‘I Think It Has Been Set Up Pretty Poorly’ - Shane Lowry Adds To PGA Championship Course Criticism

The tight nature of the PGA Championship, where birdies were generally hard to come by until Saturday’s third round, may have made for compelling viewing, but the course setup at Aronimink has not gone down well with all the players.

One is Shane Lowry, who, after the second round, told the Irish Times: “I felt like every pin was on the bonnet of a car.”

He wasn't the only one, with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler also questioning the setup at the halfway stage.

Following his third round of 70, Lowry again took issue with the setup, telling BBC Sport NI's Stephen Watson: “I think it’s a great golf course, but I think it has been set up pretty poorly.”

Lowry also acknowledged that some players have got to grips with the setup better than others, but that is to be expected in a world-class field.

He added: “I guess the people sitting at home on the couch can say, ‘Well, some people are making birdies, some people are shooting good scores.' That’s always going to happen, you know, they’re the best players in the world.”

Following the second round, Scheffler described the pin positions as “absurd,” while McIlroy said: "I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of not a great setup, I think when it's as bunched as it is, because it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves."

Lowry admitted he was pleased he wasn’t the only one to think the setup was more difficult than it should have been.

He added: “I was happy to hear Rory and Scottie’s comments yesterday because it wasn’t just me feeling it out there.

"I feel like when you see the best players in the world struggling from 10 feet, you know that there is something wrong somewhere. I think they got it wrong in the first two days.”

Lowry acknowledged that the issues had been addressed in time for the third round, but explained even that isn’t ideal.

“It looks like it’s certainly a little bit easier today,” he said. “And it looks like that kind of may be a reaction to the first two days, which is not right either. We want to play a similar setup every day.

“You want to play a golf course that gets harder as the week goes on, especially in these Major championships. You look at the field so bunched, maybe that’s the reason for the setup the way it is.”

McIlroy also had his say on the setup after the third round, pointing out that several factors had led to the course not being as difficult on Saturday.

He said: “Wind direction is a little bit different. So I think it makes some of the holes play slightly easier than they've played the first couple of days. Yeah, some hole locations are a little more generous, but there are still some hole locations that have been tucked away.

He added: “Yeah, there's a number of factors. And I think as well, we're two days into the tournament, or three days now, and guys are just more - you learn the course as you go along, and guys are just getting more comfortable with certain clubs off tees or having a better idea of the greens and where to miss and where not to miss.”

Even then, McIlroy echoed Lowry’s thoughts that, for the first two days at least, it was understandable why some players were frustrated.

He said: “When you have a set of greens like this, you can start to frustrate people pretty easily, I think. You heard it in me last night. You heard it in Scottie. I saw some of his comments. Shane. I think there was a lot of guys that were frustrated yesterday coming off the course.

“Again, it's frustrating to us, but at the same time, it creates a helluva entering championship. If I wasn't playing this tournament, I'd love what's going on this week, but watching and playing are two different things.”