Aronimink lowdown: Three holes to decide the 2026 PGA Championship

Joe Callaghan charts three holes that could have a big impact on what happens this weekend.

A general view of the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, host to this week's US PGA Championship, golf's second major of the season. Pic: Scott Taetsch/PGA of America

Hole 11: Par 4, 425 yards 

 A Donald Ross masterpiece restored to its best by modern maestro Gil Hanse, Aronimink has a whole lot of sandy expanses cutting across its verdant green. 

The 2017 restoration brought back original bunkers by the boatload and there are now 174, a whopping 200,000 square feet of sand to tackle. 


The 11th features more than its fair share but real peril comes in the false front on its uphill green. 

The spin cycle that awaits those whose approach is mere millimetres off will make for great TV: expect a few approaches to hit that front and come rolling fully 50 yards back to where they came from.

Am I wrong for hoping this front pin on 11 at Aronimink mistreats a few this week? 😂 pic.twitter.com/NiJ4g0Y2LP

— Roger Steele (@RogerSteeleJr) May 12, 2026

Hole 17: 229 yards, par 3 

While many point to the bunker-buffeted, 171-yard No.5 as a signature Ross-designed par 3, it’s likely that the lengthy eighth (242 yards) and the second-last hole will be the ‘shorties’ to influence scoring.

The beauty and beastliness of the 17th is in its placing as the penultimate scoring opportunity of the day or championship. The green is protected by a pond that hugs in on the left and a bunker on the right offers organisers all sorts of vexing pin placements. Front left brings the water very much into play.

A safe approach to the heart of the green will leave a long couple of putts for par but nothing is given. A spine that protrudes just enough and cuts across the green’s heart could leave the best looking very mortal.

16. 17. 18.

Down the stretch with @JustinThomas34 this morning at Aronimink. pic.twitter.com/wkUzEpMU0G

— Titleist (@Titleist) May 11, 2026

Hole 18: Par 4, 490 yards 

After slogging through nearly 7000 yards already, Aronimink’s tan stone Tudor clubhouse up on the hill may be a welcoming sight. But there is still a few hundred yards to go yet. A course built on long par 4s that can grind you down has one last test.

A hole that climbs 30 feet from tee box to green has a precarious bunker complex down the right and out of bounds left so the pressure is on to not just bomb away but hit it straight. Clearing the bunkers is a tall order — a fly of 340 yards required — so expect lay-ups to the left which brings juicy rough into play.

An amphitheatre of a green will have the Wanamaker Trophy waiting Sunday and someone will make the first major walk up Aronimink’s hill since Gary Player in 1962. They’ll have earned it.