Where it Went Wrong at The PGA Championship - Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, and More

The PGA Championship has just concluded and Aaron Rai has conquered both Aronimink and professional golf. Since turning professional, Aaron has won on the Challenge Tour, then he won on the DP World Tour, then the PGA Tour, and now his legacy is changed as he’s become a major champion.

He did it in triumphant fashion, as well. A three-shot victory over the field that included an incredible finish where Rai went -6 in his last 10 holes at a time where all of the chasers were struggling to get anything going.

With so many names in the mix, it really seemed like the final round was going to be filled with chaos, and while at times it was, it seemed that Rai was the only one to really step up to the plate and go take this thing.

Here’s what went wrong for some of the top challengers in the final round.

Jon finished the third round on Saturday with an unfortunate three-putt bogey on 18. That meant he’d enter the final round two shots back of Alex Smalley, tied with eventual winner Aaron Rai, Matti Schmid, Ludvig Aberg, and more.

He got off to an ideal start in the final round, making birdie on his first two holes, but would make bogey on the third. With Smalley struggling, that meant he’d find himself tied for the lead briefly, but throughout his final 15 holes he would record just two more birdies, and add in one more bogey. His approach play and short game really weren’t dialed in, and that would be what eventually cost him the chance to complete the third leg of the career grand slam.

In the final round, Rahm ranked 40th in strokes gained: around the green, and 53rd in strokes gained: approach.

Many of his approach shots left him putts in the 18-30 foot range and with the drastic slopes around Aronimink, that wasn’t going to cut it. Throughout the final round he found himself needing to hit defensive lag putts, and wasn’t able to be aggressive. Adding to that, there were a couple of instances where he hit a great putt and it stopped just short of the hole.

It was always going to be a tough ask for Alex Smalley. Though he entered the final round with a two-shot lead, the idea of him recording his first professional win at a major championship felt a little far-fetched. Turned out that that was exactly the case.

On Saturday, he stumbled early and it looked like he’d completely fallen out of contention. He’d then birdie 6 of his last 10 holes and climb his way into the solo lead. Unfortunately for him, he stumbled out of the gates again. His short game and approach play really weren’t what we saw in the later part of the round on Saturday, though he was able to make par on the first five holes (that did require a 26-footer to drop on the third). It all felt a little unsustainable, and that did prove to be true as he made a double bogey on the sixth and another bogey on 8.

His closing nine holes were better, but with Rai charging, it was too little too late. He birdied 9, eagled 16, bogeyed 17, and birdied 18 to eventually finish in a tie for 2nd place with Jon Rahm.

You’ll often hear professional golfers speak of their routine and process that they really like to stick to. Smalley’s was undoubtedly disrupted after his third round blitz as he suddenly had cameras all over him, dozens of media obligations, and tremendous expectations. He’ll be better prepped should he find himself in that spot again, but it seemed to be too much for him this time around.

Ludvig Aberg yet again found himself in contention during the final round of a big event. I found myself worried that we’d get a glimpse of the massively right miss that’s plagued him in the past, notably at the Farmers Insurance Open this year and then again while he was leading The PLAYERS Championship.

That didn’t prove to be the case, and ultimately Aberg’s final round will be remembered as simply mediocre. His putter abandoned him a little bit at The Masters, then again last week at the Truist, and it was the same story in the final round of the PGA Championship.

In the final round, Aberg ranked 37th in the field in putting and 46th in approach play. He was missing greens in spots that left challenging up-and-downs, or putting himself in positions where he couldn’t be aggressive. When his game isn’t firing on all cylinders, he’s going to have to make more putts than expected, and that wasn’t happening. He missed a 3-footer on 10, and then another putt inside 10 feet on 14, and that was all she wrote. Some late birdies would make his finish look much more competitive than it actually was, but after the slow start, there was never much of a chance.

Believe it or not, Rory McIlroy’s wedge play was once again an issue for him. He’d start the final round three shots back of Alex Smalley, but just one shot back of eventual winner Aaron Rai. As the week went on, the course favored Rory’s style of play more and more, but his first round of 74 put him too far out of position to take advantage of that.

In the final round Rory would rank outside of the top 50 in strokes gained approach and around the green. He was getting off the tee just fine and his putting was strong, but everything in between wasn’t what it needed to be.

The perfect example of this was when he hit a 379-yard tee shot on the par-five 9th hole, leaving himself just 208 yards in. He’d make par on what was the easiest hole on the course.

After starting out so far behind the pace, he did play some great golf to get himself back in the mix, but coming back from 105th place at the end of round 1 proved to be too tall a task.

Early in the final round Joaco found himself in a tie for second place. From there on out, it wasn’t great. He’d struggled all week with the putter, especially in the first two rounds. Though it was better on Sunday, it will be remembered as what held him back from contending throughout the final round.

In rounds one and two Niemann ranked 102nd and 134th in putting, respectively. He improved tremendously in round three, but in round four would struggle again and rank 39th in putting.

He was the best player in the field off the tee, and one of the best tee-to-green, but just couldn’t seem to get the ball in the hole. He hit a terrible approach shot on 3 and made a miraculous bogey and then would miss makeable putts on 4 and 5. He missed short putts on 9 and 17, and then several other make-able birdie putts throughout the round, and that completely took him out of contention. Niemann would ultimately drop outside of the top 15, though he’ll leave this week with an internal belief that he is able to contend in major championships and a clear picture of what needs to be improved.