Many PGA Championship players were left surprised by Aronimink during the tournament

Some players, however, were not so enamoured by Aronimink. Why some players were caught off-guard by Aronimink at the PGA Championship Shane Lowry said the PGA of America got the setup wrong , while Rory McIlroy had to clarify his own criticism during the tournament. McIlroy felt that the congested leaderboard proved that mistakes were made, with players unable to really separate themselves regardless of how well they were playing.

The Northern Irishman had hit the headlines ahead of the event, with McIlroy suggesting that strategy off the tee was not required around most of the course. Those who felt they could drive it anywhere were in for a nasty surprise, however. Only Aaron Rai was able to post a score lower than six under par for the week.

Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images And speaking on Fried Egg Golf , Trevor Immelman discussed why Aronimink caught so many off-guard. “The players that I’d spoken to that had made trips up there, the general consensus was you’re going to have so many wedges and so many scoring opportunities to be able to attack. I think part of that is the mental aspect when you’re going on a scouting trip, where you’re playing a practice round, there’s no consequence.

Part of it is that the conditions were more benign when they went up there,” he said. “And then also the hole locations that were being used during those practice rounds were softer. So you now start to add not just the pressure of competing in a major championship, but all of a sudden the hole location on 10 on Sunday is pushed a yard further right, closer to the fall-off, and you start to throw some wind in there.