This week at Aronimink will mark the third PGA Championship appearance for Jesse Droemer, the 32-year-old PGA Teaching Professional at Riverbend Country Club in Sugarland, Texas.
But the feel this week will be a little different than the previous two.
That’s because, for the first time in his career, Droemer gets set to tee off as the reigning PGA Professional Championship winner. Droemer clinched that victory a little less than two weeks ago at Bandon Dunes, holding off Ben Kern by a single stroke thanks to a final round, 2-under-par 70 in extremely difficult conditions due to strong winds.
“Yeah, it's a little bit different, definitely a lot of congratulations this week, people coming up to me, more obligations throughout the week,” Droemer said. “But I'm embracing it. It's awesome. I'm loving it. Just happy to be here and looking forward to test my game.”
The low 20 finishers at the PGA Professional Championship all earn a spot in the PGA Championship.
Droemer, who played his college golf at the University of Houston, qualified for the PGA Championship in both 2023 and 2025, missing the cut both times. Each one, he says, feels more comfortable thanks to experience.
“My first one was 2023 at Oak Hill,” Droemer said. “I thought that was one of the toughest tests of golf I've ever experienced in my life. I think 2023 that was the toughest golf course for the year. Quail Hollow was a little bit different, a little wider, the rough didn't seem as severe. But it just seems like each one I get a little bit more comfortable in. There's a lot going on, so many people and all the fans. But each one just gets a little more comfortable.”
Aronimink will be quite the contrast from the rugged Oregon coastline at Bandon Dunes, but it’s certainly the type of course Droemer says he’s much more familiar with albeit without the major championship conditions.
“I mean being the third PGA Championship, every one I've felt more comfortable,” he said. “The golf course is a great fit. Obviously I just don't see these types of conditions too much, the rough. But I think it's a great golf course. It seems more like a second shot golf course. It is fairly generous off the tee. But obviously you have to start with getting the ball in the fairway, and you just really have to miss it in the right spots. But I do think it's a really good fit for my game, and I'm looking forward to it.”
Though a member of the Southern Texas PGA Section now, Droemer spent time in the Metropolitan PGA Section and gained a deep appreciation for course architecture, teeing it up at many classic designs by Seth Raynor and C.B. Macdonald.
“Working at Fishers Island being on a Seth Raynor golf course and being up in the Met Section, playing some C.B. Macdonald courses, and just seeing golf courses I'd never seen before, they're just so much more strategic, just very sophisticated golf courses, and I just kind of fell in love with the challenge of it,” he said. “So I think just getting on Raynor and C.B. Macdonald courses just made me fall in love with golf course architecture.”
Droemer said what he loves most about the PGA Championship is it gives 20 club professionals, “working-class people,” the opportunity, “to put their spikes on and tee it up against the best players in the world.”
But that doesn’t mean he’ll be sidetracked on the driving range getting his preparation in among the best players in the world.
“I grew up playing junior golf and college with a lot of these guys,” he said.
Don’t be surprised, however, if you see him rubbing elbows with some of the game’s top instructors. While being around the game’s top players might be fascinating for most, Droemer admits his biggest passion is as a teacher, helping kids. So those are the people he’s seeking out.
“Honestly, who I geek out the most over these instructors like Pete Cowan and some of those guys. So every time I'm here I try to introduce myself. I was just talking with Randy Smith, he spent some time with me. But honestly I'm more excited to talk to some of these coaches, which I know is kind of weird.”
Before the tee goes in the ground Thursday, Droemer has what he calls a “life-changing night” ahead of him this evening. As the PGA Professional Champion, he will be in attendance for Tuesday night’s Champions Dinner. He said it’s what he’s most looking forward to outside the ropes this week.
“I think being in a room with major champions and kind of hearing those stories and just being in that atmosphere is just a life-changing night,” Droemer said.