The PGA Championship’s week of events starts 50 days from now, bringing the world’s best golfers to Newtown Square’s Aronomink Golf Club in Delaware County.
“It’s really exciting knowing that you have 156 of the world’s best golfers in your backyard,” said tournament director Jackie Endsley. “I think it’ll be really a great opportunity for local Pennsylvanians and folks that maybe have not come to a Championship historically to really get part of the action and to take in these world-class athletes.”
For those unfamiliar with professional golf’s schedule, the PGA Championship is one of four prestigious major tournaments each year. Those four include the Open Championship, played on a course in the United Kingdom, The Masters, in Augusta, Ga., and the U.S. Open and PGA Championship which roam around the U.S. The 2030 U.S. Open will be in Merion Golf Club in Ardmore.
The tournament runs from Thursday to Sunday, with golfers playing a round of 18 holes each day. Championship week begins on Monday, May 11 with the PGA HOPE Secretary’s Cup, labelled as golf’s “major tournament” for military veterans, at nearby Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern.
Tickets for practice rounds from Monday to Wednesday and verified resale tickets for the tournament days are available on the tournament’s website.
The golf course has been closed since the beginning of November to let the course’s divots heal and have it ready for tournament play. The tournament’s General Chairman Mike Lewers said that the heavy snow this winter had very little impact on preparations which involves a pretty significant build out of hospitality suites, viewing stands, concession stands and video boards in a relatively small space.
“I’ve likened it to building a city on a 300-acre property in Newtown Square,” he said.
Estimates for the tournament’s economic impact on the region start at around $125 million, organizers said.
Aronimink last hosted the PGA Championship in 1962, when Gary Player won. The organization that runs the tournament, the PGA of America, also puts together the Senior PGA Championship and the Women’s PGA Championship. In 2020, Aronimink became the first course to host all three.
Endsley was the tournament director for the Women’s Championship, and was given the same role for this April’s tournament in January.
“Obviously, in 2020 we did not have the opportunity to have spectators on site [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. So really looking forward to welcoming over 200,000 people to Aronimink for the 2026 PGA Championship.” Endsely said.
Golf fandom is stereotypically reserved, to the point where people who have no interest in the sport probably know what the “golf clap” should sound like. In recent years though, a more boisterous type of golf fan has emerged — and sometimes been told to leave the premises. Endsley said that she looks forward to seeing passionate, but hopefully well-behaved, local fans.
“We know that Philadelphia sports fans are excited and really root for their respective home teams. I think we’re excited to see that passion come out, obviously in a respectful way,” Endsley said. “But we just look forward to them coming out and cheering on the world’s best golfers.”
As far as whether there could be a Philly golfer in the field. West Chester native Jim Furyk would make the field if he wins mid-April’s Senior PGA Championship in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
Later next month is the PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, where 312 club professionals from around the country, including some from Phille-area courses, will compete for 20 spots in the Aronimink field.
One local name you’re guaranteed to hear all week is Lewis Rodman Wanamaker, whose name is on the trophy all the pros are competing for. On Jan 17, 1916, the son of the department store founder, organized the meeting in New York that led to the creation of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America and the PGA Championship.
“I think both people who aren’t golf fans who know the Wanamaker name in Philadelphia are surprised to know that there was a tie-in with this, and especially golfers who may not have known … it’s been fun to help educate and explain that,” Aronimink’s head golf professional Jeff Kiddie said.
As for favorites, Kiddie said that the previous champions like Justin Rose and Keegan Bradley have tended to be “well-rounded golfers,” able to be precise with their iron golf clubs and creative around the course’s large greens. He highlighted three names to watch.
“It’s hard not to say [defending champion] Scottie Scheffler. He has no weaknesses, he’s a great driver of the ball and maybe the best iron player in the game right now. So it’s hard to not have him as a favorite no matter what, I mean his record shows that. Rory [McIlroy] has played well here … He’s one of the co-holders of the course record that he shot in [the 2018 BMW Championship]. So Rory’s a favorite. That’s not saying anything outlandish with either of those two players.”
Kiddie also picked out Cam Young, who won the Players Championship earlier this month.
The likes of McIlroy and Justin Thomas, both two-time winners of the tournament, were full of praise for Philly’s “spectacular” golf courses, when they came to play last year’s Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club.
“Obviously you don’t want to be too vague and kind of group all of them together, but to me it’s just a different style and a different look of golf up here … They all look so cool,” Thomas said. “I kind of think of it similar to Scotland or Ireland. There’s no bad golf courses, it seems like, you can play.”
The Philadelphia region played a big role in the “Golden Age” of American golf course architecture, but features relatively sporadically as tournament stops for the professional tours today, partially due to the size constraints of the properties the courses are on.
“To hold this championship requires a lot of space. The logistics behind it, parking, hotels, things like that. It can’t just go anywhere,” Kiddie said “So I understand that it’s hard to take it everywhere, and we feel very fortunate that it has been able to work here again, for the first time in a long time.”
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