MUMBAI: Golf’s endless chase for perfection is heading back to a course where history still lingers in the rough. After a 64-year absence, the PGA Championship is returning to Pennsylvania’s storied Aronimink Golf Club, setting the stage for the 108th edition of the only men’s major reserved exclusively for professional golfers. The championship, running from May 14 to May 17, brings together a 156-player field led by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who arrives as defending champion and arguably the man to beat once again.
For Aronimink, though, this is more than just another major. The course last hosted the PGA Championship in 1962, when South African great Gary Player battled through the trees on the 18th hole to secure a one-stroke victory and lift the Wanamaker Trophy for the first time, the third major title in what would become a nine-major career.
Now, more than six decades later, Aronimink is stepping back into the global spotlight with a restored layout that promises to test every corner of a golfer’s game.
Scheffler enters the week carrying formidable form. The American, already a four-time major winner, dominated the 2025 PGA Championship by five strokes before adding another major title at The Open later in the season. His runner-up finish at last month’s Masters suggested little has changed heading into 2026.
“When I show up at the major championships, I want to be as prepared as possible,” Scheffler said ahead of the tournament. “I try to control what I can control, then remind myself I’ve done all I can and it’s time to compete and have fun.”
The course itself may prove the week’s biggest storyline.
A decade ago, renowned landscape architect Gil Hanse led Aronimink’s restoration using historic photographs and original plans to revive the course’s classic 1928 character complete with elevated greens, punishing rough and rolling fairways designed to reward precision over brute force.
Hanse believes the venue will demand “a complete golfer”.
“You won’t just be able to hit the putting surface,” he said. “You’ll have to hit an exact area of the green to score well.”
That challenge could reshape the leaderboard quickly.
Alongside Scheffler, Rolex Testimonee Matt Fitzpatrick arrives in strong form after back-to-back PGA TOUR wins last month, while Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland continue their pursuit of a maiden major title.
Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, enters with history within reach.
The American needs only the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by just six men in history, including Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Another victory would place Spieth among golf’s rarest company.
The tournament also underscores Rolex’s deep-rooted association with golf, a partnership dating back to 1967 through its relationship with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, the legendary “Big Three” who helped transform golf into a global spectacle.
This year, the Swiss watchmaker returns as official timekeeper and official partner of the PGA Championship, continuing a relationship with the PGA of America that resumed in 2021.
For Player, now honoured with both an honorary membership and a dedicated lounge at Aronimink, the course remains deeply personal.
“Aronimink is a club rich in history, character and class,” he said. “To have a room named in my honour there is something I will cherish forever.”
As the modern generation prepares to tackle one of America’s classic layouts once again, Aronimink’s return feels fitting. In golf, the swings may evolve, the technology may change and the prize money may soar but the sport’s oldest truth remains untouched, majors are still won by the player who misses best, survives longest and keeps chasing perfection one shot at a time.
