PGA Preview: The Most Complete Test in Golf

Every major championship in golf has a personality you can recognise instantly.

Augusta National is the traditionalist. A place that feels untouched by time, where the game is wrapped in reverence and history.

The US Open is the tormentor. An event where the governing body leans into punishment, stretching golf courses to their absolute limit.

The Open Championship is the romantic. Windswept linksland where survival matters as much as skill, as if the game has stepped out of a faded novel.

Then there is the PGA Championship, which for years stood slightly apart. The major without a clear identity.

Not quite tradition-soaked like Augusta, not quite brutal like the US Open, not quite mythical like The Open. For a long time it felt like the “other” major.

But that is only part of the story.

A major that did not quite know itself

Historically, the PGA Championship struggled more with perception than quality. It invites only professionals, carries one of the strongest fields in golf, and rewards recent PGA Tour winners. On paper it should be the most competitive major of all.

Yet for years it lacked narrative weight.

Part of the issue was timing. The PGA used to close the major season after the emotional and physical grind of The Open Championship. By the time players arrived, many were exhausted, and the event often felt like an afterthought even though it was anything but.

That old scheduling quirk helped produce surprise winners in the early 2000s when lesser-fancied players broke through while the stars faded late in the season.

The turning point, moving to May

Everything changed in 2019 when the PGA of America reshuffled the calendar.

By moving the championship to May, it was freed from its role as the season’s final act. The result was immediate. Stronger fields, sharper storylines and a more intense competitive atmosphere.

The PGA Championship stopped feeling like an epilogue and started feeling like a true heavyweight contest.

It also began to define itself differently. Not as the most punishing major, but as the most balanced. Fair setups, elite fields and conditions that reward complete games rather than survival specialists.

The roots of professional golf

To understand the PGA Championship, you have to return to a time when professional golfers were outsiders.

In the late 1800s, amateur golf dominated prestige events while professionals were often dismissed as working-class technicians.

That divide forced organisation and structure. The formation of the USGA helped formalise competition, but professionals still lacked representation.

That changed in 1916 when the PGA of America was formed, driven in part by businessman Rodney Wanamaker. His influence helped establish a governing body for professional golfers.

That same year, the first PGA Championship was played. Jim Barnes defeated Jock Hutchison in a match play final at Siwanoy Country Club.

More than a century later, the event has become one of golf’s premier tests of depth and skill.

The modern PGA Championship

Today the PGA Championship is defined less by tradition or brutality and more by adaptability.

It rotates across major venues and often blends classic architecture with modern demands. This year it heads to the restored Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania, a Donald Ross design refined by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner.

At around 7,267 yards and playing as a par 70, Aronimink is not built for pure power dominance. It demands precision.

Doglegs, strategic bunkering and large undulating greens require control from tee to green. Miss the fairway and trouble follows quickly, with more than 70 bunkers waiting to punish mistakes.

A test of control rather than chaos

Some critics argue Aronimink is not tough enough for a major. That misses the point.

Pennsylvania’s spring conditions tend to firm up the course, and when combined with narrow landing zones and thick rough, scoring will not come easily.

This is not a course that hands out birdies freely. It is one that exposes weaknesses quietly and consistently.

Winning scores should be under par, but not comfortably so, and the leaderboard will reward precision over power.

The storylines heading in

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler arrives as the man to beat once again. His dominance from tee to green and his consistency make him a natural fit for this type of test.

Rory McIlroy remains a more unpredictable force. Brilliant in bursts but still searching for sustained rhythm after an emotional Masters victory earlier this year.

Elsewhere, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick continue to close the gap on the established stars. Both bring accurate, structured games suited to this layout.

Jordan Spieth is another intriguing name. A former major dominator whose form has faded, but whose short game remains dangerous on a course that rewards touch and creativity.

The contenders and value plays

Scheffler leads the market, with McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Young and Jon Rahm close behind.

But value often sits just outside the spotlight.

Collin Morikawa’s elite iron play makes him a strong fit for a course where approach shots are decisive.

Justin Rose brings proven course history and major pedigree in Pennsylvania, while Russell Henley’s accuracy-based game fits the demands of tight fairways and firm greens.

Cameron Young remains the most intriguing wildcard, consistently strong off the tee and still searching for his defining major breakthrough.

Final thought

The PGA Championship no longer needs to borrow identity from other majors.

It has evolved from the forgotten major into golf’s most complete test. Not the hardest, not the most romantic, but perhaps the most honest.

A championship where the best player that week usually wins.

And in modern golf, that may be the most compelling identity of all.