US PGA Championship Preview 2026:

The Background:

We arrive at Aronimink in a whirlwind of fascinating stories in golf. Having had to wait 10 years to win his 5th major, Rory has now won back-to-back Masters, but he has a dodgy toe. Scottie Scheffler has been consistent without getting over the line since winning on his first start of the season. European players are coming over from the DP World Tour and picking up wins and top 10s every week, and LIV could be imploding from within.

The Course:

Unlike the majority of courses that have been used for the PGA Championship, Aronimink hasn’t been used much at this level previously. One men’s major championship, the PGA Championship of 1962 won by Gary Player, and three Tour events in 2010, 2011 and 2018, mean that a lot of players will be playing the course under major competition conditions for the first time.

Aronimink has been called a long-hitter's course due to the idea that it’s a “hit it as far as you can and hit it again” course, where big hitters can carry all the trouble. But so many of them can do that these days that it will still come down to other factors rather than who hits it the farthest. The green complexes are very contoured, with the possibility of some outrageous pin positions throughout the week if the PGA wants to do it. The ability not to 3-putt from distance will be a massive factor this week, and that also means you must be able to hit the ball in the right areas of the green, so iron/wedge accuracy will become a factor.

Taking into account all of these things, it’s hard to look past the top 5 players in the form guide but next we will look at the contenders for the 2nd major of the year.

The Contenders:

World Number 1/Defending Champion/Robot:

Scottie Scheffler is comfortably the favourite going into this week, and rightly so. He’s the defending champion, so far ahead in the rankings that he could stop playing for 6 months and probably still be number one, and despite the lack of wins, he is very much in form.

He hasn’t won since the first tournament of his season, but then he’d won only once going into last year’s tournament…and winning any time on Tour is ridiculously hard. He just made it look easy, winning 6 times in 12 events last year! And he is coming into this week on the back of three second-place finishes in a row. It’s hard to back against him going back-to-back and claiming his 5th major.

The Form Players:

Speaking of back-to-back wins, Rory McIlroy went 10 years without a major and then won the one he wanted…two years running. The Masters triumphs seem to have taken some pressure off his back but also given him renewed energy to go and win more majors. He’s also had a 2nd place at the Genesis and a 3rd in Dubai this year and won 4 times last year worldwide.

He has run into injuries this year, though, and this week is no different, with a toe injury causing him to halt a practice round and potentially have to wear differently sized shoes to protect it. You still wouldn’t bet against him making it a 3rd PGA Championship win on a course that really suits him this week.

World Number 3 Cameron Young is on fire this season. Having finally broken through as a winner on Tour with a victory at the Wyndham Classic in August 2025, and then being the top points scorer for the USA at the Ryder Cup in September, Young has gone on to win twice already this year, including the Players Championship (unofficially known as the 5th major). In fact, Young has finished in the top 10 in 6 of his last 7 tournaments.

His precocious length off the tee and an ever-improving putting stat line give him a chance to contend anywhere, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the higher echelons of the leaderboard during this tournament.

The final player in this section is the new world number 4, Matt Fitzpatrick. It’s been an incredible rise from the Sheffield-born player after some real struggles for a year. Going into the PGA Championship last year, Matt was 85th in the world. A string of top 10s on either side of a Ryder Cup appearance, which had looked unlikely until back-to-back 4th place finishes at The Scottish Open and The Open Championship, boosted his confidence before a win at the DP World Championship proved he was back.

This season started with some solid performances before finishing par-bogey to Cam Young’s birdie-par to lose the Players Championship by one, starting an incredible little run. He won the Valspar Championship the week after the Players and then beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff for the RBC Heritage in front of a very hostile crowd.

This would have been amazing enough, but then he did something that made grown men (myself) cry. Partnering with his brother, Alex, in the week following the RBC, he played one of the greatest bunker shots of all time to a foot from the hole on the 18th green to win the Zurich Classic pairs tournament. This gave his brother a PGA Tour card for the next two years and exemptions into the next four signature events and this PGA Championship. Alex has used this brilliantly by finishing in the top 10 of his first two events. Don’t be shocked to see a brother pairing in the final group at some point this year.

The LIV Challengers:

There’s a lot going on with LIV. The Saudi-backed PIF have pulled their funding for next year, meaning that the tour needs to find another way to fund their very expensive deals with players and prize funds, or risk closing completely. This has left a few players in limbo and backtracking on some strong words that they have used in the past.

One of those players is Jon Rahm, undoubtedly still one of the best players in the world, but down at number 20 in the world rankings due to a lack of ranking points available for the LIV Tour until this year. In the last two seasons, Rahm has finished in the top 8 of every tournament he’s played on LIV, and this season he has two wins and three 2nd places from the 7 events.

Rahm signed his supposed £222m multi-year deal with the idea that he would still be competitive in the major championships. It hasn’t really worked that way for him. He has just three top-10 finishes since he moved, none above 7th, although he came very close in this event last year. Had the Bear Trap at Quail Hollow not got to him over those final three holes, he may have pushed Scheffler all the way. He’s obviously playing some exceptional golf, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him contend this week.

