{"id":588478,"date":"2026-05-17T05:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/588478\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T05:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T05:21:11","slug":"pga-championship-bosses-send-message-to-whining-superstars-following-criticism-from-rory-mcilroy-and-scottie-scheffler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/588478\/","title":{"rendered":"PGA Championship bosses send message to whining superstars following criticism from Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler"},"content":{"rendered":"

PGA Championship bosses are not backing down at Aronimink with the course set up to be tough once more on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The PGA of America have confirmed the hole locations for Round 3 in the second major of the year and there are some tricky pins again.<\/p>\n

\"Aronimink<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Aronimink has proven to be extra tough this weekCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

While it would appear to be slightly easier than the first two days, course chiefs have stuck to their guns with the difficult set-up<\/a> amid criticism from golf\u2019s star players.<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have been among those to voice their displeasure with some of the flag positions for the PGA Championship over the first two days.<\/p>\n

McIlroy said on Friday that Aronimink<\/a> is \u2018not a great set-up\u2019 while Scheffler called it \u2018kind of absurd\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it would appear things aren\u2019t going to get much easier for the best in the game.<\/p>\n

READ MORE ON GOLF<\/p>\n

The first five holes for Saturday\u2019s third round all have holes cut less than seven yards from runoff slopes while holes 8, 12 and 17 have pretty diabolical locations.<\/p>\n

The par 3s are all cut at the front meaning landing the ball close will be tough and risk spinning it off the front of the green.<\/p>\n

The final hole is also cut next to a massive slope on the 18th green meaning it could be another day of attrition at Aronimink.<\/p>\n

The weather is also set to be hot and sunny over the weekend which will only make the greens even harder to play on.<\/p>\n

Amid the tough conditions, Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy top the leaderboard, sitting at four-under-par.<\/p>\n

But a staggering 58 players are within six shots of the lead meaning the tournament is wide open for moving day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"McNealy<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

McNealy leads after two daysCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

While many fans and pundits have applauded the unexpectedly tough nature of Aronimink this week<\/a>, the players have been less pleased.<\/p>\n

After his second round, Scheffler said: “Most of the pins today were kind of absurd.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a bit surprised how far they pushed a lot of these pin locations.<\/p>\n

“It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy added: “I think a bunched leaderboard like this, it’s a sign of not a great set-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think when it’s as bunched as it is, it hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans, on the other hand, have enjoyed seeing the world\u2019s best struggle.<\/p>\n

Following the PGA Championship\u2019s confirmation of Saturday\u2019s hole locations, one fan said: \u201cPlease induce more whining from the best players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

McIlroy and several other golf stars have not enjoyed Aronimink so farCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Aronimink Golf Club hole-by-hole<\/p>\n

Hole 1 – Apache: Par 4, 434 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 2 – Pueblo: Par 4, 413 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 3 – Navajo: Par 4, 455 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 4 – Seminole: Par 4, 457 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 5 – Mohawk: Par 3, 171 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 6 – Comanche: Par 4, 402 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 7 – Shawnee: Par 4, 431 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 8 – Sitting Bull: Par 3, 242 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 9 – Kickapoo: Par 5, 605 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 10 – Cherokee: Par 4, 472 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 11 – Kiowea: Par 4, 425 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 12 – Saginaw: Par 4, 466 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 13 – Blackfoot: Par 4, 385 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 14 – Iroquois: Par 3, 216 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 15 – Lenape: Par 4, 546 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 16 – Sioux: Par 5, 555 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 17 – Seneca: Par 3, 229 yards<\/p>\n

Hole 18 – Aronimink: Par 4, 490 yards<\/p>\n

Another said: \u201cThey heard all this \u2018players are gonna eat this course alive\u2019 bulls*** and said hold my beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third added: \u201cRespect. Heard a bunch of players whining, and the response was a classic: \u2018I\u2019ll give you a reason to cry.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

And this fan concluded: \u201cPGA is not going to make it easy \u2026 going to have to bring your A Game to win this one!\u201d<\/p>\n

The leading duo of Smalley and McNealy will begin their third rounds at 7:40pm UK time.<\/p>\n

Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n

Scheffler has been paired with David Puig and will tee off at 6:40pm while McIlroy is with Brooks Koepka at 4pm.<\/p>\n

talkSPORT will have live updates from Aronimink throughout the evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PGA Championship bosses are not backing down at Aronimink with the course set up to be tough once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,7569,198433,201222,200788,201221,200789,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-588478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-pga-championship","tag-pga-championship-2026","tag-pga-championship-2026-course","tag-pga-championship-2026-leaderboard","tag-pga-championship-2026-set-up","tag-pga-championship-2026-tee-times","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}