PGA Championship Takeaways: What Really Happened at Aronimink?
Alright, so the PGA Championship at Aronimink. Feels like it was ages ago, right? Like, seriously, if you adjust for everyone’s attention spans these days, that thing wrapped up what feels like three and a half years back. But honestly? I’m still mulling it over. Yeah, I know, I meant to get this done way sooner. Life happens, you know? But here we are, and there are some things from that week that just stick with you. It wasn’t just about who lifted the trophy. It was the whole damn show. The good, the bad, the utterly ridiculous.
Harrington's Late Surge: More Than Just a Top-20
Let’s talk about Padraig Harrington. Dude was T31 heading into Sunday, looking at a pretty long shot at a fairy tale. But you know what? He didn’t get the win, but he got something pretty damn cool. After a bit of a meh front nine, he pulls off an eagle on 16. Then a par on 17. And to cap it off, a sweet bladed wedge on 18 for birdie. Under par, top-20 finish. Not bad for a guy who’s been around the block a few times.
Seriously, look at this:
- His T18? Best major finish in five years. Since that T4 at the 2021 PGA. Damn.
- He’s now one of only three guys over 54 to snag a top-20 at a PGA Championship. Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen are the other two. (And Snead? He was pulling off T4s and T9s in his 60s. That’s just… preposterous.)
- Over his last 54 holes, ditching that opening 74, Harrington shot 69-67-69. Five under par. Only Ludvig Aberg and Aaron Rai were better over that stretch. That’s serious golf.
Now he heads to the U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Keep dreaming, Padraig. Keep dreaming.
Cam Smith Finds His Groove (Mostly)
It was good to see Cam Smith back in the hunt at a major. Honestly, just to watch him make those big putts. Six straight missed cuts in majors before this. Then he brings in a new swing coach, Claude Harmon III, and boom – his irons are suddenly on point. That, combined with a putter that’s always been money, made for some serious golf. His driving? Still an adventure. Kinda adds to the thrill, though, doesn’t it? But he definitely found something at Aronimink. Curious to see where this carries him.
After the tournament, Smith was pumped. But he also admitted how weird it was to get this kind of success with a new coach. He said it was a tough call to make, telling his old coach, Grant Field, who he’d been with since he was nine. Twenty-three years. Yeah, that’s probably one of the hardest phone calls he’s ever had to make. Still feels a bit lingering, he admitted. But he thinks he made the right call. You can see it in his game, the way he strikes the ball, seeing different shots. Nice. Just nice.
Jon Rahm: So Close, Yet So Far (Again)
Tiger Woods used to say winning takes care of everything. Well, finishing T2 by playing damn good golf, only to get beat by a guy who drops four birdies and an eagle in the last ten holes? That takes care of… almost everything. Enter Jon Rahm. He was all smiles after his final-round 68 landed him T2. His first major top-five since 2023. Appreciated his golf. Appreciated his honesty, too, when he talked about the early-week predictions of sky-high scores.
He said something like: “Most of Monday and Tuesday I spent thinking what was wrong with me, because everybody was saying we were going to shoot 15-to 20-under here, and I didn’t see any chance in the world of that happening.” He figured nine and six under for first and second was still lower than he expected. He’d been playing well, T8 at LIV Virginia, won in Mexico, T38 at the Masters. But he knows when the pressure’s highest in majors, those weak links you’re working on? They can screw up the whole damn foundation. Glad those things he felt he could’ve done better at Augusta worked out this week. Good for him. Really.
Alex Smalley's Masters Ticket: A Sweet Consolation Prize
Alex Smalley couldn’t hold onto that two-shot lead heading into Sunday. But he walked away with a whole lot of consolation prizes. Including a golden ticket to next year’s Masters. Long after the winner was crowned, Smalley finished eagle-bogey-birdie for a T2. His playing partner, Matti Schmid, snagged T4. Neither had ever played Augusta. But a top-four finish in a major? That gets you in. And it was clearly on Smalley’s mind on that final green.
“I’m thrilled to be going to Augusta next year,” he said. “I knew that top four and ties gets you into Augusta, so I knew that was a possibility. I wasn’t really thinking about it, honestly, until I hit the green on 18 and saw where I was. Was really just trying to two-putt, just trying to lag it up. That 20-footer up the hill on 18, I was just trying to get a tap-in. Fortunate enough that it went in.”
