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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Perhaps the biggest winner of Thursday’s first round at the 2026 PGA Championship was Aronimink Golf Club. After days of debate over the course’s lack of trees and whether it would present a stiff enough test to truly challenge the world’s best, the Donald Ross classic with a Gil Hanse refresh stood its ground in impressive fashion to create a fascinating, bunched leaderboard after 18 holes of play.
Despite a quarter-inch of rain overnight that softened the greens, the course demanded exacting golf shots and punished players who failed to execute shots in all four phases of the game. Rory McIlroy, who initially said strategy off the tee was “pretty nonexistent,” had one of his worst driving rounds in recent memory, shooting a 4-over 74 while losing a half-stroke to the field off the tee as a wayward driver left him with constant problems in the thick rough.
Bryson DeChambeau, another player who threatened to bomb-and-gouge it around a relatively short major championship course, had an even worse day, posting a 6-over 76. The demands of Aronimink’s greens were more than DeChambeau could handle on Thursday, struggling with distance control on approach and finishing dead last in strokes gained around the green.
Overall, only 31 players broke par in the first round with a 67 being enough to grab a share of the lead. The headliner of the seven players tied at the top is defending champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who bucked his recent trend of slow starts to put on a masterclass in the afternoon to grab a rare first-round lead at a major.
Last year, Scheffler was tied for 20th after the first round at Quail Hollow before steadily chasing down the pack en route to a runaway win. This year, he has put himself in position to look down on the leaderboard from the jump, adding even more stress to the rest of the field trying to navigate an already challenging golf course. (Scheffler entered the PGA Championship ranked 77th on the PGA Tour in Round 1 scoring average and first across Rounds 3-4.)
What made Aronimink so fascinating on Thursday was that seemingly every hole presented an opportunity to make a birdie or a bogey. It was well-balanced with 11 holes playing over par and seven playing under par, offering a stiff challenge without ever veering into the territory of unfair.
Jon Rahm, who played solidly en route to a 1-under 69, explained what made Aronimink such a challenge, despite appearing on its surface to be relatively benign.
“If you just go by some of the numbers, some of the fairways are wide, the greens aren’t crazy firm,” Rahm said. “But a lot of those fairways are sloped in a way that they play very narrow. Like 15 today, I thought I was going to be in the fairway undoubtedly, and I was off the fairway. Same on 10, same on 4. It can easily roll off. Then the rough doesn’t look as long as many other majors, but it’s such a thick blade of grass that, even when the lie looks okay, it catches you so bad.
“So, I can see how, in appearance, it might be easier, but it’s not. You need to play really good golf to shoot lower than 3 under. And then on top of that, those pin locations today are good ones. I mean, they’re tucked. They’re not easy. There was somebody earlier in the week where there was some chatter where people thought 15- to 20-under was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it. Because if the golf course stays like this and it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.”
The greens, in particular, have been the stars. The Ross-designed greens that have severe slopes, tiers and ridges that demand players put their balls on the proper levels to have a good chance at making birdie. Great shots consistently produced birdie looks on Thursday, but the wrong misses were punished — sometimes severely — on the very same hole.
If the golf course stays like this and keeps firming up, the scoring isn’t going to be anything like that. And that’s all fans should want out of a major championship: the golfers to be tested. With the winds likely to stay strong all weekend, temperatures increasing and no more rain expected, it could get even tougher.
2026 PGA Championship leaderboard breakdown
T1. Scottie Scheffler, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Martin Kaymer, Alex Smalley (-3): Much like last year, the leaderboard after the first round features some surprising names at the top — with one notable exception. Scheffler began his title defense in style with a 67 to grab a share of the first-round lead and put the rest of the 156-man field on notice. While two of his biggest competitors struggled, Scheffler proved once again why he’s the best in the world, showing off his ball control by hitting 13 of 14 fairways off the tee. The one fairway he missed was the right one, as he got back in the fairway with a layup on the par-5 16th and fired a dart to set up his final birdie of the day to reclaim a share of the lead.
The rest of the group is largely made up of unproven players at the major level. Jaeger and Smalley were in the top five in 2025 as well and are hoping to have a bit more staying power in 2026. Hisatsune got off to a hot start to 2026 before cooling off of late but has recaptured some strong form to start his week at the PGA. Kaymer is a blast from the past, but the 41-year-old past champion turned back the clocks with a beautiful round of golf on Thursday. Potgieter was the first player to finish his round on Thursday morning and watched the rest of the field try and fail to best his 67 the rest of the day.
