Need to Know<\/p>\n
<\/a>*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>![\"EliminaTOUR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778659450_925_image.jpg\")
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EliminaTOUR picks for PGA Championship: Choosing a champion<\/p>\n
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Written by Paul Hodowanic<\/p>\n
NEWTON SQUARE, Pa. \u2013 The second major championship of the year is here.<\/p>\n
Professional golf has returned to the Philadelphia metro area, a place not lacking for incredible golf offerings. Aronimink Golf Club, the Donald Ross jewel, is the host of this week\u2019s PGA Championship, a venue the PGA TOUR has some history with but has not been to in eight years. The week holds plenty of intrigue. As was the case at the Masters, most of the top players come in great form. It has all the ingredients for a great week.<\/p>\n
So what should you watch for? Here are five trends worth tracking as the PGA Championship gets underway.<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler\u2019s approach play<\/p>\n
Scottie Scheffler\u2019s first four months of the season could best be described as weird.<\/p>\n
He won his first start at The American Express by four strokes, the opening salvo in what figured to be a dominant year. Then things got difficult, at least by Scheffler standards. He struggled in first rounds and attempted numerous enthralling comebacks that fell short. He looked irritated and out of it at Bay Hill and TPC Sawgrass. Then things flipped again, beginning at the Masters. He finished runner-up there, the first of three straight second-place finishes leading into this week\u2019s PGA Championship.<\/p>\n
So what has helped Scheffler stabilize? The superpower that alluded him to start the year. Even when he played well in the early months, his biggest deficiency was his iron play \u2013 historically the part of his game that was his biggest asset. A quick rundown of the Strokes Gained statistics illuminates the issue. He\u2019s top 10 off-the-tee, around the green and tee-to-green. He\u2019s 14th in putting, but he\u2019s only 42nd in approach following three consecutive seasons of finishing No. 1.<\/p>\n
All along, it\u2019s been the question of when, not if that ball-striking prowess would return. The answer might be now. Here\u2019s the progression of his SG: Approach finishes per start.<\/p>\n
The American Express \u2013 47thWM Phoenix Open \u2013 19thAT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am \u2013 34thThe Genesis Invitational\u2013 36thArnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard \u2013 44thTHE PLAYERS Championship \u2013 37thMasters Tournament \u2013 thirdRBC Heritage \u2013 23rdCadillac Championship \u2013 sixth<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a mistake that Scheffler\u2019s most consistent stretch is matched with his best run of ball-striking. It should also strike fear in the PGA Championship field. Scheffler is rounding into form at the right time.<\/p>\n
*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]>![\"Scottie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778659451_961_image.jpg\")
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Scottie Scheffler news conference after winning PGA Championship<\/p>\n
Justin Rose and Aronimink<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little course history to work off of this week. Aronimink has hosted three major men\u2019s tournaments in the last 17 years, and only two players in this week\u2019s field played in all three: Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler.<\/p>\n
That said, Rose\u2019s course history is nothing to scoff at. He won in his course debut at the 2010 AT&T National, the second TOUR win of his career. He returned the next year and finished T15, but the tournament moved away from the course and didn\u2019t return until the 2018 BMW Championship as the penultimate leg of the Playoffs. Rose had a putt to win on the 72nd hole, but he lipped out and lost in a playoff to Keegan Bradley. Nevertheless, the result propelled Rose to world No. 1 for the first time. He won the FedExCup the next week.<\/p>\n
So can the lone golfer with a legitimate sample size at Aronimink contend again? Rose is often a horse for courses, playing specific golf courses very well. He\u2019s won twice at Torrey Pines and is an annual contender at Augusta National, even if he hasn\u2019t won it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a savant when it comes to how you strategically play a course,\u201d Rose\u2019s coach Mark Blackburn told PGATOUR.com<\/a>. \u201cThe golf courses he plays well at historically, they fit his eye, he knows how to play them and he\u2019s able to navigate. When it comes to major championships, one of the things is, those are those special moments that he wants to have an opportunity in. I think his focus is more, it\u2019s harder. He knows what to do in a hard golf tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n Rose\u2019s play has slightly cooled after a strong start to the year. After finishing T13 and T3 at THE PLAYERS Championship and Masters, he\u2019s gone T65-T45 over the last two weeks. Notably, that coincides with his change to McLaren Golf irons, a sign that he is still acclimating to his new equipment.