Hello friends,
Major week has reached the part where the storylines sound less like golf and more like a trainer’s room.
Rory McIlroy has a toe issue. Charley Hull is still dealing with ankle and back problems. Phil Mickelson is out for a family health matter. And somehow, Bryson DeChambeau appears to be preparing like a man who thinks sleep is optional.
More on that below.
-Harry Carlisle
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER we’ll get into:
Rory’s toe problem
Why everyone wants Scottie vs. Rory
Bryson’s major form and Aronimink prep
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Rory’s toe is now a major storyline
Rory’s toe issue cut short his Tuesday practice, turning a tiny injury into a real major-week subplot.
Rory McIlroy cut short his Tuesday practice round at Aronimink after three holes because of a blister issue under the nail of his right pinky toe. He reportedly had the nail removed and was looking for shoes that would make walking less painful before Thursday’s opening round.
That sounds small until you remember what a major actually asks a player to do: walk a long course, hit from uneven lies, stay balanced through speed, and repeat all of it for four days.
THE SIMPLE READ
Rory says he’ll be fine. But if the toe affects how he walks downhill, pushes off, or finishes his swing, it’s not nothing.
The cleanest storyline is still Scottie Scheffler VS Rory McIlroy.
They’ve been the two biggest gravity points in men’s golf, but they still haven’t given us the true Sunday back-nine major duel people keep imagining. One recent preview put it simply: the rivalry is obvious on paper, but the peaks rarely line up in the same major at the same time.
This week gives it another chance. McIlroy arrives as the Masters champion. Scheffler arrives as the defending PGA champion and world No. 1. They’re not paired together early, but that almost makes the tease better.
Bryson is very much in this
Bryson DeChambeau has quietly become one of the safest major bets in golf. His last three PGA Championship finishes: T4 in 2023, solo second in 2024, and T2 in 2025.
He was also already part of the early-week scene at Aronimink, with the PGA Championship site highlighting a practice round with Michael Block and a pretty intense range session that went late into Monday night.
COURSE NOTE
Aronimink’s tree debate
Aronimink before and after its restoration, with fewer trees and more room for modern strategy.
Today, the PGA Championship heads to Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia.
We covered Aronimink’s architecture earlier this week, so we won’t go crazy there today. But one course detail keeps popping up: tree removal.
Rory said removing trees at Aronimink takes away some strategy off the tee. Jon Rahm said he sees both sides, noting trees can matter for course identity, while also admitting fewer trees can let players be more aggressive. Xander Schauffele gave the blunt version: without trees, players can gouge it forward from rough instead of chipping out sideways.
WHY IT MATTERS
This is the modern course-design fight in one sentence: do you protect strategy with trees, or restore width and let angles, bunkers, rough, and greens do the work?
The Hole To Watch
No. 11, a 425-yard par 4, went from five bunkers to 20 after the restoration.
Which mean’s you’ll see different strategies right away off the tee. The aggressive line can open up the green, but it brings more sand into play. The safer line can still find the fairway, but leave them a tougher angle into the green.
So we’ll probably see players split into two groups:
The confident drivers will take on the bunker line to leave a cleaner approach.
The cautious planners will aim away from the worst sand, accept a longer or more awkward second shot, and try to avoid the big number.
LIV GOLF
Rahm, Bryson, and the different futures problem
Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Cameron Smith represent three very different versions of LIV’s uncertain future.
LIV’s biggest current story is still the same: what happens next?
Jon Rahm is at Aronimink trying to focus on a major while still carrying the bigger LIV question around with him. Rory McIlroy said this week that he was “glad” he was wrong about LIV becoming a long-term threat, while Rahm said he has no regrets and still trusts LIV leadership to find a path forward.
Bryson’s path looks different. He has major exemptions, a huge YouTube audience, and a brand that can live outside the normal tour schedule. If LIV gets smaller, Rahm needs a competitive structure. Bryson may need freedom more than structure.
LPGA Tour
Injuries everywhere, Charley edition
Charley Hull enters her title defense in Cincinnati while managing ankle and back issues.
The LPGA is in Cincinnati this week for the Kroger Queen City Championship at Maketewah Country Club, with a $2 million purse and Charley Hull as the defending champion.
But Hull’s title defense comes with a very real physical subplot. She has been dealing with ankle and back issues, and her driving distance has reportedly dropped from 273.21 yards in 2025 to 262.5 yards this season. That’s more than ten yards gone, which is a lot when your game is built partly on speed and aggression.
Hull’s injury history is also weirdly golf-adjacent in the most human way possible. The ankle problem traces back to a parking-lot fall where she heard it pop. The back issue has limited what she can do in the gym, which then affects speed, which then affects how she attacks a course.
WORLD
Ian Snyman is a first time winner
South African golf had a sneaky global week
South Africa had two very different international wins worth noticing.
Yurav Premlall won the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship in Spain by 14 shots, finishing at 28 under for his first DP World Tour title. That margin was one short of Tiger Woods’ famous 15-shot win at the 2000 U.S. Open.
Meanwhile, Ian Snyman won the Asian Tour’s Taiwan Glass Taifong Open for his first Asian Tour title in 83 starts. He made only three bogeys all week and won by two in Taiwan.
QUICK HITS
Short stuff worth knowing
Justin Rose returns to the Philadelphia area, where he has some of the best history of his career.
Justin Rose likes this area: Rose has a strong Philadelphia-area history, including his 2013 U.S. Open win at nearby Merion and a win plus a playoff loss at Aronimink. He also said the area feels familiar to where he lives in England.
The first round has serious featured groups: Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Åberg, and Rickie Fowler are together. Scottie Scheffler is with Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose. Rory McIlroy is with Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm.
BOGEY OR BRAINS
Your ball comes to rest on a cart path.
You know you get free relief, so you look around and see two options:
One side is fairway.
The other side is thick rough, but it’s slightly closer to where the ball is sitting.
Where do you drop?
A) The fairway, because free relief should give you a playable lie
B) The fairway, as long as it’s no closer to the hole
C) The nearest point of complete relief, even if that means rough
D) Either side, because cart path relief is always the player’s choice
ANSWER
C) The nearest point of complete relief
Under Rule 16.1, you find the nearest point where the cart path no longer interferes with your lie, stance, or swing, no closer to the hole. Then you drop within one club length of that spot.
Why it matters: This is the classic “nearest point, not nicest point” rule. Sometimes free relief puts you in a worse-looking place than the path.
Weekend golf note: In a casual round, your group may not care if you take the sensible grass side. But in a tournament, picking the prettier side can mean playing from the wrong place.
