Justin Rose disagrees with Scottie Scheffler’s controversial comments about Aronimink

“You can’t have it both ways, I guess. You can’t have 40-yard-wide fairways and middle-of-the-green pins. I’ve heard Scottie say it’s probably the hardest set of pins he’d seen. That didn’t strike me as being the case, but yeah, when you think about it, they were incredibly challenging.

“I think today, being a moving day, I think — I believe the pins have been set for four days, because there’s dots out on the greens. It’s not like they’re making adjustments, this feels like it’s been pretty planned out, and you can see where the pins are going to be tomorrow by little dots out on the green. So I think there’s been a strategy and a plan for the tournament.

“I think the course held up incredibly well from a scoring point of view the first two days. Obviously there was some cold, breezy weather. It is warming up, and I think that makes a big difference. Suddenly the ball is going a bit further. I think players feel a little bit better in T-shirts, and the body works a bit better, people start hitting the ball a little bit further.

“So all those things combined today, I think, just kind of made it a few shots easier.”

Rose is one of the few players to give glowing compliments to the course and its setup, and that attitude has put the victory in sight for the Englishman.

The difference Justin Rose noticed in Aronimink on Saturday compared to the first two days

Aronimink was playing totally differently on Saturday compared to the first two rounds. Some of the pin placements were easier, but there were still tough looks out there. To shoot a 65, Rose still had to play incredibly well.

Speaking after his round, he said what differences he noticed in the setup: “Not markedly different. I think just sort of subtly different. That probably makes a big difference. I think we’ve seen a lot of pins on crowns and edges.

“The first hole, actually, the pin was way back on a crown, so I kind of felt like, oh, it’s going to be much of the same kind of thing.

“I felt like think the pins are just a bit more predictable. The reason, I think when the pins get off of those little knobs and crowns, they’re not so much easier to get at, but they’re easier to putt at.

“Brian Harman in my group putted beautifully. I made some putts. I thought the pins were a little bit more easy to read. And the greens are in such good shape, so I think guys were making putts.

“Although, to be honest, the last kind of hour we were on the golf course, it started to feel tricky. The wind was picking up. It was shifting around a little bit. I don’t think you’re just going to see everybody run through the field and shoot 65 today.

“Still 5-under par is low score of the day. Obviously, anyone can go and better that this afternoon, but I don’t see it being a ton of guys going out and shooting low this afternoon.”

The PGA of America have this golf course exactly where they want it, and whatever their grand finale is on Sunday, there are bound to be fireworks.

• READ MORE: Why Scottie Scheffler has been treated totally unfairly by golf fans during the PGA Championship