NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The PGA Championship is making a historic return to Delaware County next week, the first time since 1962. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend the championship at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Delaware County, from May 11 to 17.
Here’s what visitors need to know and what they can expect during the weeklong tournament.
Course prep
The Aronimink Golf Club closed to members in November so that the course would be in perfect shape for the PGA Championship. Tournament chairman Mike Lewers said it has taken a small army with thousands of volunteers and contractors to get everything done.
“It is unbelievable how much work goes into such a concentrated period of time,” he said.
More than 200 structures were built from scratch, covering about 750,000 square feet of floor space.
“Hospitality suites and viewing stands. It looks great. It’s going to provide great viewership for the audience,” he said.
To make the course a challenge for the best players in the world, Lewers said the course has also undergone some serious changes in the lead up to next week's PGA Championship.
“We added five new tees, narrowed some fairways," he said. "The current condition of the golf course, given that we closed it and given some of the changes that we’ve made to the golf course are nothing but exceptional.”
Feedback from recent practice rounds has been "excellent," according to Lewers.
Early contenders for the hardest holes are a 220-yard par 3 on hole 8 and a long par 4 on hole 15. But Lewers still thinks the tournament will come down to how players tackle the final two holes of the course.
“There’s some bunkers on the right side of the fairway on 18 that are going to make it a bit more of a challenge to get close to the pin on 18," he said.
PGA of America
PGA history
Lewers is a long-time Aronimink member, and he said it is a great honor to host again.
“[Aronimink was] completed in 1928, so it’s nearly 100 years old, and what’s amazing is that it still is a championship-level golf course,” he boasted.
Lewers said decades of investment and stewardship ensure Aronimink remains one of the best courses in the world. “So we’re thrilled to be back again, at it in 2026, and it’s going to be incredible,” he said.
Golf legend Gary Player won the PGA Championship the last time it was held at Aronimink. He took home $13,000 for his victory. This year’s winner will likely walk off with $3.5 million.
Economic impact
The region hopes the tournament will bring some big economic wins off the course.
Rob Macpherson with Visit Delco said visitors will be able to experience everything the county has to offer beyond the golf course. Visit Delco is collaborating with the PGA to highlight dining, leisure and lodging in the region, which visitors can find in the PGA app.
Macpherson said they’re feeling optimistic about a significant economic bump. In 2025, the county saw an increase of $100 million in visitation economic impact from the year before.
“And that’s without these major events,” he said. “That’s without something that’s going to bring 200,000 people to our community.
The tournament is also creating business opportunities for some local companies.
Lessin the Loads, a Delaware County-based laundry service, has been contracted to handle laundry for PGA Championship staff throughout tournament week.
Co-founder Allison Cook said the company will pick up, wash, dry, fold, and deliver laundry daily for the event.
“We are doing laundry for all the staff of the PGA during PGA week,” Cook said.
She said it will be all hands on deck for the company, which employs about 75 people, and expects to process hundreds of additional pounds of laundry each day.
“It’s definitely going to be hundreds and hundreds of extra pounds of laundry,” she said.
Cook called the contract a major milestone for the business.
“It’s an honor to be selected out of dozens and dozens of other local laundry services,” she said. “This is a small business’s dream come true.”
PGA estimates show the championship consistently generates more than $100 million for host regions.
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Know before you go
Parking and transportation
There will not be any on-site parking at Aronimink. Visitors are encouraged to take SEPTA’s Regional Rail to Paoli Station, where complimentary shuttles will transport them directly to the championship entrance. SEPTA is expanding train service to accommodate riders. It added five more trains to the Paoli-Thorndale Line for Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15, and nine more trains for the weekend rounds.
Regional Rail shuttle hours:
May 11 to 13 | 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
May 14 to 15 | 5:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
May 16 to 17 | 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Rideshares must drop off and pick up customers at 15 Campus Blvd., Newtown Square. Spectators can then take a 10-minute complimentary shuttle ride to the golf course.
Rideshare shuttle hours:
May 11 to 13 | 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
May 14 to 15 | 5:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
May 16 to 17 | 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Those driving to the event must use one of two pre-paid public parking lots, each with complimentary shuttle access. The Blue Lot is located at the Delaware County Veterans Memorial, 4599 West Chester Pike. The Red Lot is located at Delaware County Community College, 901 Media Line Road. Parking passes can only be purchased on SeatGeek.
General public shuttle hours:
May 11 to 13 | 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
May 14 to 15 | 5:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
May 16 to 17 | 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Road closures
St. Davids Road, from the roundabout at North Newtown Street Road to Papermill Road, will be closed with no through access, starting Monday, May 11, through Sunday, May 17, between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m.
North Newtown Street Road, from the roundabout at St. Davids Road to Wyola Drive, will be closed with no through access, starting Monday, May 11, through Sunday, May 17, between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m.
There will be no street parking or spectator drop-offs permitted throughout the week on Sawmill Road, Route 252, and North Newtown Road.
Spectator Guide
Use the PGA Championships app for tickets, navigation and real-time updates. See here for available ticket information.
