Weekend Wrap - Rugby Scrum Edition

I'll admit to failure in finding a suitably wry pun for the winner's surname....  But the rugby scrum analogy enjoyed heavy usage all week.

I won't pull any punches with you, I have no spare time to allocate to a frivolous blog post, and yet here I am at the keyboard.  This will be produced very much on the clock, and I'll likely have time only for Geoff's thoughts and the Tour Confidential panel's  ruminations.  That covers a lot of ground, so hopefully you won't feel cheated.

As it so happens, however you feel about the 108th PGA Championship, it did serve one critical purpose.  It kept your humble blogger from watching Sunday baseball, for which it will forever have my gratitude.

We all know how Geoff responds to Golden Age architecture, but bear with me as I liberally excerpt from his lengthy lede:

Looks like we’re about to have a run on iron covers.

Ambidextrous golf glove wearing, too.

And why not?

Aaron Rai ran away from an army of elite contenders-turned-pretenders to win the PGA Championship by three over Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley. The 31-year-old Englishman is a true

individualist whose inspired success is born out of devotion to family, hard work, and craft.

You’ll hear it ad nauseam in the wake of Rai’s shocking Aronimink triumph: he may be the nicest man in golf. Or at the very least, the classiest, most modest, respectful man currently bathed in random logos who can break par on a fairly regular basis (even though as a PGA Tour individual in 2026, he was only 19-under-par before posting a nine-under-par 271 total).

Rai treats marshals like peers, fans like friends, and every playing partner as if they’re a multiple major winner. He’s a dream fellow competitor for those who enjoy the company of a respectful, elegant, but sometimes excessively meticulous practitioner. He tells the media their questions are good ones even when they aren’t. His vocabulary includes words beyond like, you know, sort of, and Chipotle**. His work ethic would be cruel to those around him if he weren’t so classy.

I know he has a sweet reason for using them, but I's still triggered by iron headcovers.....

Refill your coffee, because Shack has more to say about the young man:

Twice this week, when I was racing out of the media center at dusk to catch a shuttle, Rai was the last man grinding at Aronimink’s vast chipping practice area. He was mastering hack-outs and other random flop shots he’d need around Donald Ross’ museum-worthy greens. (Rai ended up 8-of-19 scrambling and 0-for-4 from the sand. So he’s got room to improve.)

I excerpted that 'graph individually because of those shocking stats.... You wouldn't think he could sniff the lead seeing those numbers, though the complex green sites would, I assume, affect scrambling stats across the board.

But you might have sussed out an anomaly, one we'll see noted later in the Tour Confidential panel.  The defining moment, the visual image that will forever accompany this event, was the 68-foot putt on the 17th green.  But perhaps the shot we should remember was the bunker shot on the short No. 13.  The whole world put their tee shots into that front bunker, and everyone seemed to try to chunk and run it to the back pin.  Rai was the only guy I saw carry it all the way, but that up-and-in doesn't make his sand save stat line....presumably because it was his second shot on a Par-4.

Let's let the hagiography continue:

The Englishman’s respect for the game and those who came before him might be unprecedented

in a world of entitled greatest-ever superjocks who couldn’t pick Walter Hagen out of a lineup (or feel shame in not knowing who paved the way to crazy paychecks).

I first met Rai on a freakishly cold February morning at the 2023 Genesis Invitational. A three-time winner in Europe, highlighted by a playoff win over Tommy Fleetwood in the 2020 Scottish Open, Rai was at Riviera in his second year carrying a PGA Tour card. He’d reached The Show after a T2 at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, but Rai hadn’t gotten into the pro-am that day. And because of the hideous practicing conditions, he decided to watch his hero, Tiger Woods, play Riviera’s back nine while three other amateurs slapped it around.

I, as a Grade A moron, asked Rai if he’d gotten into the event on a sponsor’s invite. Being the gentleman we saw on display at Aronimink, Rai kindly said he had his Tour card. He could have pointed out that he was in year two as a PGA Tour member. But he was raised properly.

I'm almost coming to believe that Geoff likes the young man.... As Geoff recounts, anyone picking Rai in the event wasn't doing so upon proven form:

Ranked 44th in the world heading into the week, Rai was a 150-1 longshot to win. He’s been inconsistent since winning the 2024 Wyndham Championship.

This season, Rai struggled until a fifth-place finish in last week’s Myrtle Beach event. Before that, his best 2026 finish was a T23 at the Cognizant Classic. Rai finished 48th at The Masters.

His 67-65 weekend at Aronimink looks even more staggering given his record in Grand Slam events:

• Rai has three T19’s in 12 major appearances with nine cuts made.

• The three T19’s came last year at Quail Hollow’s PGA, the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, and the 2021 Open at Royal St. George’s.

• His previous low round, a 67 at Quail last year, was matched Saturday before Sunday’s stunning back-nine 31 and 65.

