The 2026 PGA Championship tees off in less than 24 hours from Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, PA, and things are getting weird at The Mink.
Rory McIlroy cut his practice round short Tuesday due to foot soreness as he deals with a blister on the week of the year’s second major.
Fair to say the foot blister is bugging Rory a bit. Took his shoe off on No. 4, might be abandoning his practice round. pic.twitter.com/0D1pmiquJt
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) May 12, 2026
Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland appears to be taking a break from the pool floaties and is experiemtning with some cross-handed iron swings on the range.
always curious to see what Viktor Hovland’s up to on the range. today? hitting some irons cross-handed pic.twitter.com/x2wFlgPuUD
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) May 12, 2026
On top of that, this week we’ve had Scottie Scheffler stumped with a question about Philadelphia and were treated to Xander Schauffele (and most others who did media) getting deep on trees and the history of course architecture.
Come for the hilarious interaction between Xander Schauffele and Doug Ferguson.
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) May 12, 2026
Stay for the great answer about the trend of removing trees from historic golf courses.
"When I hear certain designers saying, I'm going to restore this course to 1915, I'm like, Well, it probably… pic.twitter.com/tJWAQw0DB7
Oh, and the by the way, the ball Cameron Young hit 375 yards on the 18th tee at TPC Sawgrass this year, the longest in the shotlink era, appears to be USGA conforming for the upcoming rollback.
There is no way bro did this with a rolled back golf ball https://t.co/0XBm91mtCo pic.twitter.com/hGXBXfR6hR
— Brian Kirschner (@BrianKirschner_) May 12, 2026
With all this werid energy in the air, I’m starting to wonder if this is another major championship where we see a longhot get home and spoil the party for the favourites.
Before I get too carried away, I must share with the classroom that I enter this week holding a Cameron Young 110-1 and Matt Fitzpatrick 80-1 outright ticket from September.
So since I have two of the four best golfers in the world at long prices, I’m going to chase some more longhots in the w/o market with the hopes of getting a few runners in the mix on Sunday.
But before gettin to any picks, we have to talk about the course.
THE MINK, THE MINK, THE MINK, THE MINK, THE MIIIIINK (to the tune of the Pink Panther theme song)
This is the first time the men will be back at The Mink since Keegan Bradley won the 2018 BMW championship with a winning score of 260 (-20).
This week on FanDuel the total for the winning score sits at 265.5 shots, a number that has gone under in just one of the six 72-hole stroke play events held at this course since 1962.
| Year | Tournament | Winner | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | PGA Championship | Gary Player | 278 | −2 |
| 2003 | Senior PGA Championship | John Jacobs | 276 | −4 |
| 2010 | AT&T National | Justin Rose | 270 | −10 |
| 2011 | AT&T National | Nick Watney | 267 | −13 |
| 2018 | BMW Championship | Keegan Bradley | 260 | −20 |
| 2020 | Women’s PGA Championship | Kim Sei-young | 266 | −14 |
Coming in at just under 7,400 yards, Aronimink is considered on the shorter side of major venues in America.
According to RickRunGood.com, there have been just four major championships in America at a venue considered ‘short’ since 2020 with all four winners coming from outside of the top 10 in the Offical World Golf Ranking winning.
| Major | Year | Player | OWGR |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Open | 2022 | Matt Fitzpatrick | 18 |
| PGA Championship | 2023 | Brooks Koepka | 44 |
| PGA Championship | 2020 | Collin Morikawa | 12 |
| U.S. Open | 2025 | J.J. Spaun | 25 |
Another reason to lean into longshots this week is the history at this course. Bradley was 66th in OWGR when he won here in 2018, Nick Watney was 15th in 2011 and Justin Rose ranked 35th the week he won in 2010.
Meanwhile, the other eight PGA Championships and U.S. Opens since COVID-19 at venues considered “long” and have been won six times by a top 10 player in the world.
LONGSHOTS TO CONSIDER FOR THE 2026 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
By this point of the week you’ve read about all the big boys, let’s take a look at some names with some longer odds in the wihtout market.
Patrick Reed +5500
Reed was the talk of the town at the Masters, finsihed in a tie for 12th and is complerlty flying under the radar enerting this week. He also has two wins on the DPWT this year but for some reason he also hasn’t played an event since that tie for 12th at the Masters last month. If he’s sharp enough, this iron and short game contest should fit his game.
Alex Fitzpatrick +7000
The whole world likes brother Matt this week, so wouldn’t it be fitting for Alex to join the fun? Since earning his PGA Tour card with a win at the Zurich Classic, Fitzpatrick has played in two events, with a top-10 finish in both. Add in his March win at the Indian Open, along with a T6 the start prior, and we have a guy entering this week on the heels of two wins, three other top 10s and seven straight top 25s. He lacks experience in majors but made the cut and tied for 17th in the lone Open Championship he played in 2023.
Nick Taylor +10000
I’m looking for this year’s J.J. Spaun and Nick Taylor just might be my guy. Taylor’s history in majors is poor with 11 missed cuts in 17 events, but he made the cut at the Masters last month and enters this week following back-to-back top 15s in PGA Tour Signature Events. Taylor has just one top 10 in 2026, but with wins at Pebble Beach and WM Phoenix on his resume (and a Canadian Open) he’s shown he can elevate his game on a big stage when he’s in contention.
Angel Ayora +25000
Making his first major championship start, Angel Ayora has a chacne to stun the golf world this week as the ultimate longshot. The 22-yera-old has eight top 20s in his last 15 starts on the DPWT. He also has the lengeth that other bombers do in this field to carry most of the bunkers and give himself plenty of wedge oppertunies. I don’t exepct him to pick up his first worldwide win this week, but why can’t he finish in second place while Cam Young wins his first major?
Brian Campbell +75000
I know. But The Mink is drawing some Augusta comps this week due to the angulation on the greens. Smarter men than me have talked about looking for guys who succeed with their short games at The Masters this and well, Campbell led all players that made the cut in strokes gained in short game gaining 3.52 around the green and 7.56 on the greens. Winning golf tournaments isn’t for everyone, and considering he won twice last year, I’ll punt away a few shekels chasing this loser.