All on-site purchases are cashless. Mobile and card payments are accepted.
Visit the PGA’s Spectator Guide for more information.
Food included
Curious about the food options? Gone are the days of the $10 hot dog and soda at the PGA Championship. Food and beverages are now included with every ticket to the tournament.
"A guest walks in, grabs their food, grabs their beverage, grabs a snack and walks out. We’ve removed any friction as it relates to food and beverage. The only point of sale on the golf course is at our pouring bars or our bar locations," said Eric Babcook with Patina Group, the tournament's food vendor.
Babcook said feeding 200,000 people in an all-you-can-eat style is no easy feat.
“What we do in seven days is what we’re seeing stadiums do 365 days a year. Over 100,000 burgers, 65,000 hot dogs, 6,300 bottles of vodka.”
PGA Championship of America Executive Chef Ed Milan said the burgers, dogs, sausages, chicken and salad they keep flowing all day are only possible because of their giant crew.
“We’ll have 58 executive chefs and over 300 cooks on site to make that happen.”
Babcook said when the championship is over, they will donate what they do not cook to food pantries.
“It roughly comes out to about 35,000 meals to the local economy.”
PGA Championship field
Scottie Scheffler, left, leans to watch Cameron Young's putt on the ninth green during the final round of the Cadillac Championship PGA golf tournament Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Doral, Fla. AP Photo/David J. Phillip
There are 154 players in the field for the 108th PGA Championship. Players are listed only in the first category for which they qualified. Two spots are being held in case winners of the Truist Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic are already eligible:
PGA Champions (Lifetime)
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, Shaun Micheel.
Masters champions (5 years)
Jon Rahm.
U.S. Open champions (5 years)
J.J. Spaun, Bryson DeChambeau, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick.
British Open champions (5 years)
Brian Harman, Cameron Smith.
Players Championship winners (3 years)
Cameron Young.
Top three from Federation Ranking of the OWGR on April 27
Casey Jarvis, Travis Smyth, Kazuki Higa.
Senior PGA champion
Stewart Cink.
Top 15 and ties from the 2025 PGA Championship
Harris English, Davis Riley, Taylor Pendrith, J.T. Poston, Jhonattan Vegas, Ryan Gerard, Ben Griffin, Joe Highsmith, Si Woo Kim, Denny McCarthy, Joaquin Niemann.
Top 20 from the PGA Professional Championship
Jesse Droemer, Ben Kern, Michael Kartrude, Tyler Collet, Zach Haynes, Garrett Sapp, Austin Hurt, Braden Shattuck, Mark Geddes, Ben Polland, Michael Block, Bryce Fisher, Ryan Lenahan, Jared Jones, Francisco Bide, Chris Gabriele, Derek Berg, Ryan Vermeer, Paul McClure, Timothy Wiseman.
U.S. and European rosters from the 2025 Ryder Cup
Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka.
PGA Tour winners dating to the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge
Ryan Fox, Aldrich Potgieter, Brian Campbell, Chris Gotterup, William Mouw, Kurt Kitayama, Steven Fisk, Michael Brennan, Adam Schenk, Sami Valimaki, Jacob Bridgeman, Nico Echavarria, Akshay Bhatia, Ricky Castillo, Gary Woodland, Alex Fitzpatrick.
Top 70 from the PGA Championship points list (official PGA Tour money from May 11, 2025, through May 3, 2026)
Maverick McNealy, Rickie Fowler, Corey Conners, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee, Harry Hall, Jake Knapp, Nick Taylor, Adam Scott, Daniel Berger, Sam Stevens, Matt McCarty, Nicolai Hojgaard, Jordan Spieth, Andrew Novak, Ryo Hisatsune, Max Greyserman, Alex Noren, Michael Thorbjornsen, Pierceson Coody, Alex Smalley, Bud Cauley, Patrick Rodgers, Chris Kirk, Michael Kim, Sahith Theegala, Matti Schmid, Matt Wallace, Andrew Putnam, Emiliano Grillo, David Lipsky, Rico Hoey.
Top three from the 2026 European tour Asian Swing
Mikael Lindberg, Bernd Wiesberger, Jordan Gumberg.
Special invitations
Luke Donald, Patrick Reed, Marco Penge, Aaron Rai, Kristoffer Reitan, David Puig, Thomas Detry, Jayden Schaper, Jordan Smith, Johnny Keefer, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Sungjae Im, Max McGreevy, Haotong Li, Garrick Higgo, John Parry, Austin Smotherman, Elvis Smylie, Lucas Glover, Daniel Hillier, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Daniel Brown, Stefan Jaeger, Adrien Saddier, Tom McKibbin, Dustin Johnson, Andy Sullivan, Angel Ayora, Keith Mitchell, Chandler Blanchet, Billy Horschel, Ian Holt, Kota Kaneko, Max Homa.
Alternates
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Tom Hoge, Kevin Yu, Mac Meissner, Tony Finau, Kevin Roy, Davis Thompson.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
