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Five Things We Learned: Thursday at the PGA Championship

Published

3 years ago

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“Frost Delay” is such a common experience for golfers in western New York, we even have a beer named after it. Another common experience for golfers in the Rochester-Buffalo corridor is three or four seasons in one day. With the eyes of the golf world on the beautiful Oak Hill Country Club’s East course, we decided to provide a taste of our world this weekend. On Thursday morning, you had a wee bit of Winter, followed by some summer. We expect some Spring rain on Saturday, and some cool, Fall vibes in the shoulder hours of late afternoon. Don’t worry, though. This insight does not count as one of the five things that we learned on Thursday at the PGA Championship. Consider it a bonus slice of our pizza, which is the best around. Or, call it a bit more garbage on your RaChaCha Garbage Plate (you may have to look that one up.)

Enough local flavor for now. Let’s get on with five things that we learned on Thursday at the 2023 PGA Championship.

1. Oak Hill club champion posts one-over 71

It was the best of times, it was the meh of times, for Rory McIlroy. While he may not be the official club champion at Oak Hill, the official member of the club would certainly take on all comers (admit it, wouldn’t you love to a parking space sign for Rors-Club Champ, in the parking lot?) The world’s third-ranked male golfer began his tournament on the second nine, and promptly raced to five pars, followed by three bogies in four holes. Not exactly the start he wanted. That was the meh of times.

On the first nine (Rory’s second…still with us?) the Northern Irishman turned things around. He posted three birdies against a solitary bogey, to finish the day at 71. Things might have been a lot worse, and being five off the lead is not cause for concern.

2. Top Ten is a blend of major champs and major seekers

When do ten equal nineteen? When ties come into the equation. 19 golfers sit under par, within four of the leader. If you look at some of the golfers chasing the top cat, you’ll find three major champions and a bunch of major seekers among the group at between -1 and -3. The only PGA Champion among them is Keegan Bradley (2011 at the Atlanta Athletic Club) but you have a US Open champion (Justin Rose) and a Masters champion (Scottie Scheffler.) Among the seekers are everyone’s favorite to win a major (Viktor Hovland) and a bunch of guys who could certainly join the one-and-done major club that has a penchant for shining at the PGA Championship.

Golfers like Corey Conners and Thomas Pieters are known names among the seekers, while Justin Suh, Hayden Buckley, Sepp Straka, Ryan Fox and many others qualify among the Who Dat brigade. As Shaun Micheel will attest, all it takes is one week and one great swing at the right time. For Micheel, it happened here at Oak Hill. Lightning might strike twice for one of the aforementioned seekers. Despite this swing, however, it probably won’t be Scott Stallings.

3. Three major champions tied for second

It’s no surprise to see Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau near the top of the leader board. Johnson and DeChambeau won majors on northern courses (Oakmont and Winged Foot East, respectively) while Scott owns a ten-year old green jacket. DeChambeau had six birdies in his 66, while Scott found five on the day, and Johnson had four. Excruciatingly, both Scott and Johnson met darkness on the 18th tee, and will need to awaken early on Friday morning, to finish the final hole of their first round.

4. Guys who struggled

We’re going to set the struggle bar at four-over par. Currently at that cypher are Tony Finau (through 13 holes) and Patrick Cantlay (through 12 holes.) Both golfers are Ryder Cup fixtures for the USA side, and neither has really made a run at a professional major. Looks like PGA 2023 won’t be that moment, unless they collect themselves and redeem a few stroke-saver coupons coming home.

Poland’s Adrian Meronk has had himself a run on the DP World Tour, including a recent victory. His ascent did not translate into success on day one of the PGA Championship. Meronk had eight bogies against three birdies, and will have to reverse those numbers on day two, to rejoin the chase. Also struggling at plus-five is Cameron Young, a native New Yorker (albeit from downstate.) Young had zero birdies on the card through fifteen holes. With the closing triumvirate of beastly par-four holes ahead, Young’s work was cut out. With grit, the Fordham Prep and Wake Forest alumnus found birdie at the last to post 74 and end on a high note.

Most surprising among the strugglers was world number one Jon Rahm. An opening-hole birdie (the tenth) aroused the crowd, but five bogies in six holes, followed by a bogey-double stretch, dropped the Masters champion to seven-over. Birdie at his penultimate hole salved the wounds a bit, but 76 Trombones was not the song that the great Basque hoped to hear.

5. Guy who stunned

Eric Cole made a run at this year’s Honda Classic, losing a playoff to Chris Kirk. Cole’s parents, for golf historians, are Laura Baugh (LPGA) and Bobby Cole (PGA Tour). Each won a national amateur title. Cole has fashioned a five-under card through 14 holes. He’ll begin Friday on the par-four sixth hole, a challenging par four that has hijacked a few runs at championships. Who knows what happens from here? Cole’s only bogey on Thursday came at the Hill of Fame hole, the par-five thirteenth, but he made amends on the course’s other par five hole, to finish his day. Cole’s only other, major-championship appearance came at the 2021 US Open, where he missed the cut. Suffice it to say, he’s figured a few things out since then.

