Trevor Immelman has suggested the reasons why he believes so many players were left surprised by the setup at Aronimink during the PGA Championship.
It did appear that the PGA Championship this past week completely divided fans and players. Some clearly loved that the second major of the year did not turn into a birdie fest.
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Some players, however, were not so enamoured by Aronimink.
Why some players were caught off-guard by Aronimink at the PGA Championship
Shane Lowry said the PGA of America got the setup wrong, while Rory McIlroy had to clarify his own criticism during the tournament.
McIlroy felt that the congested leaderboard proved that mistakes were made, with players unable to really separate themselves regardless of how well they were playing.
The Northern Irishman had hit the headlines ahead of the event, with McIlroy suggesting that strategy off the tee was not required around most of the course.
Those who felt they could drive it anywhere were in for a nasty surprise, however. Only Aaron Rai was able to post a score lower than six under par for the week.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
And speaking on Fried Egg Golf, Trevor Immelman discussed why Aronimink caught so many off-guard.
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“The players that I’d spoken to that had made trips up there, the general consensus was you’re going to have so many wedges and so many scoring opportunities to be able to attack. I think part of that is the mental aspect when you’re going on a scouting trip, where you’re playing a practice round, there’s no consequence. Part of it is that the conditions were more benign when they went up there,” he said.
“And then also the hole locations that were being used during those practice rounds were softer. So you now start to add not just the pressure of competing in a major championship, but all of a sudden the hole location on 10 on Sunday is pushed a yard further right, closer to the fall-off, and you start to throw some wind in there. And everything just gets taken up a couple of notches, and the golf course really showed its teeth all week long.
“I also think players who went a week or two before, because of the weather and the snow and the rain and the stuff that they have so late in the season up in the Northeast, maybe the players underestimated how much the rough would fill in and grow between those scouting trips a couple of weeks before or a week before to when the tournament kicked off on Thursday.
“I’m not sure what products they used, but that stuff came in pretty thick. It was dense. And they topped it off on Tuesday evening for the last time to get it nice and uniform, but by the time the weekend rolled around, it was pretty severe.”
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Aronimink provided a fantastic stage for a major championship test
The major championships should provide the most thorough and most intense tests in the game.
Ideally, there should be crucial decisions made on every single hole. And Aronimink did provide players with opportunities.
Perhaps the balance was off at times, due to some particularly tricky pin positions. With the scoring so congested, there were probably a number of players who felt that there was little need to attack any of the nastiest flags.
However, players should be on the fairway considering whether the time has come to attack. Ultimately, Aaron Rai was able to find that gear as his sensible, methodical approach opened the door to more chances.
What is for certain is that plenty of fans will be delighted when Aronimink gets the opportunity to host another major in the future.
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