The forecast is always a consideration for any golf tournament, especially the majors, but the PGA Championship weather could have massive implications this week at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia.
For the most part, the weather looks OK, especially for the northeast in mid-spring, where things can be fairly unpredictable. If there’s any weather to monitor, it might come before tees even go in the ground, and it could have a significant impact on how the course plays, at least in Round 1.
PGA Championship Weather: Early Rain Could Mean Low Scores
All in all, the weather looks rather pleasant, but forecasts for rain on late May 13 into the early-morning hours of May 14 — Round 1 — could affect the course. According to WindFinder.com, there’s a chance for up to a quarter-inch of rain overnight. The good news for the first round is that system would likely clear out by 8 a.m. ET.
Outside of that, things look pretty dry the rest of the weekend.
The full PGA Championship weather forecast, per the National Weather Service:
Thursday, May 14: Showers, thunderstorms before 3 am, then showers likely … partly sunny with high near 66, winds 10 to 15 mph
Friday, May 15: Mostly sunny, high near 69, winds 10 to 15 mph
Saturday, May 16: Sunny, high near 80
Sunday, May 17: Sunny, with high near 87
Ultimately, it seems the rain won’t be a major factor, but keep an eye on players going out early in Round 1, who could have the slight draw advantage to set the pace early.
What PGA Championship Weather Means for Contenders
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler talked about just how important the weather could be this week at Aronomink. If the course plays soft, and balls aren’t running through fairways with the greens easy to hold, it’s going to be hard for the course to put up much of a defense. And if that’s the case, the field opens way up.
“Right now with it playing firm, it’s playing really nice,” Scheffler said at his press conference. “The fairways are hard to hold, and the greens have a lot of slope and a lot of pitch to them. So it’s going to be challenging. If they can stay firm like this, I think it’s going to be an awesome test.”
Right now, it looks like that will be the case. However, if the rain ends up being more than expected, it might take away any advantage a player like Scheffler has and could really open things up for players looking to bomb and gouge.
“When you have greens that have a ton of pitch back to front and they’re really soft, it’s easier to take off spin when you’re in the rough,” Scheffler explained. “So the reward for hitting the fairway is not that great, but if you look at this golf course when it’s firm, the fairways are hard to hit. Then if you want to get the ball close to a lot of these pins, you have to control your spin and control your distance really well, which is not that easy to do out of the rough. It’s easy to take off spin, but it’s not easy to control the spin, if that makes sense.”
The Fried Egg’s Andy Johnson put it even more succinctly during the PGA Championship preview episode of “The Shotgun Start” this week.
“If they get significant rain this week, it’s going to be a shooting gallery,” Johnson said.
Luckily, it appears — for now, at least — that won’t be the case.
PGA Championship Weather: Forecast for Aronimink Golf Club