Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler called PGA Championship pin placements the hardest he has seen on tour, describing those in Friday’s second round at Aronimink as “kind of absurd.”
The difficult hole positions on a course known for its sloping greens, together with gusting winds, played havoc with the world’s top players over the first two days, no one able to pull away from the pack.
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“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on tour, and that includes US Opens, that includes Oakmont,” Scheffler said, citing an event and course known for difficult set-ups.
Scheffler asked Mark Fulcher, the veteran caddie for playing partner Justin Rose of England, “Have you seen anything like this before?”
Scottie Scheffler of the United States looks on from the eighth tee during the second round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.Source: Getty Images
“They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this,” Scheffler said, citing the US Open host course where he will try to complete a career Grand Slam next month.
“It’s different in a sense on this golf course because Oakmont, their greens are extremely severe, but they’re extremely severe in one direction.
“Here, it’s like the green may slope all this way and then we put the pin down here and then there’s also a slope this way.
“It’s not as natural to the slopes that are there. There’s a bit more that’s manufactured into the greens, and it’s just very difficult.
“It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.”
Scheffler fired a one-over-par 71 on Friday to stand on two-under 138 for 36 holes after facing shocking hole placements.
“Most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd,” Scheffler said. “They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be.
“The one on 14 was probably the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time just because there’s literally just like a spine and they’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll just put the pin right on top of it,’ and you’re like, ‘All right, well, I’ll see what I can do.’ Just challenging.” The hole placements force hard choices on players, the world number one and four-time major winner said.
“When the pins get this hard, you really have to choose your moments when you’re going to try and maybe get after a pin or try and play a little bit smarter,” he said. “A lot of it is just managing your way around.”
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Scheffler, however, would not call the pin placements unfair. “I wouldn’t say there’s anything unfair out there,” he said. “Not unfair. I think the only time in our game where it’s unfair is like if you get wind starting to blow the ball off of greens. I haven’t seen that yet.”
PGA of America pin locations will decide how low players can go this week.
“I truly believe they could have the winning score be whatever they want it to be. It could be over par if they want it to be, just based purely upon pin locations,” Scheffler said.
“I was a bit surprised how far they pushed a lot of these pin locations. When you’re looking at the pins Wednesday night you are like, ‘Wow, they’re pushing these things as far as they can.’”