Shane Lowry is the latest golf star to criticise the setup for the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club.
The 39-year-old made the cut going into the final two rounds, but has largely struggled, which included hitting a tee shot described as “one of the worst ever” during a hugely disappointing Friday, and he has now voiced his complaint to organisers.
He told the BBC: “I think it is a great golf course, but I think it has been set up poorly. I guess people sitting at home can say ‘well people are making birdies and shooting good scores’ but that’s always going to happen with the best players in the world.
“I was happy to hear Rory [McIlroy and Scottie [Scheffler’s] comments yesterday because it wasn’t just me feeling it out there.
“I feel like you when you see the best players in the world struggling from 10-feet, you know there is something wrong somewhere. I think they got it wrong on the first two days, it was certainly a little bit easier today and it looks like that was maybe a reaction to the first two days, which is not right either
“We won’t to play a similar set up every day. You want to play a golf course that gets harder as the week goes on especially in these major championships. You look at the field, [and it is] so bunched, maybe that’s the reason for the set up the way it is.”
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As Lowry points out, McIlroy and Scheffler have also been left frustrated by the conditions at Aronimink, with the pair particularly vocal in their criticism of the pin placements.
The tightly-packed leaderboard – which many attribute to the poor course set-up – has at least laid the groundwork for a thrilling final round.
Sadly for Lowry, he finds himself out of contention after a double bogey at the 17th during his second round left him four over par heading into the weekend.
View 2 ImagesRory McIlroy was in agreement with Shane Lowry’s PGA Championship complaint
He stood at level par on his penultimate hole on Friday but watched his tee shot plunge into the water, prompting a Sky Sports commentator to declare it “the worst shot we’ve ever seen from Shane as a pro”.
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Alex Smalley sits as the outright leader at six under par, holding a two-shot cushion over the chasing pack. Ludvig Aberg, Jon Rahm, Nick Taylor, Aaron Rai and Matthias Schmid are all tied at T2.
Despite a dreadful opening round, McIlroy remains very much in the hunt to claim back-to-back majors, sitting level in third alongside 2024 PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed and Maverick McNealy.
The 2026 Masters champion is due to tee off at 2:05pm (7:05pm BST) and has been paired with Schauffele.