-watson","tag-tommy-fleetwood","tag-toughest-courses","tag-tour-event","tag-tour-website","tag-tournament-website","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-vintage-period","tag-waiting-list","tag-weather-holds","tag-website-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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