Philly's PGA moment is finally taking shape — snow and all
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Snow-packed grounds will give way this spring to lush fairways as Philly nears its first men's PGA Championship in decades.
Why it matters: Golf lovers and luddites alike will pack into Aronimink Golf Club to watch the world's best players tee off — and to people-watch the celebrities and powerbrokers who come in for the major championship.
The big picture: Philly has one of the busiest sports dockets of any city in the country, and yet PGA general chair Michael Lewers is still billing the event as the "opportunity of a lifetime" that's "right down the street."
- The PGA Championship, running May 11–17, is, according to organizers, expected to draw about 200,000 people to the region, generate roughly $125 million in economic impact, and rely on 3,300 volunteers — some traveling from across the country.
- The course has hosted many signature PGA events, including the 2018 BMW Championship and 2020 Women's PGA Championship.
The latest: Corporate hospitality and Championship+ grounds tickets are sold out, but practice-round tickets are still available, and last-minute buyers can still turn to the secondary market.
- Event organizers are moving through their final checklist this month — installing infrastructure, training volunteers and readying the course once the snow thaws.
What they're saying: "You're building a city," Lewers says.
Here are four reasons event organizers say Philadelphians must attend:
1. You wouldn't skip out if the Super Bowl or Final Four were in town.
The PGA Championship is basically that for golf — right up there with the Masters.
- Tiger Woods won the tourney four times, but never in Philly.
Aronimink's last winner: Gary Player, a golfing legend and contemporary of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, who won the tourney in 1962.
- Plus: The Philly region must wait four more years to host another golf major — the 2030 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.
2. It's the perfect place to people-watch.
A constellation of stars is expected to attend this year's event, including many well-known Philly athletes, Lewers says.
Flashback: Justin Bieber and Olympian Michael Phelps were spotted at the tournament when Charlotte hosted it in 2017.
- Case in point: Country star Luke Bryan, an avid golfer, is playing a members-only concert ahead of the Philly tourney and could be among the spectators on the course.
3. Majors unite the fractured golf world.
Even if you don't care about golf, this is a rare détente in a billion-dollar sports civil war.
Who's playing: PGA Tour stars, including last year's winner Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, are expected to compete alongside LIV defectors Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
Yes, but: It's not just the sport's millionaire superstars.
- Twenty of the 156 players competing are club pros — the super-skilled everyday guys teaching lessons and running local courses — who qualified through regional tourneys.
- They're unlikely to contend, but they get to tee it up alongside the best in the world — a reminder of the sport's roots, not just its elite gloss.
4. The course is an oldie but a goodie.
It still needed a six-figure polish to make it championship-ready, tailored to challenge golfers who absolutely blast the ball off the tee, Lewers says.
Flashback: Prolific architect Donald Ross — whose prints are on hundreds of golf courses created in an "era of hickory shafts and gutta-percha golf balls" — designed Aronimink in 1928, and it has hosted several majors over the years.
By the number: The course: 18 holes, 7,400 yards, par 70
- Pro golfers can drive the ball an average of 306 yards, so the course has been modified to account for that.
- Tee boxes were pushed back, fairways narrowed, greens sped up — and the course will feature some "nasty" rough, Lewers says.
- And yet the winner will still likely post a double-digit score under par.
The bottom line: What you see is what you get at Aronimink, Lewers says — a classic brain-over-brawn battle among the best of the best, in a year when Philly is showcasing its best.