Scottie Scheffler has commented on the reception he received from the crowds at Aronimink after getting off to an extremely impressive start to the PGA Championship on Thursday.
Scheffler’s start to the second major of the year will alarm virtually everyone in the field in Philadelphia. The world number one is tied for the lead after a remarkable opening round at Aronimink.
Many would have backed Scheffler to put himself in the mix from the early stages. But given the lack of star power at the top of the leaderboard, it is fair to say that he has an amazing opportunity to retain the Wanamaker Trophy.
In truth, Aronimink has proven to be a gem in the early stages of the PGA Championship .
Rory McIlroy dismissed the idea that there was a need for strategy off the tee . But those comments came back to haunt him as he got off to a poor start.
The golf course was prepared to trip players up consistently. Meanwhile, the crowd also played their part, with Scottie Scheffler suggesting that he was really impressed.
“I got chirped more than I expected for being a Cowboys fan, but it was all in good fun. I got quite a kick out of it. The fans were quite funny today,” he said.
“Philly is definitely a sports town. I said it a little in the beginning, I haven’t played much golf here and haven’t spent much time in the city, and I certainly won’t this week with it being a golf tournament.
“Yeah, it was a lot of fun. The crowd had some great energy today. There were some really cool spots on the golf course where you can kind of get punch bowl type of feel and the crowd can get loud.
“Like, I holed a nice putt on seven, and it was really loud.
“Another nice par putt on eight, and it was really loud. The crowd had a ton of energy, and it was really fun to play in front of them today.”
Scheffler made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes during his first round. However, the statistics drop the slightest hint that he could be ready to leave the rest of the field behind over the coming days.
According to Data Golf , Scheffler gained strokes on the field in every major category. Just five players were better on the greens than the 29-year-old, who gained 3.37 shots on the putting surfaces.
Meanwhile, he also picked up 1.25 shots off the tee. Scheffler managed to miss just one fairway all day around Aronimink.
He will not be complacent. The PGA of America clearly have the potential to make Aronimink extremely difficult over the next three rounds.
However, given that first rounds have been Scheffler’s Achilles heel in 2026, it feels extremely ominous that he already has a share of the lead with 54 holes to play.