Bryson DeChambeau is one of a kind. A two-time major champion, DeChambeau has also won twice on LIV this year and had a couple of 3rd place finishes too. However, after finishing 2nd in the US PGA last year, he has missed two of the last three cuts in major championships, including the Masters earlier this year.

But this is Bryson. He does things his way, from his irons all being the same length to his wild YouTube channel that has included some of the biggest names in sport, entertainment and politics. He may have toned down some of his comments, and he may now be the player who is trying to build the game the most outside of tournament golf, but there’s no doubt he will find a way to make himself the centre of attention this week, and it’s definitely a course that could suit him.

The Americans:

It’s very notable that Americans have won the PGA Championship every year since 2016. The last international winner was Jason Day in 2015. So it would be wise to consider the Americans who haven’t already been mentioned.

Collin Morikawa has had an excellent year, with a win and 5 top 10’s, but in the middle of that run was a withdrawal for a back injury. How he manages that issue will determine how he goes this week, but there’s no doubt that he is in the right form to contend again after a poor major season in 2025.

Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas are previous winners of this tournament during this decade. Schauffele has been very solid this season without crossing the line into the winner's circle, and he missed out on the playoff for the 2018 BMW Championship at Aronimink by one shot. Thomas hasn’t had a top 10 this year, but played well last week at the Truist Championship and also played well at Aronimink in 2018. He’s a two-time winner of this tournament, so he knows how to win down the stretch.

Russell Henley has had three Top-10 finishes in a row at majors, and it feels like just a matter of time before he finds a win. Big-hitting Chris Gotterup’s game is set up for this golf course. Having won twice early in the season, he has slightly gone off the boil, although a tied-14th at the Truist last week included weekend rounds of 65-69 to put him back in form for this week.

The English are coming:

There would be no more popular winner this week than Justin Rose. The 45-year-old has been close to adding to his one major win on many occasions since turning 40, and has put himself firmly back in the world's top 10. He has already won this year, destroying the field at the Farmers Insurance, before finishing tied for 3rd behind the two best players in the world at The Masters (McIlroy and Scheffler).

A recent change of equipment to McLaren might put people off backing him, but as horses for courses go, Rose is as close as it gets to a home town winner. He won the AT&T at Aronimink in 2010 and lost in a playoff to Keegan Bradley in the 2018 BMW round this course. His 2013 US Open win was also in the Philadelphia area, at Merion Golf Club, so he is obviously very happy with the area and is a good shout to be the 3rd oldest winner of the tournament.

Tommy Fleetwood is probably the best player in the tournament who has never won a major. He finally broke his US drought with a win at the season-ending Tour Championship last year. A tied 5th at the Truist last week means it’s five top-5’s this season on the PGA Tour, and a very consistent set of results for the World Number 6.

Of the rest, it’s wonderful to see Alex Fitzpatrick take to the Tour like a duck to water. Having earned his tour card through his win with his brother, he has gone on to record two top-10 finishes in his first two starts, and he gained experience playing in the final group on a Sunday last week. Tyrell Hatton will be hoping to show his grit and determination are as strong as ever, while Wolverhampton-born Aaron Rai has been in solid form this year. And watch out for flat-capped Harry Hall, whose putting is amongst the best on Tour.

Other Notables:

Adam Scott deserves a mention for his longevity, as well as being the nicest man and having the best-looking swing on Tour. This will be his 100th major championship in a row, and it would be lovely to see the Australian up near the top of the leaderboard. Robert MacIntyre briefly popped into the top 10 in the world this year, and has shown massive determination to be the best that he can possibly be. A 2nd place finish at last years US Open shows he won’t go away without a fight if he gets in contention at a major.

The Scandinavian’s are heading back to the top of the game again with Kristoffer Reitan’s win at the Truist last week. He joins Viktor Hovland as the only Norwegian winners on the PGA Tour, but it won’t be long before one of Rasmus or Nicolai Hojgaard joins them. And then we have the Swede’s. Ludvig Aberg has flattered to deceive slightly since breaking on to the scene. His lack of wins in America has pushed him down the rankings and close to being overtaken by a resurgent Alex Noren. Both should have solid weeks this week.

And one final mention for Michael Kim. The man is wonderful with his insights on Twitter and deserves to pick off a big one soon.

Final Thoughts:

It’s very difficult to look past Scottie Scheffler retaining his PGA title this week. He is due a win, comes in with very similar form to last year, and Rory has stolen a bit of his thunder again with another Masters win. The Americans have had a hold on this title for the last decade and with Scheffler and Young it’s difficult to see another outcome.

That said, my heart says that we are due an English major winner again. My heart wants Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood or Alex Fitzpatrick to win it, but I’m going to go with Alex’s big brother to claim his 4th win of the year. It’s Matt Fitzpatrick’s year this year.