Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry Both Whine About PGA Championship Setup

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were both unhappy with the conditions at the 2026 PGA Championship.

McIlroy, who has won back-to-back Masters championships, sounded off on the conditions at the Pennsylvania course over the weekend.

"I think a bunched leaderboard like this, I think it's a sign of a not-great setup...it hasn't really enabled anyone to separate themselves. It's easy to make a ton of pars...it feels like bogey's the worst score you're going to shoot on any one hole," he said.

He wasn't the only one to criticize the course setup, either.

McIlroy's best friend on the PGA Tour, Shane Lowry, was also highly critical of the course conditions at the PGA Championship.

Lowry sounds off on PGA Championship conditions

Lowry, who finished in 44th place, sounded off.

"I think it's a great golf course, but I think it has been set up pretty poorly," Lowry said following the third round. "And I guess that people sitting at home on the couch can say, ‘Well, people are making birdies, some people are shooting good scores.' That's always going to happen, they're the best players in the world."

Lowry, though, didn't stop there.

"I feel like when you see the best players in the world struggling from 10 feet, you know that there's something wrong somewhere," Lowry continued. "I think they got it wrong the first two days. It looks like they've…it was certainly a little bit easier today, and it looks like that's kind of maybe a reaction to the first two days, which is not right either, you know.

"We want to play a similar setup every day, you want to play a golf course that gets harder as the week goes on, especially in these major championships."

Aaron Rai ended up winning the PGA Championship on Sunday, posting an impressive -9 for the tournament.

Copyright The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:53 AM.