After finishing with a 3-under on Thursday, Scottie Scheffler’s performance (+1) on Friday was not even close to his reputation. He was constantly missing the fairway, six in a row at one point. According to him, it was all because of the challenging course setup. In fact, he went on to say that the pins at Aronimink GC were some of the toughest he has seen across events, including the US Open.
“Yeah, like 10 is a good example. I’m sitting there, the wind’s blowing 20, 25 miles an hour right-to-left, and I got a green that goes like down right-to-left into a valley, up left-to-right, back right-to-left, and then the pin is quite literally, if I hit that chip shot and the pin’s here and it goes to there, it goes all the way over the back of the green, and now I have a very, very difficult up-and-down for bogey,” Scheffler said after his second round.
On the 10th tee, where Scheffler started his round 2, there was no margin of error if he missed long. The pin was tucked in the back left portion of the green. Anything more than a pace behind the pin would jettison off the back and create a nearly impossible up-and-down.
“There are also just some things that are out of your control. You just have to continue to try to hit good shots, and most of the pins today were, I mean, kind of absurd. They were just so far into the areas where we thought the pins were going to be, and then they just—like the one on 14 was probably the hardest pin that I’ve seen in a long time just because, I mean, 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.’”
Scheffler called the pin location on the par-3 14th one of the “craziest” he’s ever seen, sitting on a spine that cambered away in every direction. The pin on the par-4 2nd was pushed all the way to the back edge of the green. And like the 10th, it was especially penal for any miss that rolled more than a few paces past. The weather conditions at Aronimink didn’t help either.
Round 1 and the morning of Round 2 were expected to be windy. Even analysts and players alike have noted that the PGA of America has tucked pins deep into the thinnest “shelf” areas of the undulating greens. According to the World No. 1, the best way to overcome these challenges is to remain patient. However, he was about to go against his own advice.
A viral clip appeared on social media showing Scheffler angry after he hit a fairway shot. The ball landed just before the green but rolled back several yards, which made him lose his temper. He was about to slam his club but decided not to midway. Scheffler’s Round 2 SG: Off The Tee score was only 0.307 compared to the 1.142 he achieved in his round 1.
Wait! He’s restrained himself. Maybe this is a new Scottie Scheffler pic.twitter.com/KXX3xIQjAj
— Pat Mayo (@ThePME) May 15, 2026
There have been many incidents in the past where Scheffler didn’t restrain himself. At the 2024 BMW Championship, he hit a second shot into the water at Castle Pines. That was it. He lost it and reacted with a loud “What the f***?!” on broadcast after repeatedly questioning how the ball missed the green.
Anyways, Scheffler was not the only one who faced the consequences of the Aronimink setup. Rory McIlroy had said that his strategy off the tee is pretty much nonexistent. But we guess he needed one as he finished 4 over 74 on Thursday and deemed his round as “Sh-t.”
Fans heckled Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship 2026
After completing his first round, Scottie Scheffler said that the crowd had a really good energy. However, that energy was also used to heckle him.
“I got chirped more than I expected for being a Cowboys fan, but it was all in good fun. I got quite a kick out of it. The fans were quite funny today,” he said in his post-round conference.
Fans yelled, “Dallas sucks, Scottie.” “We’re going to smash you on Thanksgiving,” and “Go Birds!” at him.
He did not lash out at the Philly fans, as the hecklers were mostly tied to the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry rather than golf or personal attacks. Instead, the defending PGA champion appeared amused by the playful banter.
Even with Philadelphia fans constantly chirping him throughout the round, Scottie Scheffler never appeared rattled yesterday. But he had some poor shots on Day 2, and he was about to lose his mind and probably throw a club, but he controlled himself.
