We’re fast nearing the end of the 2025-26 academic year sports schedule, yet those who already matriculated the hallowed halls of Athens are earnestly plying their trades. And some former Bulldogs are heading to Philadelphia to earn a fair wage.
These aren’t a result of the NFL draft. These are members of the PGA Tour and they’re part of the 156 man field eligible to compete for the PGA Championship. Here’s a primer and what you want to know.
Tournament: 108th PGA Championship, May 14-17, 2026
Course:
Aronomink Golf Club, par 70, 7,394 yards. Newton Square, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia on the northwest side.
Purse: $20,000,000 total, with $3,600,000 to the winner.
Defending Champ: Scottie Scheffler. With no Louisville PD to impede his march to victory, thee world’s #1 gradually built up a 5 shot lead over the first 3 days, until he didn’t. Scheffler played uninspired early Sunday, while Jon Rahm heated up. About 2.5 hours later, those roles reversed, Scottie returned to form, and Rahm folded like a LIV event in New Orleans.
Fun Fact: Jordan Spieth can win the career grand slam with a win, having already captured a British, US Open, and Masters. Gary Player won his first PGA Championship at Aronomink in 1962 – after Arnold Palmer won the Masters, then Jack Nicklaus won the US Open and Palmer captured the British Open. The Big 3 showed up that year.
TV Times: Extended coverage since it’s a major, but also a little different lineup. ESPN has Thursday’s coverage from noon ET through 7 pm, then it switches over to ESPN2 for another hour. Friday is straight ESPN mothership from noon – 8 pm ET. Saturday and Sunday are 10 am ET – 1 pm on ESPN, then 1-7 pm ET on CBS. There are some extended streaming options early in the week on ESPN+, and then some featured groups, etc. on ESPN+ during the main broadcast times.
‘Dawgs in the Field: 6. Brian Harman, Harris English, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, Sepp Straka.
In terms of players, remember that this is the championship put on by the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour. As the organization that credentials and supports club professionals, 20 of these working stiffs are in the field. That’s right, most of these 20 are guys running the pro shop and supervising the Tuesday Night Ladies League at your local course. And yes, Michael “Blockie” Block is one of them (google him – better than googling Cignetti).
Bryson DeChambeau will be there and probably petulant. Jon Rahm will be there looking for a fight (cut him some slack – his employer may be going out of business). Rory McIlroy will be as light and relaxed as possible, and his wife might show that she cares. Brooks Koepka will be having a good time but not look like it. The field will also include former PGA Champions and totally-not-forgotten players like Shaun Micheel, Martin Kaymer, YE Yang, Jason Dufner, and Jimmy Walker.
Aronomink is an old-school Donald Ross course. At just over 7,300 yards it is the shortest PGA in several years. Plus the fairways are fairly generous. Add in that this is golf in the Northeast where courses are still soft early in the golfing season, and we could see some low scores.
The main defense this track has are typical Donald Ross greens. The course went through a redesign a few years ago to restore the original Ross shapes and contours. And the greens have contours in spades. One of the best amateurs in golf history, Jay Sigel, played here regularly and purportedly said “don’t shoot at the pin – shoot at quadrants” in reference to putting your ball on a safe part of the green to reduce the risk of an impossible putt or short-siding yourself into a bogey.
We’ve got a traditional backdrop to a traditional major, played at a semi-traditional time of year. And like tradition, a bunch of former ‘Dawgs making up one of the best fields in the world of golf. Enjoy all the spoiled good walks, and as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!
