8 Takeaways From The 2026 PGA Championship
The 2026 PGA Championship was a thrilling spectacle with a very worthy champion - so what are our key takeaways?
'Inside The Ropes' is the chance for Golf Monthly's expert team to share its honest thoughts on the biggest subjects in the game. This week, we look back on the 2026 PGA Championship
The PGA Championship will be remembered for Aaron Rai's sensational finish to emphatically close the door on a stacked leaderboard.
Aronimink was expected to be blown away by the world's best but it put up a great test for the top players, with its thick rough and undulating greens resulting in a winning score of nine-under-par and just 25 men finishing the week in the red digits from the 156 starters.
So, what were our biggest takeaways from the week?
Our tour experts have their say below - and be sure to let us know yours in the comments section at the bottom of the page...
The course and set-up was spot on
I was surprised to log in to X on Friday and over the weekend and see both players and fans criticising the set-up, as I though it was spot on.
In my mind, nine-under is an ideal winning score in a Major.
I was also shocked to see so many people portraying the bunched leaderboard as a negative. It was perfect. Having multiple Major Champions and journeyman pros within a couple of shots of the lead heading into Sunday is exactly what I want to see.
I enjoy golf tournaments where there's a premium on hitting fairways, and watching players hit 350-yard drives into the rough and then struggle to hit their approaches with wedges inside 30 feet was great.
The drivable par-4 13th was an excellent risk-reward hole and having three gettable par 4s to open made the early stages exciting.
I'm normally a cynic when it comes to the year's second Major, but I thought the PGA of America got it spot on.
The perception of Rai
Aaron Rai produced one of the most impressive back-nine performances I can remember on a Major Sunday, but so many people were quick to criticise him as boring.
There was nothing dull about what the Englishman produced or how he played.
He eagled the 9th, stiffed his approach on 11, played a sublime bunker shot on 13, almost eagled 16, holed a 70-footer on 17 and hit two perfect shots into the 18th.
It was an absolutely ruthless display and I don't think he's getting the credit he deserves.
So what if he wears two gloves and has iron headcovers? Why people focussed on that when he'd just produced an all-time Major back nine was beyond me.
It was an absolute masterclass.
More than one way to skin a cat
How good was that? I’m not sure how many times the commentators reminded us over the weekend just how short Aaron Rai was compared to the rest of the field (it felt like quite a lot). Still, the slow-swinging Englishman showed that when it comes to winning on long, sprawling layouts, there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Ranked 66 in driving distance, Rai certainly wasn’t one of the longest hitters at Aronimink, but he was fourth in accuracy and finished second in SG: Approach. This is his game in a nutshell: he finds fairways and plays the percentage shots.
It might not be the most entertaining at times, and it probably won’t make him a prolific winner, but, combined with his precision and patience, he proved himself the best player of the week in very difficult conditions.
It was a pleasure to see Rai stick to his game plan and execute the shots that the course demanded.
Scheffler for the career slam next month?
I’ve rarely seen Scottie Scheffler look so disgruntled. This is a player who has been so used to winning.
He’s not won since January, and that must feel like a drought. He took a pop at the pin positions, calling them "absurd" and the hardest he has ever seen, but that would have been pure frustration - he just didn’t work the greens out.
It’s not often that you see the World No.1 three-putt, but at Aronimink we saw something even rarer: back-to-back three putts. 72nd SG: Putting tells the story, and there were a few jittery strokes in there, too.
It’s a sign of just how good he is that he still finished T14, and he was the leading player in driving accuracy (69.64%).
I’m pretty confident we’ll see a different Scheffler at Shinnecock next month, and I would not be in the least bit surprised to see him complete the career Grand Slam in New York. He is, after all, the king of bounebacks.
Does golf need the rollback?
It's one of the most discussed topics in the sport right now, but did the PGA Championship show that golf really needs the ball rollback?
To begin with, it was revealed that Cameron Young's golf ball would be conforming under the proposed new testing guidelines... This is the same golf ball he used to hit a tee shot 385 yards at The Players Championship!
That shows to me it won't matter what the governing bodies come up with, manufacturers will always find ways around them.
What's more, the course set-up showed that, perhaps, it's the courses that can make a difference when it comes to scoring.
Many thought Aronimink would be a bombers paradise but, instead, we were fed a winner who was the one of the shortest, but most accurate in the field.
Strategy played a big part in Rai's win, which is why the distance debate could have taken a blow in Philly.
Good to see some old faces back
The PGA Championship leaderboard threw up some interesting names on Sunday, but I can't deny it was nice to see some familiar faces near the top.
It's no secret that Jon Rahm's Major form has dipped in the Majors since he went to the LIV Golf League, but it looked like the Rahm of old as he finished in a share of runner-up.
Another name was Cameron Smith, whose form has dropped even more than Rahm's, with the Aussie missing the cut in six straight Majors prior to this weekend.
We know that LIV is having its funding pulled from the Saudi PIF at the end of this year, with it unclear as to what will happen, or what the players will do.
What this weekend has shown is that there is space for the world's best to be together, and how nice it is seeing them all play as one.
Hopefully it'll happen more going forward...
Were we too harsh on the PGA Championship?
Before the tournament, I wrote that the PGA Championship had lost its identity and should consider changes like moving back to August, going global or even reverting back to its match play roots. We also debated in last week's Inside The Ropes over what the best way to improve the PGA Championship would be.
But were we being too harsh?
This past weekend was a thrilling watch and was some of the best golf viewing in recent years with such a tight leaderboard.
Yet something still doesn't quite feel right. It felt a bit like a US Open Lite, which was great but shouldn't the PGA Championship stand out as its own, unique spectacle?
Despite thoroughly enjoying the tournament, I still believe it needs serious changes. Sadly, the PGA of America leadership batted off questions of moving it back to August or going global, so things will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
The schedule is far too packed and it gets lost among the Masters, US Open and the three Signature Events in between. Still, it is a Major and is usually a very entertaining week so I guess we'll just have to appreciate what we've got a bit more.
Signature Events need to go
I may a bit obsessed with my criticism of the PGA Tour's Signature Events, and I've already written today how every passing week shows why Signature Events need to go.
Aaron Rai has been inside the world's top 50 all year but was playing in the opposite-field Myrtle Beach Classic last week, which carried a $4m purse while his colleagues played in the $20m Truist Championship.
The limited-field events simply aren't fair, especially with sponsor's invites being allowed, and the likes of Rai, Kristoffer Reitan and Alex Fitzpatrick have shown this year that it isn't only the big names who can compete and win the biggest events.
Brian Rolapp says a future PGA Tour will have 16 Signature Events with 120-man fields and cuts. I hope that comes to fruition.
What were your biggest takeaways from the 2026 PGA Championship? Let us know in the comments section.