That putt alone was worth like, a million bucks. For his career? Who knows. Maybe it’s a springboard. It’s definitely given him a ton of confidence, knowing he can compete on the PGA Tour and even in the majors. That’s massive.
The Top 15: A Ticket to the Next Big Thing
So, the top 15 finishers and ties? They all get an invite back to next year’s PGA Championship. That’s a huge deal. Think about it: the 2025 PGA had some wild-card contenders, meaning players like Davis Riley, Joe Highsmith, and Jhonny Vegas got another shot at the 2026 PGA when they might not have otherwise. This year’s top 15 was mostly the usual suspects, the high-ranked guys we expect to see anyway. But it’s a nice bit of assurance for Smalley (world No. 42) and Schmid (No. 65), and even Kurt Kitayama (No. 29) and Max Greyserman (No. 63). One major tee time locked in for 2027, even if things go sideways elsewhere. That’s peace of mind, man.
World Rankings: The Post-Major Shuffle
Here’s a fun little nugget, more of a curiosity than anything earth-shattering, but some of the biggest jumps in the world rankings after the PGA are a reminder of some of the unexpected guys who were part of the supporting cast.
- Club pro Ben Kern made the cut, finished 80th, and went from unranked to No. 1781.
- Harrington’s T18? Rocketed him from No. 894 to 502.
- Martin Kaymer finished T35, jumping from No. 1160 to 720.
- Reigning Ryder Cup hero Luke Donald made the cut, finished T70, and jumped from No. 1300 to No. 1081.
- And Cam Smith’s T7? Took him from No. 239 to 145.
It just goes to show, you never know who’s going to make a move when the pressure’s on.
The Big Three's Unrelenting Consistency
Rory McIlroy finished T7. That’s his 15th finish of eighth or better in a major since 2020. Fifteen! And then there’s Scottie Scheffler, the undisputed world No. 1, who finished T14. How consistent have these two been? It’s been over five years – since the 2021 Masters – since we finished a major without either McIlroy or Scheffler in the top 10. That’s just insane. And let’s not forget Xander Schauffele. His T7 was his 16th top-20 finish in his last 17 major starts. That’s just… preposterous consistency at the highest level.
It’s no coincidence these three have won seven of the last 10 majors. They are the guys to beat, plain and simple. You expect them to be there, battling it out, and they rarely disappoint. That’s the standard.
Aaron Rai's Defining Moments: The Shot and the Putt
I spent some time behind the drivable par-4 13th on Sunday afternoon, soaking it all in while listening to the rest of the action on the radio. They give out these headsets at some big events, and they’re a blast when things get chaotic. McIlroy and Schauffele came through, both making a mess of the hole, fighting just to make bogey 5s. Then Aaron Rai steps up. From the same front bunker where Schauffele had just sailed one past a hole location teetering in the back corner, Rai pulls off the perfect shot. Birdie 3. He seized control of the tournament right then and there. That was the moment.
But the shot I’ll really remember from that 2026 PGA? It’s Rai’s approach to the par-5 16th. A soaring, left-to-right banana ball I watched from behind the green. It didn’t just find the green; it landed in the perfect spot to chase towards a precarious back-right pin. Set him up for an eagle putt that turned into a ho-hum birdie. If he’d made par there, the door would have stayed open. But with that birdie, it really felt over. Game over.
Then, I found a comfy patch of grass near the 17th tee as Rai marched towards the green on that par-3 over water. A sketchy tee shot – his brain’s anti-left mechanism kicking in, I guess – left him with nearly 70 feet for birdie. All week, the amphitheater around the 17th green and 18th tee was the best spot on the property. I enjoyed the wide-angle view from a couple hundred yards back. I’m thinking, “What’s a three-putt going to mean here?” At impact, it looked like he absolutely crushed it. For a split second, I wondered if it would race past the hole and into the water. Nope. His judgment was better than mine. As the ball found the bottom of the cup, I saw the crowd’s reaction a split second before the sound hit me. That roar? It hit even harder when it finally arrived. What an exclamation point. Absolutely brilliant.
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