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The Hidden Week of a Major Championship No One Sees
Sam Day, TaylorMade’s European Tour Manager, works week in, week out with players on the DP World Tour to fine-tune performance at the highest level. This week he traveled to Pennsylvania to support Angel Ayora, Jayden Schaper and Casey Jarvis, and he's shared an inside view of the practice days at Aronimink Golf Club.
Honestly, I didn’t really want to leave.
You get some weeks like that in this job — where everything just clicks. The golf course, the players, the atmosphere… it all comes together and you realise pretty quickly you’re part of something special.
This was one of those weeks.
You always know quite early what kind of week it’s going to be.
This one didn’t take long.
Everything about Aronimink was pure. The fairways had perfect definition, the rough was thick and sitting up, and the greens looked immaculate. You could see straight away what it was going to demand.
It’s one of those where you walk up to the first tee and think, yeah… this is proper.
From a set-up point of view, it’s very different to what the guys are used to week-to-week in Europe. Over here, it’s bigger. Longer. More exposed.
If you can carry it 300+ and get it in play, you’re setting yourself up.
For someone like Angel Ayora, that’s ideal. He can hit driver on holes where he’d normally lay back — really use that length and take it on.
But it’s not just about power. Miss the fairway and you’re in trouble. The rough’s heavy, the ball sits down and controlling it into those greens becomes really difficult.
And the greens… that’s where the proper work was done early in the week. Loads of movement, plenty of slope — get above the hole and it gets tricky quickly.
So, a lot of the time we were out there, it wasn’t just about ball striking — it was understanding where the misses had to be.
You can tell quickly who’s comfortable. Not on the range — everyone looks good there. It’s on the course. How quickly they commit, how they see it.
And from my side, watching those early practice rounds play out, that tells you everything.
If I had to sum all that up without overcomplicating it…What a place.
Tuesday was one of those days.
Jayden Schaper’s clubs didn't arrive, so the job was simple — build a full bag, and build it quickly.
We got on the truck early and four of us went straight to work. Luckily, I’d taken a full spec of his bag earlier in the year — all the details, weights, everything — so we weren’t starting from scratch.
We had the full set built in about two hours and ready to go mid-morning. From there, it was just about dialling everything back in.
To be fair, it turned into a positive.
We found him a little bit of extra ball speed in the driver, so it’s likely something he’ll stick with going forward.
Every cloud.
Casey Jarvis did some testing with a new driver shaft — nothing drastic, just a slightly different feel — but it helped him start it a touch more left, which is what you need on a golf course like this. In Europe, he can rely on that fade more. Out here, you’ve got to launch it and carry everything.
In terms of setups, no one really went down the Mini Driver route. It just didn’t suit the golf course.
Everything pointed back to control off the tee, while still having the ability to carry it where you need to. By the end of the day, it’s not about how many options you have. It’s about trusting the one you’ve chosen.
The simplest way to describe Tuesday? Putting out fires.
By Wednesday, everything’s calm.
If you’re still searching at that point, you’re probably in the wrong place.
Most things are set. It’s just small checks, small confirmations.
I also had a check on Scottie Scheffler’s clubs that day, working through lofts and lies. It sounds straightforward, but that level of precision matters — especially when you know the numbers are exactly where they should be.
That attention to detail means more in a major.
The rest of the day was about being out there, watching, letting it all unfold from inside the ropes.
We managed to get Angel Ayora out with Rory McIlroy for nine, and Casey Jarvis went out with Tommy Fleetwood.
That’s probably one of the best parts of the week.
Those opportunities don’t come around often — getting to see how the best in the world prepare, how they think their way around a golf course.
It’s massive.
Regardless of what happens, they’ll come away better players from that experience alone.
And that’s something being part of Team TaylorMade really gives them.
By then, the test is clear.
You’ve got to be straight.
You’ve got to be long.
You just can’t switch off. That’s major championship golf.
By now, there’s no point overthinking it, let’s get at it lads!
If you want to see more from Sam on the DP World Tour, give him a follow on Instagram
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