Aronimink has provided a far tougher test for players at the PGA Championship than expected.
Some said the winning score could be as low as 20-under, which would threaten the lowest score in major championship history. But instead, four under par leads the field after two days of action.
The combination of wind, long rough, and tricky pin positions meant there were plenty of bogeys out there for players. But not Stephan Jaeger, who finished even par on Friday to keep him one shot off the lead.
And in doing so, he did something that’s only been done twice in the last 40 years at the PGA Championship.
Stephan Jaeger third player in 40 years of PGA Championship to make 18 pars in a round
Jaeger achieved his score of even par without a birdie or a bogey, and in doing so, he became the third player since 1986 to score 18 straight pars in a round at the PGA Championship.
The other two players to do so were Franklin Langham in 2001 at Atlanta Athletic Club and Richard Green in 2011 at Atlanta Athletic Club. Jaeger joined them in his second round in 2026.
Jaeger is also the first player to hold at least a share of the first round lead at the PGA and follow it up with a bogey-free round two since Nick Price in 1994. Price went on to win the event.
That’s the good news. The bad news is he didn’t make a birdie either, but you can’t have it all!
Stephan Jaeger says if he’s ever had a round with 18 pars before
It would usually be a frustrating day of golf to not record a single birdie, but not in this case for Jaeger. Aronimink was playing tough, but he held firm near the top of the leaderboard.
After his round, Jaeger said if he’s ever done this before: “I actually don’t know if I’ve ever made 18 pars. I just mentioned I think if you do it at John Deere, I think you’re not going to be too happy because the cut’s 5-, 6-, 7-under.
“But at a major it’s, you know, it’s an even par 70. But I actually I don’t know if I’ve made 18 pars in a round before. I feel like I have, but I don’t know that answer.”
It says a lot about a player’s level of optimism when they shoot 18 pars. On one hand, no birdies, on the other, no bogeys. So, which is Jaeger focusing on?
He said, “Yeah, I think the way I hit it today it could have easily been 3-, 4-under. If I made some putts like I did yesterday. I felt like I actually hit it better today than I did yesterday, which I think is a positive I’m going to take out of it.
“The golf course is not going to get easier on the weekend; it’s going to get firmer, it’s going to be a little hotter. So being able to hit it out of the fairway and give yourself those looks, that’s what I kind of kept telling myself, you know, just give yourself that 15 to 30 foot range where you can make a few.
“If you’re in the right spot you actually can hit a wedge close on the front nine for sure.”
If there’s no rain, which is what the forecast suggests, then expect an even tougher weekend of play around this brutally tough golf course.
