Rory McIlroy and PGA Championship stars sent stark warning as video footage emerges
The golfing ace is battling it out for the second major championship of the year.
Rory McIlroy will begin his quest for a second major victory in a row when he tees off at Aronimink for the 108th PGA Championship. McIlroy conquered Augusta National for a second time last month, becoming just the fourth player in the history of golf to win back-to-back Masters titles.
Following his 2025 triumph, McIlroy took some time to steady himself, having admitted it took a lot out of him to reach golf’s summit. The six-time major champion will be hoping that isn’t the same this time around, as he looks to put his foot on the accelerator and secure what would be a third PGA Championship.
It’s 12 years since McIlroy last won the second major of the year, but if he’s to top the leaderboard this weekend, he’ll have to overcome some pretty challenging conditions at Aronimink Golf Club. The Pennsylvanian course is known to be one of the toughest tests on tour, with challenging bunkers and gnarly rough.
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However, it’s Aronimink’s greens that have demanded the most attention in the build-up to the PGA Championship, with McIlroy and his competitors having been sent a stark warning. It came in the way of a social media clip shared to X, whereby golf influencer Roger Steele shared a video of the slope on the 11th green at Aronimink.
Having tested it out during a practice round, Steele demonstrated how even the slightest bit of spin could see the ball fall off the front edge of the green. In fact, not only did the ball fall off the front edge, it didn’t stop rolling for a very, very long time.
Am I wrong for hoping this front pin on 11 at Aronimink mistreats a few this week? ?????? pic.twitter.com/NiJ4g0Y2LP
— Roger Steele (@RogerSteeleJr) May 12, 2026
All in all, from this particular experiment, the ball must’ve travelled at least 30 yards off the green, demonstrating just how important players’ approach shots will have to be. McIrloy opened up about the course in the build-up to this weekend’s tournament, saying: “We played the BMW there in 2018, but the course played a lot differently.
“It was wet in 2018 and the greens didn't play as fast or as severe as what I felt like they played last week when I played. It's not a long golf course, but the big defence is the greens and they can tuck the pins away if they want to. It was nice to get an early look at it. It just means that the week of the tournament you're not under pressure to play a lot of holes."