(A wee tip of the cap to PGA professional Michael Block from Mission Viejo, California. After double at ten dropped him to plus-three, most guys would have packed up and headed home. Not this fellow. He notched three birdies coming home to lead the CF PGA Team at even par.)

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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News

2026 PGA Championship betting odds

Published

1 day ago

on

May 12, 2026

By

Scottie Scheffler leads the betting ahead of the second major championship of the year, with the World Number One a +345 favorite to get his hands on a second PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy who won the Masters back in April is a +800 shot to complete half of the calendar slam at Aronimink Golf Club this week, while Jordan Spieth can be backed at +5900 to become a career grand slam winner.

Here is the full betting board for the 2026 PGA Championship courtesy of DraftKings.

Scottie Scheffler +345 – (Check 0ut his WITB here)

Rory McIlroy +800 – (Check out his WITB here)

  • Jon Rahm +1300 
  • Cameron Young +1500
  • Bryson DeChambeau +1700
  • Xander Schauffele +1850
  • Matt Fitzpatrick +1950
  • Ludvig Aberg +2000
  • Tommy Fleetwood +2600
  • Collin Morikawa +3500
  • Brooks Koepka +3900
  • Justin Rose +4300
  • Russell Henley +4600
  • Si Woo Kim +4700
  • Justin Thomas +4800
  • Robert MacIntyre +5300
  • Patrick Cantlay +5300
  • Viktor Hovland +5400
  • Tyrrell Hatton +5500
  • Jordan Spieth +5900
  • Sam Burns +6000
  • Hideki Matsuyama +6200
  • Adam Scott +6400
  • Rickie Fowler +7000
  • Chris Gotterup +7400
  • Patrick Reed +7400
  • Min Woo Lee +7800
  • Ben Griffin +8000
  • Sepp Straka +8400
  • Shane Lowry +9000
  • Akshay Bhatia +9200
  • Maverick McNealy +9200
  • Joaquin Niemann +9200
  • Jake Knapp +9200
  • Jason Day +9600
  • Kurt Kitayama +10000
  • J.J. Spaun +10000
  • Harris English +10500
  • Nicolai Hojgaard +11000
  • Gary Woodland +11000
  • David Puig +11000
  • Michael Thorbjornsen +12000
  • Jacob Bridgeman +12000
  • Keegan Bradley +12500
  • Corey Conners +14000
  • Alex Fitzpatrick +15000
  • Sungjae Im +15500
  • Sahith Theegala +15500
  • Harry Hall +15500
  • Alex Noren +16000
  • Thomas Detry +16500
  • Marco Penge +16500
  • Kristoffer Reitan +17000
  • Alex Smalley +17000
  • Wyndham Clark +17500
  • Sam Stevens +17500
  • Keith Mitchell +17500
  • Daniel Berger +18500
  • Ryan Gerard +20000
  • Nick Taylor +20000
  • Rasmus Hojgaard +21000
  • Dustin Johnson +21000
  • Pierceson Coody +23000
  • Aaron Rai +24000
  • Jordan Smith +24000
  • Angel Ayora +24000
  • Bud Cauley +25000
  • Matt McCarty +26000
  • Jayden Schaper +26000
  • Brian Harman +27000
  • Taylor Pendrith +27000
  • Ryan Fox +27000
  • J.T. Poston +27000
  • Cameron Smith +29000
  • Ryo Hisatsune +29000
  • Michael Kim +29000
  • Max Homa +29000
  • Denny McCarthy +29000
  • Tom McKibbin +30000
  • Rico Hoey +32000
  • Matt Wallace +32500
  • Ricky Castillo +33000
  • Haotong Li +33000
  • Michael Brennan +34000
  • Max Greyserman +36000
  • Stephan Jaeger +37500
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout +37500
  • Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +39000
  • Aldrich Potgieter +40000
  • Andrew Novak +42000
  • Patrick Rodgers +42500
  • Daniel Hillier +42500
  • Max McGreevy +46000
  • Billy Horschel +48000
  • Chris Kirk +48000
  • Ian Holt +49000
  • Casey Jarvis +49000
  • William Mouw +50000
  • Steven Fisk +50000
  • John Parry +50000
  • Nico Echavarria +52500
  • Garrick Higgo +52500
  • John Keefer+55000
  • Matthias Schmid +57500
  • Austin Smotherman +57500
  • Sami Valimaki +60000
  • Andrew Putnam +60000
  • Lucas Glover +62500
  • Daniel Brown +62500
  • Jhonattan Vegas +75000
  • Emiliano Grillo +80000
  • Mikael Lindberg +85000
  • Adrien Saddier +100000
  • Bernd Wiesberger +100000
  • Elvis Smylie +110000
  • Stewart Cink +130000
  • Kota Kaneko +130000
  • David Lipsky +150000
  • Chandler Blanchet +150000
  • Andy Sullivan +150000
  • Joe Highsmith +180000
  • Adam Schenk +200000
  • Travis Smyth +200000
  • Davis Riley +225000
  • Martin Kaymer +400000
  • Brian Campbell +400000
  • Padraig Harrington +450000
  • Kazuki Higa +450000
  • Jordan Gumberg +450000
  • Ryan Vermeer +500000
  • Austin Hurt +500000
  • Tyler Collet +500000
  • Timothy Wiseman +500000
  • Shaun Micheel +500000
  • Y.E. Yang +500000
  • Michael Block+500000
  • Mark Geddes+500000
  • Luke Donald+500000
  • Bryce Fisher+500000
  • Jimmy Walker +500000
  • Jason Dufner +500000
  • Jesse Droemer +500000
  • Jared Jones +500000
  • Garrett Sapp +500000
  • Francisco Bide +500000
  • Zach Haynes +500000
  • Paul McClure+500000
  • Derek Berg +500000
  • Chris Gabriele +500000
  • Braden Shattuck +500000
  • Ben Polland +500000
  • Ben Kern +50000

