The first round of the 108th PGA Championship produced an unusually crowded leaderboard, the report says, with seven players tied for the lead at 3-under, including defending champion and four-time major winner Scottie Scheffler, and 48 players within three shots of the lead — the most at a major championship ever.
The report says windy conditions and tricky greens at Aronimink Golf Club combined with the jam-packed leaderboard to create a compelling opening day. Scheffler put together one of only three opening rounds in the 60s he has had in nine events this year, missing only one fairway and gaining over three strokes on the field with his putting to finish Thursday with a 3-under 67. “Definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year,” Scheffler said, adding that the leaderboard was tight and “at this moment, it’s anybody’s tournament.”
Rory McIlroy’s opening round stood in stark contrast, per the report. He posted a 4-over 74, called the round “s—,” and said he is struggling with his driver. McIlroy hit only five of 14 fairways and “lost nearly a half stroke off the tee,” the report says, noting that the two-time Masters champion had led the tour in that statistic coming into the week but was 91st in driving accuracy at 57.8 percent. According to stats guru Justin Ray, it was the first time McIlroy made bogey or worse in each of the final four holes in 990 rounds in majors.
The report highlights Xander Schauffele’s round as quietly impressive, with the 2024 PGA champion describing a long lag putt after going over the green on No. 8 as a key moment. Schauffele said he could not quickly pick a most impressive shot from the day and settled on that lag putt, which he considered “a really big moment for me.”
There is still much golf to be played, the report says, and Thursday’s opening round suggested the combination of a deep leaderboard and the challenges of Aronimink will keep the rest of the tournament closely contested and compelling.