Golf.  I'll let Geoff detail that closing burst:

Rai began the hot final round two back of Alex Smalley, dropped a shot at the difficult par-3 eighth, then eagled the 589-yard ninth to reach five-under-par. He took the solo lead at 4:58 p.m

. with a birdie at the dangerous 11th. Rai never lost the lead and distanced himself from clubhouse leader Justin Thomas and on-course pursuers Jon Rahm, Matti Schmid, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Nick Taylor, and Cameron Smith.

Rai’s long bunker shot at the drivable 13th turned out to be a difference maker.

“The bunker shot on 13 was on a slight upslope, which in a way helped to stay really aggressive on it,” he said. “But the upslope also made it difficult because it was such a long bunker shot. It was probably 40 yards or so.”

A birdie there at 5:25 p.m. moved Rai to seven-under-par. That put him two ahead of Thomas, Rahm, and Schmid, and three ahead of McIlroy who, moments before, bogeyed the same hole to end his hopes.

Two brilliant shots at 16th got Rai to eight-under, allowing him to play well away from the dangerous left hole location at the 17th. Facing a difficult two-putt, Rai sank the 68-footer and barely blinked, caving only for a fist clench as caddie Jason Timmis raised his arms.

I liked his muted reaction.  We knew at that juncture he would play the 18th with a four-shot lead (Rahm and Smalley got to -6 a bit later), but it's not clear whether Rai knew where he stood.  I like that he didn't emulate his hero, and kept his game face on until he was certain it was out of reach.

Shall we segue to the Tour Confidential gang?  Again, mostly rhetorical it was: 

Aaron Rai emerged from a crowded field to win the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on Sunday, claiming the first major title of his career. How did Rai, who won by three, run away from the field so easily when others couldn’t?

Zephyr Melton: When you look at the strokes-gained stats, you can see Rai made his hay in two

areas: approach play and on the greens. For the week, he ranked second in the field in SG: Approach and fifth in SG: Putting. With the way Aronimink played all week, dominating in those two categories turned out to be the recipe for success. He may not have been one of the longest players in the field (66th for the week), but when you are hitting it close and making putts, you can afford to give away a little distance. As a fellow short hitter, I respect the hell out of it.

Josh Sens: He was also *checks stats* fourth in fairways hit, which was crucial this week, what with the juicy rough and those feisty greens and not-to-mess with hole locations. Distance control was crucial. That’s hard to do when you’re playing approaches from the spinach. Rai was mostly in the short grass off the tee.

Josh Schrock: All those stats are nice but what will stick with me from a Sunday where Aaron Rai did what Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and others couldn’t, are three shots. First, the bunker shot on No. 13. I watched all day as guys went into that bunker and left the shot out of the sand short as they tried to run it up the slope. Rai flew it onto the back shelf and stopped it. Made par. Next came the 15th hole when he pulled 3 wood off the tee, knowing he’d have a long second shot in. He stuck to his game plan that hit a tight draw into that green. On the 16th hole, he worked the ball the other way to set up a two-putt birdie. He had total control of his ball and, outside of Justin Thomas, was probably the only one on Sunday.

They actually mention it in a question we'll get to below, but remind who it was that said the rough had no penalty?   That was actually quite the bad call, as the speaker himself discovered on Thursday.

We've had no shortage of silly TC panel questions over the years, but this one is quite the challenger for most bizarre premise:

Alex Smalley held the 54-hole lead, while five players were two back and 21 total started Sunday within four shots of the lead. Does this type of final-round setup make for a better major Sunday? Or would you prefer something like a couple of stars — or another option — dueling in the final pairing?

Melton: It probably makes for a more compelling Sunday for the casual fan with so many names in the mix, but it’s not necessarily the best way to determine a champion. When there is separation at the top of the leaderboard, it’s usually an indicator that great shots are being rewarded and bad ones punished. The type of setup we saw this week at Aronimink made some golf purists pull their hair out, but for the casual fan, it made for a compelling board heading into the final round. To each their own.

Sens: Early in the week, lots of comparisons were made to the U.S. Open, with the firm conditions and the big bounces and the challenges around the greens. But by Sunday we had something that felt closer to an Open Championship, with a bunch of unexpected names on the leaderboard on a setup that didn’t necessarily favor bombers. The ending was anticlimactic, but for a good part of the day, it was an entertaining change of pace. It’s not often we get that deep into a major with so many guys — a mix of big stars and lesser lights — still having a legitimate chance to win.

Schrock: It makes for a good TV product. Does it always identify the best player? No. Did it this week? I think so. Perhaps that can be the PGA’s identity going forward. A chaos-car crash major.

Zephyr, it's not only the best way to determine a champion, it's the only way.  We put the strongest field out there and low number wins.  

It appears that Zephyr Melton comes from the Patrick Cantlay school of Tour Management, in which the riffraff are not welcome.  It's not a theatrical production, you don't get to write the final scene.

Josh Sens goes down a different, more interesting track, musing as to whether the design and set-up of the curse contributed to the compressed leaderboard, but it was always an interesting mix of show ponies and lesser lights.  To wit, I see what Josh was going for in his Open Championship analogy, but this observer mostly embraced the chaos.