<\/p>\n Maybe a trip back to Aronimink is enough to reignite Rose\u2019s best golf.<\/p>\n Jordan Spieth\u2019s Grand Slam troubles<\/p>\n This will be Jordan Spieth\u2019s 10th attempt at trying to close out the career grand slam at the PGA Championship. While Rory McIlroy grabbed much of the career grand slam talk over the last decade, Spieth\u2019s pursuit of the PGA has gone under the radar. Mostly because he\u2019s rarely been close. Spieth finished T28-T12-T3 in his first three attempts after he won the U.S. Open to grab the third leg of the slam. Since then? He has zero top-20 finishes.<\/p>\n YearFinish2025CUT2024T432023T292022T342021T302020T712019T32018T122017T28<\/p>\n Is there any reason to believe this year will be different? Spieth has had pockets of brilliant play in 2026, though he has not been able to maintain it for all four rounds. He\u2019s still searching for his first top-10 this season. His one start at Aronimink in 2018 was underwhelming, with a solo 55th-place finish.<\/p>\n \u201cI have had weeks where I’m leading in putting, weeks where I’ve leading in driving, weeks where I am leading in ball-striking, and then I just haven’t been able to kind of put them all together,\u201d Spieth said. \u201cSo I should be confident that I have at least each part of the game as a weapon. It’s just focusing on the right things, putting it together, limiting the mistakes, and then when something feels a little bit off, managing to be able to shoot a couple under par versus a couple over par.\u201d<\/p>\n Jordan Spieth on what it will take to complete career Grand Slam<\/p>\n When\u2019s the last time an unexpected name won the PGA Championship? Six of the last eight PGA Championship winners had already won a major in their career. The two outliers? Xander Schauffele in 2024, though he was the third-ranked player in the world, and Collin Morikawa, who was 12th in the world at the time.<\/p>\n That follows the general trend across the majors, which have increasingly been won by the very best golfers, but is particularly pronounced at this championship. There has not been a surprise winner like J.J. Spaun in years. Jimmy Walker in 2016 was the last true outlier.<\/p>\n So will that streak continue?<\/p>\n Many of the most in-form golfers fit the trend. Scheffler. McIlroy. Matt Fitzpatrick. All have won majors previously. The notable exception is Cameron Young, though his major record is about as good as it gets without an actual trophy.<\/p>\n Rory\u2019s post-Masters form<\/p>\n In the immediate aftermath of Rory McIlroy\u2019s most recent Masters victory, he declared he would not repeat the post-victory hangover that plagued the rest of his 2025 season.<\/p>\n There\u2019s only one week to go off thus far \u2013 a rather uninspiring T19 at Quail Hollow Club, a course he\u2019s known to dominate \u2013 making the PGA Championship the first true test of that statement.<\/p>\n McIlroy took months to put the 2025 Masters behind him, a victory he was happy to soak in, even if it came at the expense of the next two major championships.<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy on scouting Aronimink ahead of PGA Championship<\/p>\n He had a tenuous relationship with the media, evading them at times and being short in others. It was a confusing stretch that McIlroy later admitted was born of a lack of purpose.<\/p>\n The Masters was his mountaintop. He summitted it. Now what? McIlroy wasn\u2019t sure. That objective seems clearer now<\/a>. He wants to win more majors and push himself into the conversation as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He already is, but there are a few more big fish left to catch.<\/p>\n A win this week at Aronimink would set those goals fully in motion and a poor finish would create the same questions that followed him around last year. There\u2019s perhaps no player that has a bigger delta in what the conversation could be coming out of this week.<\/p>\n *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]> May 11, 2026<\/p>\n The First Look: Scheffler aims for PGA Championship title defense<\/a>The First Look<\/a>![\"Jordan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778550080_245_image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Rory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778659453_836_image.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12H AGO 6 Min Read Need to Know *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> EliminaTOUR picks for PGA Championship: Choosing a champion *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]>…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666247,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-666246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}