The Winning Formula at Aronimink? A ‘Nonexistent’ Strategy Off the Tee, but Putt Well

This week, Aronimink Golf Club is hosting its first PGA Championship since 1962, when Gary Player won. 

A lot has changed since then.  

The last time Aronimink contested a professional tournament was the 2018 BMW Championship, when Keegan Bradley won. 

A lot has changed since then, too. 

“When we played here last time, it was so wet,” Bradley said Monday. “It’s not going to play like that. … Added a few tees. They made a lot of the finishing holes a lot harder. [The 18th] was already difficult and they added 30, 40 yards there; same with 17 and 15. Seems like they have made a lot of the harder holes even harder.”

Surprisingly, Aronimink was the 49th easiest course on Tour that year out of 51, with a scoring average of 2.12 strokes under par. Played in September, Bradley won at 20 under par. But as he said, the conditions aren’t expected to be as soft this week. 

The Donald Ross-designed par-70 will stretch 7,394 yards for the year’s second major championship. And it’s littered with 180 bunkers. 

So what’s the game plan to win this week? Rory McIlroy had an interesting answer. 

“In this day and age, I’m not sure if it’s going to test all aspects of your bag,” the six-time major champion said. “There’s going to be a lot of—again, as I said, strategy off the tee is pretty nonexistent. 

“It’s basically, bash driver down there and then figure it out from there, which I think is a lot of these newer—newly renovated—I think about Oak Hill in 2023, here. When these traditional golf courses take a lot of trees out, it makes strategy not as much of a concern off the tee.”

A number of trees were removed from the property since the last time the Tour was here, and Rahm, too, has mixed feelings on that. But he notes the game has changed. 

“I see a lot of golf courses coming in saying, look, 100 years ago, this golf course was like this, there was no trees,” the Spaniard said. “I’m like, well, in the back of my mind, they planted those trees with the future vision of having those trees in play, and now you’re taking them all out.

“I don’t know which one is more valid than the next. I do believe a lot of it has to do with course conditions. Some of these big oak trees out here in the wintertime when the leaves are falling and might get a little bit more rain or snow, taking some out can help with, I would say, a wind flow and overall conditions of the course. 

“I think the course setup that was expected in the ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, compared to what we have right now with how tight the grass is and how meticulous everything is, probably has something to do with it, as well. I think golf has evolved, and for the overall health of the course, they might need to take those trees out.”

So what’s the formula for securing this Wanamaker Trophy? Precision on and around the big, sloped putting surfaces. 

“What makes this place difficult are the greens,” Bradley said. “So you really need to be able to control your distances, hit the ball in the fairway. Off the tee it’s not extremely challenging, but the greens get really crazy and they are really mounded and hilly and just like a lot of northeast courses are like.”

When Bradley claimed the title at Aronimink eight years ago, he led the field in strokes-gained putting. And when Nick Watney won the AT&T National there in 2011, he was also first in strokes gained-putting. 

“The greens are the main focus this week,” McIlroy said, “and I think getting yourself in the right sections of the greens, making sure you leave yourself below the hole for the most part. That’s the key this week.”

Regardless of what it takes to emerge victorious this week, players are looking forward to the test. And that’s one thing that usually always remains the same. 

“Philadelphia’s a wonderful golfing city,” McIlroy said, “a lot of great golf courses, and this is certainly one of them.”

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