The PGA Championship at Aronimink has been moving at a glacial pace this week, and while players are taking much of the heat, the blame doesn't stop at their spikes. Taped outside the locker room, an official pace-of-play chart spells out exact time limits for each hole—16 minutes for a three-player group on the par-4 1st, 13 minutes on the par-3 5th, and 19 minutes on the par-5 16th, for example. Groups teeing off on No. 1 are expected to finish the front nine in 2 hours and 21 minutes, and the full 18 in no more than 4 hours and 44 minutes. Those starting on the 10th tee, like Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, and Cameron Young did Friday at 8:29 a.m., have their own set of targets.
But in major championship golf, the clock often feels like a suggestion. This week, the pace has been painfully slow—think 15-minute waits on tee boxes, three groups stacked on the same hole, and players sitting on the ground, backs against signage, just killing time. One early group reportedly took a staggering 5 hours and 40 minutes to finish a round. That's roughly the same time it takes to fly from Los Angeles to New York.
What's behind the logjam? A mix of gusting winds, rock-hard greens, and pin placements that Scottie Scheffler called "absurd." Add in the pressure of a major, a two-tee start, and the deliberate routines of the world's best golfers, and you've got a recipe for gridlock. As one observer put it, if the second round was a wheel, it desperately needed oil.
Tournament officials aren't ignoring the issue. According to the posted rules, a group is officially "out of position" if it completes a hole—meaning the last player's ball is out of the cup—after exceeding the maximum allowable time for that number of holes played. But policing a field of elite competitors, each with their own pre-shot rituals, is easier said than done. For fans watching at home or walking the course, the frustration is real. And for anyone who loves the game, it's a reminder that even at the highest level, pace of play remains a stubborn challenge.