‘One of the Craziest Pins That I’ve Seen’: Golf’s Goliaths Bemoan Aronimink’s Teeth

PHILADELPHIA—Philly native A.W. Tillinghast once described one of his golf courses as a “coy but flirtatious maiden with mocking eyes flashing at you from over her fan.” He was talking about Merion, across town, but that is the perfect description for Aronimink. Much of the early week chatter at this PGA Championship centered on how the golf course was too pliable. “You're playing the practice rounds and every pin's in the middle of the green, so it looks easy and feels easier than it always is,” says Chris Gotterup, also noting that was no wind early in the week. Skratch’s Dan Rapaport went so far as to tweet that the course was “lovely” but “I think it’s going to get annihilated by the best players in the world.” The fetching maiden had set her trap.

Aronimink’s fairways look wide but have so much cant and pitch that many drives land in the short grass only to skitter into the rough, which is not that deep but plays deceptively tough. “It's such a thick blade of grass that, even when the lie looks okay, it catches you so bad,” said Jon Rahm, expounding on something the cognoscenti could not feel without a club in their hands. The greens are not terrifyingly fast but there has been so much talk of their vexing “spines” you would think they were designed by a chiropractor. “There are very, very few straightforward putts here,” said Tommy Fleetwood. “Sometimes it’s quite an adventure. You can have a 25-footer that is uphill/downhill with four feet of break. Good luck!”

I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it.

During the first round, Aronimink more than held its own, despite being softened by rain; the overnight lead was a modest -3, aided by cool temperatures and a couple of edgy pin positions. The course tips the scales at only 7,237 yards but it’s a slightly deceptive number as the par-3s are so brutal that twice Stephan Jaeger had to reach for his 5-wood during the first round. “Earlier in the week there was some chatter where people thought 15- to 20-under was going to win,” scoffed Rahm after an opening 69 (1-under). “And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it.”

That somebody is Kerry Haigh, the mild-mannered setup czar for the PGA of America. He has long been celebrated for his “fair” presentations. That’s a backhanded compliment at best; when pros call a course fair they really mean “way too easy.” On Friday, Haigh chose violence. He conjured a series of diabolical pin placements atop spines and hard against swales.

Then it started blowing 20 miles per hour, flummoxing even the best player in the world. “This is the hardest set of pin locations that I've seen since I've been on TOUR, and that includes U.S. Opens,” said Scottie Scheffler. He was particularly exercised by the hole location on 14, perched on a little nob he described as the size of a microphone’s tip. “That was one of the craziest pins that I've seen,” Scheffler kvetched. He consulted a grizzled caddie in his group, Mark Fulcher, who confirmed that the only pins he had seen this tough were at previous U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills. (In 2004, the greens at Shinny were basically dead, and in 2018 Phil Mickelson’s brain short-circuited due to one extreme pin and he incurred a penalty for deliberately stopping a wayward putt from rolling off the green.)

Rory McIlroy was unbothered by the pins, noting that he has wedges into seven holes on the front nine. To test the pros with distance alone, a course would have to be 10,00 yards. What other defense does Aronimink have. “That’s modern golf,” says Padraig Harrington, the 54 year-old warrior who made the cut on Friday with a stout 69. "These pins would have gotten a referee sacked when I was playing 30 years ago. It's a different way of playing golf."

Now comes the question that will define this PGA Championship: does Kerry Haigh have the stones to keep pushing the course to the limit? The forecast for the weekend is for significantly hotter weather. “I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be,” says Scheffler. “It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations. Is that the best test? Who knows. It's a different test.”

Oh, a crispy Aronimink with semi-crazy pins would be a helluva test and devilish good fun…for everyone but the players. Here’s hoping.