Martin Kaymer opened the 2026 PGA Championship with a three-under 67 at Aronimink and finished Thursday tied for the lead, a first round that put the two-time major winner back in the center of a championship he once owned. The German started on the back nine, birdied 11 and 12 to get to two under, then added two more birdies against one bogey on the way home.
That left Kaymer in a seven-way tie for the lead after the first round, a position that carried real weight for a player who won this event in 2010 at Whistling Straits in a playoff over Bubba Watson and added the 2014 U.S. Open, when he briefly reached No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The round also mattered because he had missed the cut at the PGA Championship last season and had become less visible in recent years amid injuries and his move to LIV Golf.
Kaymer said he has felt better in recent weeks, even if the results have not fully shown it. “I’ve been playing well the last two, three events out on LIV. I didn’t have good result, but I was playing well. And I knew I find more consistency. I really enjoy playing this golf course. Monday, Tuesday, I had so much fun on the golf course. I think it really suits my eye. It’s a very fair test. Great for the PGA Championship,” he said.
The week also gave him a sharper edge before the opening round. On Tuesday night at the Champions Dinner, an official with the PGA of America asked whether he was still playing professionally, Kaymer said. He answered: “Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I’m not flying from Europe to here to have a New York strip with you guys, you know, of course I’m playing.”
He said the exchange stayed with him. “That really motivated me,” Kaymer said. The comment landed in a week when past champions were gathered with defending champion Scottie Scheffler, and it underlined how far Kaymer has slipped from the top tier of weekly contenders. He skipped the 2023 PGA Championship because it was scheduled between two LIV events, and last season he qualified only for this championship before missing the cut.
Thursday’s opening round suggested there is still something left in the 40-year-old’s game when the setup fits. Whether that holds for three more days is the next test, but the first one was clear enough: Martin Kaymer is back on a major leaderboard, and he will not be easy to dismiss after one round at Aronimink.
