It was a rough day at the office for most of the field in the PGA Championship, as Aronimink Golf Club showed some teeth. The course is playing as a par 70 and 3-under 67 was the top score, as the lead is shared by seven players, including Scottie Scheffler and Min Woo Lee. Others at 3-under are Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Ryo Hisatsune, Martin Kaymer, and Alex Smalley, so it was not really the day that everybody expected in the second major of the season.
There are some very well-known names just a shot or two back, including Sahith Theegala, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry, and Corey Conners at 2-under, as well as Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas at 1-under. Basically, the way that the course played on Thursday was such that players were just trying to tread water and avoid creating a big, uphill climb heading into cutdown day.
PGA Championship first-round scores
PGA Championship second-round tee times
VSiN’s golf experts offered their first-round observations and second-round predictions . . .
Kelley Bydlon
The second major of the golf season is underway and Aronimink is making its presence felt. Only 33 of 156 players finished the day under par due to a tough course, challenging pin positions, and some bad weather.
Scottie Scheffler is one of seven golfers tied for the lead and, playing on a tough course, it feels early like he will be hard to beat.
There are some fun, veteran names near the top, though, that I think could offer some value betting some in-tournament finishing positions.
Jon Rahm finished the round fourth in Tee-to-Green, but lost over a stroke to the field putting. Brooks Koepka has a similar look, finishing third T2G, but lost two strokes putting. If you were interested in Rahm before the tournament as an outright play, I’d understand if you wanted to jump in on him now, but with Scheffler at the top, I’d probably look closer at the top 10 markets for both him and Koepka,
One other golfer I bet pre-tournament that I like for a live fishing position is Patrick Cantlay. He had a great day on approach and lost a little with the putter. He’s been playing some great golf recently: T10 Truist, T8 RBC Heritage, T12 Masters, T7 Valspar. And with some great approach and around the greens stats over that time, I liked him top 20 before the tournament and like him in that market still.
As always, any added bets for me will be up on our Golf Betting Picks page.
Wes Reynolds
The talk all week leading up to the PGA Championship was that Aronimink Golf Club would play soft due to expected weather. Players, caddies, and media alike were expecting a winning score of around 16-under par. After Day 1 at the PGA, that does not look probable as only 33 of 156 players finished in red figures.
Seven of those 33 players are tied for the lead at 3-under par including World No. 1 and championship favorite Scottie Scheffler (+175 current price), who hit 13 of 14 fairways and gained +3.37 strokes putting en route to a 3-under round of 67. Despite having four major championships and three runners-up, today was the first time Scheffler has either led or co-led a major championship at the conclusion of Round 1.
Also sharing the first round lead are Aldrich Potgieter, who leads the PGA TOUR for Driving Distance but led the field today for Strokes Gained: Putting (+5.19), Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune (topped the field for Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee and Driving Accuracy), 2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer, and Alex Smalley.
World No. 3 Cameron Young (32/1), arguably the best player in the world over the last two months, had to settle for a 1-over 71, but is still just four strokes off the lead.
As for back-to-back Masters Champion and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy (92/1), when asked how he would describe his +4 round of 74, his response of “Shit” was succinct.
Some other pre-tournament contenders had solid rounds like Xander Schauffele (-2; now 12/1), Jon Rahm (-1; 12/1), Collin Morikawa (-1; 29/1), and Matt Fitzpatrick (Even; 30/1).
Other pre-tournament contenders were not as fortunate, including Bryson DeChambeau, who may have plenty of time this weekend to make his YouTube videos after a 6-over round of 76.
In all, there are 48 players at or within three shots of the lead and 66 at or within four shots, so this is far from over even with the World No. 1 seemingly putting it all together.
Round 2 Plays:
Patrick Reed +108 over Pierceson Coody and Emiliano Grillo
Reed shot the only bogey-free round in the field on Thursday and is still 30/1 to win the Wanamaker Trophy and is certainly worth a look in that market considering that he has been consistent all of 2026 predominantly playing on the DP World Tour and earning two victories.
Reed also led the field for Strokes Gained: Approach today.
Pierceson Coody ranked 3rd in the field for Strokes Gained: Putting (+3.88) but lost over 2.5 strokes tee-to-green and the putting should regress.
Emiliano Grillo shot an opening round of 76 and failed to make one birdie.
Russell Henley -138 over J.T. Poston and Ben Kern
Poston beat Henley by one stroke in the Thursday 3-ball, but Henley should rebound on Friday.
Ben Kern, the club pro at Hickory Hills GC in Grove City, OH, was the low Club Professional at the 2018 PGA Championship but struggled with an opening round of 74.
Matt Youmans
Coming soon.
Matt Brown
Coming soon.