PGA Championship host Aronimink Golf Club received some flak early in the week — “strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent; it’s basically bash driver down there and then figure it out from there,” Rory McIlroy said pre-tournament — but the course and conditions proved to be a difficult test. Was the course unfairly judged? How would you grade Aronimink as a PGA venue?

Melton: I’ll give it a solid B. It wasn’t as good as some PGA hosts in recent history (Southern Hills, Kiawah), but it was much better than some others (Valhallah, Quail Hollow).

Sens: In the era before grade inflation, B meant good, which seems about right. It was a good venue. McIlroy might have felt like there was no strategy off the tee, but he sure cost himself some opportunities by not finding the fairway, and I’m sure he’d love to have that errant tee shot on the short par-4 13th back as well. If there was anything to harrumph about, some of the hole locations seemed borderline. That’s where I’d knock off a couple of points.

Schrock: I really liked it. I loved the greens and thought the setup for three of the four days was tough but fair. It’s not Kiawah but it’s better than most and will probably be better than next year’s in Frisco.

Or last year's at Quail Hollow.....  Gee, Fazio vs. Ross....that's a tough one.

Who won the 2026 PGA Championship without winning the PGA Championship?

Melton: Gimme Cam Smith. He’s been MIA in majors recently with six straight missed cuts coming into the week, but his performance at Aronimink showed he’s still got plenty of game. A T7 is a nice sign that he’s still got plenty of game and can compete on the biggest stages. It was fun seeing him in the mix again.

Sens: Good call on Smith. A bit farther down the leaderboard, it was fun to see 54-year-old Padriag Harrington shake off an opening 74 and put together a tidy weekend to finish inside the Top 20. That’s pretty much a win for the over-50 set.

Schrock: I agree with Zephyr. Smith was at the top of the golf world when he left for LIV in 2022. He played well in 2023 but has been in the wilderness ever since. He’s chaotic good in golfing form. Honorable mention to JT, who has been non-existent in majors since he won at Southern Hills. Golf is better when he’s in contention on the big stage.

In general, it was a pretty good week for LIV, especially coming off that Masters washout (Hatton, excepted).  I think you could include guys like Smalley and Matti Schmid in this category, guys that showed the goods for most of the week, and even had their moments on Sunday.  It has to make them dangerous the next time, yanno, if there is a next time.

Which means the biggest loser of Sunday was who or what?

Melton: I know Jon Rahm was only bested by the eventual champ, but I’ll give him the nod here. On a day when none of the biggest stars made a huge move, the Wanamaker seemed to be his for the taking. Unfortunately for him, he simply couldn’t find enough birdies and remains stuck on two major titles.

Sens: And there’s Rory, who woulda, coulda, shoulda but failed to get anything out of the par 5s all week.

Schrock: I struggle with this one. Rory clearly was battling the driver all week. Two rounds it worked. Two, it didn’t. He could’ve stolen one this week but I don’t think he leaves Aronimink kicking himself. To me, it’s Scottie. Scottie played great golf in tough conditions on Thursday and Friday and then missed all sorts of putts from inside five feet on the weekend.

Bryson?  Yanno, for being at home on Sunday....

To me, Rory gets points for getting himself back in the mix after the death march to the clubhouse on Thursday, but I keep coming back to his assessment that the rough held no penalty.  That's a pretty epic failure to understand the course they were about to play.   

I totally agree on Scottie, though we need to include not just Sunday here.  It's a conundrum because it's seemingly fixable, except for the nagging fact that he hasn't fixed it all season.  I assume we'll see him in Columbus, but all the world's eyes will be on him at Shinecock.

And, as our wrap:

An action-packed week featured a Bryson DeChambeau missed cut, Cam Smith resurgence, a rare penalty and lots of relative unknowns flying up the leaderboard and contending at a major championship. What did you learn during PGA week?

Melton: Pre-tournament narratives should not be taken as gospel. Aronimink was supposed to get torn apart. Instead, we had a U.S. Open break out. Golf can be a funny game that way.

Schrock: That there might be nothing cooler than Patrick Reed’s schedule going Masters, PGA, U.S. Open with nothing in between. And he’s probably going to contend in all three!

Sens: That guys with iron covers and plastic tees can be serious golfers, too. And that no matter what kind of form he’s in, Xander Schauffele continues to be a major-championship machine. This is his 10th top 10 in his last 14 tries, two of which were wins.

I respect Patrick Reed's golf game, but I don't want to live in a world where he's considered "cool."

I'll look forward to the evolving takes on this championship, especially Geoff's thoughts on the venue.  We're at a difficult juncture in our game, where major championship scoring can look like the AMEX.  Donald Ross green complexes are one way of holding back the surge of red numbers, but not everyone was over the moon with this week's play.   

I enjoyed the chaos, and I also feel that the guy who got handed the trophy earned it.  Other folks will feel that the wrong guy got handed the trophy, but isn't that the game we have?  At least he's a worthy wrong guy, worth as a human being, for sure.  Yanno, except for the iron headcovers....

Gotta leave you here.  Have a great week and I do hope you enjoyed the golf.