PGA Championship bosses send message to whining superstars following criticism from Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler

PGA Championship bosses are not backing down at Aronimink with the course set up to be tough once more on Saturday.

The PGA of America have confirmed the hole locations for Round 3 in the second major of the year and there are some tricky pins again.

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While it would appear to be slightly easier than the first two days, course chiefs have stuck to their guns with the difficult set-up amid criticism from golf’s star players.

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have been among those to voice their displeasure with some of the flag positions for the PGA Championship over the first two days.

McIlroy said on Friday that Aronimink is ‘not a great set-up’ while Scheffler called it ‘kind of absurd’.

But it would appear things aren’t going to get much easier for the best in the game.

The first five holes for Saturday’s third round all have holes cut less than seven yards from runoff slopes while holes 8, 12 and 17 have pretty diabolical locations.

The par 3s are all cut at the front meaning landing the ball close will be tough and risk spinning it off the front of the green.

The final hole is also cut next to a massive slope on the 18th green meaning it could be another day of attrition at Aronimink.

The weather is also set to be hot and sunny over the weekend which will only make the greens even harder to play on.

Amid the tough conditions, Alex Smalley and Maverick McNealy top the leaderboard, sitting at four-under-par.

But a staggering 58 players are within six shots of the lead meaning the tournament is wide open for moving day.

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While many fans and pundits have applauded the unexpectedly tough nature of Aronimink this week, the players have been less pleased.

After his second round, Scheffler said: “Most of the pins today were kind of absurd. 

“I was a bit surprised how far they pushed a lot of these pin locations.

“It’s difficult to get the ball close to the hole. It’s difficult to hole putts, especially when you have big slopes and wind, and I think that’s why you see the scores so close to par.”

McIlroy added: “I think a bunched leaderboard like this, it’s a sign of not a great set-up. 

“I think when it’s as bunched as it is, it hasn’t really enabled anyone to separate themselves.”

Fans, on the other hand, have enjoyed seeing the world’s best struggle.

Following the PGA Championship’s confirmation of Saturday’s hole locations, one fan said: “Please induce more whining from the best players in the world.”

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Another said: “They heard all this ‘players are gonna eat this course alive’ bulls*** and said hold my beer.”

A third added: “Respect. Heard a bunch of players whining, and the response was a classic: ‘I’ll give you a reason to cry.’”

And this fan concluded: “PGA is not going to make it easy … going to have to bring your A Game to win this one!”

The leading duo of Smalley and McNealy will begin their third rounds at 7:40pm UK time.

Scheffler has been paired with David Puig and will tee off at 6:40pm while McIlroy is with Brooks Koepka at 4pm.

talkSPORT will have live updates from Aronimink throughout the evening.