Scheffler remains in hunt at halfway despite absurd' pin positions at US PGA

"Golf should be a pleasure, wrote Donald Ross, the man who designed Aronimink, not a penance. And a fine sentiment it is, too, even if it wasn't immediately clear that any of the many men competing here for the PGA Championship were having very much fun doing it. Shane Lowry didn't seem to be when he shanked the ball into the water at 17, nor did Scottie Scheffler when he threatened to slam down his wedge after hitting one thick on the 6th, and Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley didn't look too enthused when they were busy ranting at the rules officials who put them on the clock for slow play."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. It's been over 60 years since they held a major here, and there was a lot of talk that the modern-day players were going to take the place to pieces. The bookmakers reckoned the winning score would be 14 under par, and there were suggestions that someone might even take a run at the major record set by Xander Schauffele when the tournament was held at Valhalla in 2022. Halfway through the tournament, a score of two under was enough to put a man in contention, and anyone who has made it all the way to three under counts as a red-hot favourite heading into the weekend."

"Some said it was all down to the stiff wind, others said it was the sharp temperature. The one thing everybody blamed were the pin positions picked by the tournament committee. Most of the pins today were kind of absurd, Scheffler said after his round of 71, which included three bogeys in his first four holes. This is the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on tour, and that includes US Opens. Aronimink's greens are vast, fast and rippled, and t"

Golf at Aronimink was framed as a pleasure, but many players showed visible frustration during the PGA Championship. Shane Lowry shanked into water, Scottie Scheffler reacted after a thick shot, and Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley argued with rules officials over slow play. The tournament’s entertainment shifted toward purists admiring lag putting and spectators enjoying elite golfers facing familiar problems. Expectations of low scoring did not materialize, with two under placing players in contention and three under marking a red-hot position. Conditions were blamed on stiff wind, sharp temperature, and especially pin positions. Scheffler cited absurd pin locations and described the setup as the hardest he had seen since joining the tour, including US Opens.

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