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 PGA Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

GolfWRX is on site for the second major of 2026: The PGA Championship from Aronimink in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

The tournament’s location, just outside Philadelphia, and its status as a major championship mean GolfWRXers are in for a treat: WITBs from a strong field, custom gear celebrating the PGA Championship, and the rich culture of the City of Brotherly Love — we have noted a relative absence of cheesesteak-themed items thus far this week, but most of the rest of the usual suspects are well represented.

Check out links to all our photos below.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

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News

How much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship

Published

2 days ago

on

May 11, 2026

By

Kristoffer Reitan held his nerve at Quail Hollow on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory and the $3.6 million winner’s check that came with it. The Norwegian fended off a packed leaderboard on a dramatic final day, with Rickie Fowler and Nicolai Højgaard both taking home $1.76 million for their runner-up finishes.

With a total prize purse of $20 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Truist Championship.

1: Kristoffer Reitan, $3,600,000

T2: Rickie Fowler, $1,760,000

T2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -$1,760,000

4: Alex Fitzpatrick, $960,000

T5: Tommy Fleetwood, $730,000

T5: Sungjae Im, $730,000

T5: J.J. Spaun, $730,000

T8: Ludvig Aberg, $600,000

T8: Harry Hall, $600,000

T10: Patrick Cantlay, $500,000

T10: Matt McCarty, $500,000

T10: Cameron Young, $500,000

13: Justin Thomas, $420,000

T14: Min Woo Lee, $360,000

T14: Chris Gotterup, $360,000

T14: Nick Taylor, $360,000

T17: Alex Smalley, $310,000

T17: Gary Woodland, $310,000

T19: Austin Smotherman, $242,100

T19: Rory McIlroy, $242,100

T19: Keegan Bradley, $242,100

T19: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $242,100

T19: Kurt Kitayama, $242,100

T24: Patrick Rodgers, $156,643

T24: Pierceson Coody, $156,643

T24: Adam Scott, $156,643

T24: Andrew Novak, $156,643

T24: Harris English, $156,643

T24: J.T. Poston, $156,643

T24: David Lipsky, $156,643

T31: Brian Harman, $114,416.67

T31: Viktor Hovland, $114,416.67

T31: Alex Noren, $114,416.67

T31: Tony Finau, $114,416.67

T31: Nico Echavarria, $114,416.67

T31: Corey Conners, $114,416.67

T37: Sam Burns, $82,187.50

T37: Maverick McNealy, $82,187.50

T37: Akshay Bhatia, $82,187.50

T37: Taylor Pendrith, $82,187.50

T37: Matt Wallace, $82,187.50

T37: Andrew Putnam, $82,187.50

T37: Bud Cauley, $82,187.50

T37: Lucas Glover, $82,187.50

T45: Justin Rose, $60,000

T45: Daniel Berger, $60,000

T45: Ryo Hisatsune, $60,000

T48: Denny McCarthy, $50,000

T48: Aldrich Potgieter, $50,000

T48: Webb Simpson, $50,000

T48: Michael Kim, $50,000

T52: Mackenzie Hughes, $45,187.50

T52: Max Homa, $45,187.50

T52: Brian Campbell, $45,187.50

T52: Jhonattan Vegas, $45,187.50

T52: Matt Fitzpatrick, $45,187.50

T52: Chandler Blanchet, $45,187.50

T52: Jordan Spieth, $45,187.50

T52: Jacob Bridgeman, $45,187.50

T60: Xander Schauffele, $42,500

T60: Robert MacIntyre, $42,500

T60: Ricky Castillo, $42,500

T63: Ben Griffin, $41,250

T63: Sepp Straka, $41,250

T65: Ryan Gerard, $40,250

T65: Si Woo Kim, $40,250

67: Ryan Fox, $39,500

68: Jason Day, $39,000

69: Sahith Theegala, $38,000

70: Sam Stevens, $37,500

71: Hideki Matsuyama, $37,000

72: Tom Hoge, $36,000

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