Ben Kern was the only club pro to make the cut at the 2026 PGA Championship, an incredible accomplishment made even more amazing by the fact that he made more birdies over the first two days at Aronimink than all of the best players in the world Not bad for a guy whose day job is being the general manager of Hickory Hills Golf Club in Ohio But Ben is also probably the only guy who posted four scores from Aronimink for handicap purposes.
And, yes, his Handicap Index dropped as a result. RELATED: Aaron Rai (kinda) breaks this major curse with PGA victoryOn Wednesday, the USGA noted that Kern dutifully entered his scores into the GHIN system, including that Friday 67 that went down as a -6.7(!) Scoring Differential.
That took Kern’s Handicap Index down (or is it up when you’re a plus-handicapper?) to a +6.4, meaning he’d be giving at least six strokes to a scratch golfer in a match. And he’ll be giving more strokes to anyone the next time he tees it up in a friendly game at his club.
(We actually just wrote about how Handicap Indexes work and what it really means to be a scratch golfer. )Perhaps the most amazing part of all? Kern’s 67 in the PGA Championship isn’t even the best Scoring Differential on his card of the past 20 rounds.
In fact, he has TWO better scores, a -6.9 from April and a -6.8 from last August. But something tells us he’d pick that second round at the PGA as his best round. Regardless, the dude can freaking play–especially considering the fact that he has a day job.
RELATED: What does it mean to be a scratch golfer? Probably not what you think