Lee is the other player in this group who seems most likely to be a factor over the weekend. He had it to 4 under before giving one back on the long par-3 8th but drove the ball extremely well and was able to create more opportunities than most. That was by design, as Lee felt he’d gotten too conservative recently and wanted to push himself to not be afraid of success this week.
“I’m hitting the ball really good, so why not go at some pins and make some putts?” Lee said with a smile. “It’s great to start off well. We’re all trying to do that. It’s tough, but I think it was kind of the right time to put the foot on the pedal a little bit and hit some shots that needed to be more aggressive than not.”
T8. Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry, Corey Conners, Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman and Daniel Brown (-2): There’s a general theme with the first couple pages of the leaderboard, as it is filled with great ball-strikers because of the demands of the greens at Aronimink. Schauffele came out of the gates swinging with three birdies in his first four holes but stalled a bit from there. Still, the 2024 PGA champion has put himself in great position after the opening round, and he will head out on Friday afternoon firmly in the mix.
Reed produced the only bogey-free round of the day, as he made birdies on Nos. 3 and 11 to go along with 16 pars, and his ball-striking and short game figures to make him a real threat. Conners and Theegala likewise had pretty straightforward rounds with each carding three birdies and one bogey on their way to 68s. Lowry took a much more adventurous route to the same score with three birdies, three bogeys and a chip-in eagle on No. 9. They all have to feel good about their early performance but know, with Scheffler joining the group of leaders, that the work only gets harder to try and reel in the defending champ.
T15. Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Garrick Higgo and 13 others (-1): The most intriguing group on the leaderboard might be the crew at 1 under. Spieth, Koepka, Rahm, Thomas and Morikawa all come in with different motivations but similar levels of desperation to get back in the major championship winner’s circle. Spieth is in his 10th pursuit of the career grand slam, and while he put on a phenomenal ball-striking display, he needs to get more out of his putting and short game to contend.
Koepka was steady, with just one bogey on his round, while Rahm, Thomas and Morikawa rode a bit of a rollercoaster to their 69s. All of them did what they needed to on Thursday to put one foot forward towards a return to major contention, but staring up at Scheffler, they’ll need to find another gear. Higgo earns special mention here because of the unique circumstances of his 69, as he’d be part of the tie for the lead if he hadn’t shown up to the first tee box a minute late for his tee time. Higgo was slow to leave the practice green, right above the 1st tee box, and was assessed a two-shot penalty that he managed to dig his way out of to post a score in red figures.
T33. Rickie Fowler, Michael Block, Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun and others (E): Even par was a perfectly solid score on Thursday, and some notable names find themselves in this group three off the pace after the first round. Fowler entered the week in great form and played solidly despite struggles from the others in his group. Block, the best-known PGA pro in the field, popped again on Thursday and was under par for most of his round before a late bogey shuffled him back to even. Still, he seems to enjoy the Donald Ross design, which requires exacting approach shots, and will try to make another PGA cut on Friday.
T49. Cameron Young and 17 others (+1): The hottest player in golf entering this week couldn’t get out of first gear on Thursday. Every step forward was followed by a quick step back, and the result was a somewhat frustrating 1-over 71 for Young, who is trying to break through for his first career major victory.
T105. Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and 17 others (+4): McIlroy was holding it together for most of the day, but the wheels came off at the end with four straight bogeys to finish his round — the first time he’s ever closed a round like that in his major career. After his effort, he lamented missed opportunities with the driver and learned the hard way that Aronimink presents a stiffer challenge off the tee than he anticipated coming into the week. If misery loves company, McIlroy has plenty of it as Hovland also joined him with a 74, as did several others. The optimist’s view of those outside the top 100 is that with such a bunched leaderboard, they’re just one good round on Friday away from making the cut and potentially being in contention.
T135. Bryson DeChambeau and six others (+6): DeChambeau’s round was a slow unraveling that culminated in a disastrous double bogey on the par-3 8th. His wedge play, both hitting full shots and around the greens, was dreadful, and he finished dead last in strokes gained around the green. Barring a dramatic turnaround on Friday, he’s going to continue his streak of either missing the cut or finishing in the top 10 in his last six majors — and unfortunately for him, it’ll be the former.