Here are the 5 storylines we can’t wait to follow on Moving Day at Aronimink Golf Club.
How will the course play on Saturday?
The story of the week thus far has undoubtedly been the course itself. But are we in store for a big shift on Saturday?
Cold, windy conditions coupled with tucked hole locations gave Aronimink some sharp teeth the first two rounds and kept the lowest scores – outside of Chris Gotterup’s 5-under 65 in Round 2 – close to par.
However, this weekend’s forecast calls for the weather to flip from pretty much early spring temperatures to what you’d expect in the summer in the Philadelphia area. Saturday’s high will be in the low 80s, while Sunday could top 90 degrees.
Will there be some more accessible hole locations on Moving Day, opening the door for someone to make a charge?
Does Scottie go back-to-back?
World No. 1 and defending PGA Champion Scottie Scheffler heads into the weekend at 2-under par and that puts him just two shots behind 36-hole co-leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley.
If you look a bit deeper into the stats, that is a position Scheffler is very comfortable in. In 2026, he leads the PGA Tour in both third- and final-round scoring average at 67.22 (for both rounds).
When Scheffler won the Masters in 2022 and 2024, he either led or had a share of the 36-hole lead. He trailed by three strokes at the midway point before winning the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. And at Royal Portrush, where he won the Open Championship last summer, Scheffler took a one-stroke lead into the weekend.
So, the 20-time PGA Tour winner has won majors both while occupying the top spot heading into the weekend and also while playing from behind.
However, in each of his four major wins, Scheffer has held the sole position of the 54-hole lead, which is why he’ll be so interesting to watch on Saturday.
Here’s his position in each of his major wins through 54 holes:
2022 Masters – Leader by three strokes
2024 Masters – Leader by one stroke
2025 PGA Championship – Leader by three strokes
2025 Open Championship – Leader by four strokes
Should he raise the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening, Scheffler would become only the third player in the modern stroke-play era to successfully defend the PGA Championship, joining Brooks Koepka (2018 and 2019) and Tiger Woods (1999-2000; 2006-2007).
How will the inexperienced leaders hold up?
It will be uncharted territory this weekend for 36-hole PGA Championship co-leaders Maverick McNealy and Alex Smalley.
The pair, who are tied at 4-under 136 at the halfway point, have never been in a spot like this before. McNealy has one PGA Tour win (the 2024 RSM Classic) and Smalley is still seeking his first victory.
When it comes to the majors, Smalley’s best finish is a T23 in the 2023 PGA Championship, while McNealy tied for 18th in the 2026 Masters.
The good news for both? The PGA Championship has the highest rate of first-time major champions at 56 percent.
But, with a bunched leaderboard, they’ll have their work cut out for them.
In 14 out of the last 15 PGA Championships, the eventual winner was among the top 7 and ties at the end of the second round. The lone exception over this time was Collin Morikawa, who was T-25 after 36 holes at TPC Harding Park in 2020.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, eight of the last 18 winners were at least three shots behind the leaders after 36 holes. That includes defending champion Scottie Scheffler, who was 3 behind the leaders at the midway point at Quail Hollow. The most recent winners to overcome as large as a 6-shot deficit after 36 holes are Morikawa (6 back in 2020), Y.E. Yang (6 back in 2009) and Padraig Harrington (6 back in 2008).
Can Ben Kern keep the magical ride going
One of the coolest stories through two rounds of the PGA Championship has been the play of PGA Professional Ben Kern. After a sensational 3-under 67 on Friday, Kern finished 36 holes at 1-over 141 and soared 75 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 30th. He’ll be the only PGA Club Professional playing on the weekend.
For a good chunk of Friday, the 41-year-old PGA General Manager at Hickory Hills Golf Club in Grove City, Ohio, led the entire field in birdies for the week at nine until McNealy and Smalley totaled 10.
Kern, who finished runner-up in the PGA Professional Championship at Bandon Dunes just over two weeks ago to earn his spot in this PGA Championship, obviously has a ton of game.
No matter what happens over the weekend, this PGA Championship is already a success for Kern. But we’ll be paying close attention to see if he can somehow better his performance at the 2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive, where he tied for 42nd.
Career Grand Slam still in play for Spieth
It’s been nine years since Jordan Spieth won his last major championship – the Open Championship. If he can somehow come from behind to win the PGA Championship at Aronimink on Sunday, he’d become just the seventh player in the history of men’s golf to complete the career grand slam.
But it’s going to take a massive Saturday from Spieth, who goes into the weekend at 1 over and five strokes off the lead.
In his three previous major victories, he’s either led outright or shared the lead after 36 and 54 holes.
Here’s a look at his position after 36 holes in those wins:
2015 Masters – 5-stroke lead
2015 U.S. Open – co-leader
2017 Open Championship – 2-stroke lead
Here’s a look at his third-round score and position after 54 holes in those wins:
2015 Masters – shot 2-under 70 and led by three
2015 U.S. Open – shot 1-over 71 and shared the lead
2017 Open Championship – shot 5-under 65 and led by three
13 times a PGA Tour winner, Spieth hasn’t been victorious since the 2022 RBC Heritage. Coming out of that drought in a major to complete the career grand slam would be extraordinary.
The largest 36-hole deficit overcome to win a major is 11 strokes set by Lou Graham in the 1975 U.S. Open.
The largest 36-hole deficit overcome to win the PGA Championship is nine strokes. Both Bob Rosburg (1959) and Bob Tway (1986) accomplished that feat.
But not to worry, Spieth is still very much in the thick of things.
