There’s officially no doubt about it: For the next seven days, Philadelphia is a golf town.
Thanks to the Sixers, who saw themselves out of the NBA playoffs in a sweep at the hands of the I-95 rival Knicks, the runway is officially clear for major championship golf’s grand return to Philly this week. Aronimink Golf Club, one of Philly’s plethora of golden-age, generally beloved golf clubs, will play host to the latest edition of the PGA Championship.
Last year, the golf world saw Philly’s golf bona fides when it felt like half the city showed up to Philadelphia Cricket Club for the Truist Championship, which was rescheduled to Philly to make space for the PGA at Quail Hollow. Now, the big show itself is in town, and catching the golf world at a time when the intrigue is at an all-time high. So before you watch this weekend (on CBS or ESPN), and before the spin of the big week sinks its teeth into you, let’s run through the biggest stories worth paying attention to.
8 biggest PGA Championship storylines
8. What the hell is happening with LIV?
The golf world has lapsed into a state of prolonged confusion about the broader machinations of LIV in the wake of the Saudi retreat. But the questions are only getting louder. Case in point: My colleague Alan Bastable’s interview with LIV CEO Scott O’Neil from LIV Virginia, in which the head of the embattled league admitted they were still owned almost entirely by the Saudis, and did not comment on whether that meant the Saudis retained decision-making control over potential future investors in the league.
The questions will surely continue for the weekend in Philly, where — much like the U.S. Open at LACC just a few short years ago — the action has already been set against the backdrop of broader LIV confusion.
7. What’s happening with LIV’s star players?
The funny thing about major weeks in the LIV era is that they serve as some of the few times that everybody in the golf world mingles. This week, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau will be in the same place as Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth. Presumably, they’ll find some things to talk about regarding the current state of affairs.
Of course, the stakes for Aronimink aren’t exactly Yalta, so we probably shouldn’t be expecting any tectonic movements in the golf world to emerge from PGA week, but rest assured, people will be talking.
6. What’s happening with *the rest* of LIV’s players?
Nobody will be losing sleep about the long-term competitive prospects of players like Talor Gooch, who surrendered his major championship future at arguably his career’s highest watermark for a LIV contract, and now has his very own team (OKGC, nee Brooks Koepka’s Smash GC). But perhaps we oughta be thinking about him!
Gooch is one of a handful of players from the LIV midfield who could be disproportionately impacted by the radical change likely coming to the league in the next 12 months. Unlike Rahm and DeChambeau, who will have sponsors and major-championship invites and competitive futures no matter what happens to LIV, players like Gooch sacrificed their status for the chance at life-changing money. Fortunately, they got their paydays. Unfortunately, their futures are now in greater question than ever before.
Ironically, Gooch (whose martyrdom around some of the major championship drama of the early LIV days earned him some flak) won’t be in the field this week at the PGA after receiving a special exemption in 2024. It’s a fitting glimpse into the state of the LIV midfield, and it raises the stakes on those who did make it into the field at Aronimink to show well. The tournament could have future employment potential at stake.
5. The year of Rory?
Last year, I remember being struck by the vision of Rory McIlroy, who arrived at the PGA Championship. After his thrilling win at Augusta National, I figured McIlroy would be floating on air — and carrying the kind of calm of someone without anything left to prove. It led me to predict that he’d win a bunch more majors, perhaps as soon as 2025.
Then he showed up at Quail Hollow looking cantankerous, abrasive and generally peeved. He never quite moved on from that worldview for the rest of the ’25 major season.
It wasn’t until he arrived at Augusta National for the first time as champion that the switch flipped. McIlroy arrived in 2026 at the Masters with all of the quiet, self-assured confidence I assumed I’d see from him in Quail Hollow. Then he won his second green jacket, and talked about resetting after feeling as if the grand slam was his career’s final “destination.” He said he’s found new hunger and enthusiasm in competing in the majors in this stage of his life — and if that’s true, this week could provide confirmation of a new kind of Rory.
4. Where art thou, Scottie?
Far be it from me to suggest that Scottie Scheffler is not playing great golf. He’s still the No. 1 player in the world. He’s still the biggest threat to win every tournament he plays in. He’s still pretty good at playing a really, really hard sport — as he often reminds us with a chuckle.
But Scottie Scheffler has not been the same untouchable force in 2026 that he was in most of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
A couple of thoughts on that: 1. It’s not inherently a bad thing that this is true — Scheffler would have to be the greatest golfer in history to survive half a decade without a single lull in his game, and even then it might be unrealistic to think. 2. It’s not as if Scheffler’s “fall off” has been pronounced: DataGolf’s world rankings still have him as the best player in the world by three-quarters of a shot. 3. It’s still early in the season — early enough that a victory would quickly remove these conversations in their entirety.
In other words, Aronimink is Scottie’s chance to make us all shut up.
3. Forever Young
Hard to picture a player who better fits the profile of a winner this week than Cam Young, a burly northeasterner playing a burly northeast golf course. Young has been playing the best golf of his life in 2026, grabbing wins at the Players Championship and Doral en route to a career-best OWGR rank of World No. 3.
He profiles as the kind of ball-striker to win at least one major championship in his career, and his recent success in normal golf tournaments and major championships suggests his game is peaking in time for this week. This is a storyline worth monitoring.
2. New leadership
If you’ve only been paying attention to golf’s myriad other existential shakeups, it’s possible you’ve missed the leadership challenges happening at the PGA of America, where new CEO Terry Clark will preside over his first major championship since taking over for the brief tenure of Derek Sprague.
Clark has his plate full already at the PGA of A, including addressing matters of the golf ball rollback, the PGA Championship’s role in the greater golf hierarchy, the development of a true championship identity and the path to avoiding the persistent rake-steps that have dominated the governing body’s last several years ($800 Ryder Cup tickets and World No. 1 player arrests among them). We’ll get our first glimpse at his governing philosophy during a presser this week, and we’ll be paying close attention to what comes next.
1. Philly, baby!
Philadelphia is one of pro golf’s most overlooked cities, and there’s no really good reason for it. There might be no metro area in the United States with a better combination of great golf courses and rabid golf fans. The city will play a major role in the fun this week, and hopefully make a good case for golf in a regular major-championship rotation.
