Key events
A few quotes from the 2024 US PGA champion, Xander Schauffele. The Valhalla winner has finished in the top 10 in 18 of his 35 majors – a remarkable record. He’s on track for another, and perhaps even a second Wanamaker Trophy, after firing a 2-under 68 earlier. That’s currently just one off the lead.
It’s always nervy playing in a major, so nice to get off to a good start for sure. I made three birdies in the first four holes and was feeling pretty good.
Then started to play a lot worse golf for the next six holes. Then got a little bit better again. So I got the full experience today.
“It’s blowing out here now,” says Sky’s man on the ground, Wayne Riley. Scottie Scheffler wears a fairly tight pant so it’s hard to see much trouser flapping on him. For that, we need Jason Day who likes to wear clothing about five sizes too big for him. Fortunately, he got done before the winds picked up, piecing together a fine 1-under 69. Scheffler, by the way, has just seen a 31-footer for birdie graze the hole at 5 so he stays at +1. Playing partners Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose also make pars, the former showing his mettle by sinking a 10-footer to avoid the dreaded three-putt. Just a note that Rose appears to be battling a stiff back/side. He was filmed earlier doing a series of twists and lunges on the fairway, more medicinal than Rasputin dance-based.
The wind has picked up a little for the afternoon starters. But Akshay Bhatia continues to bowl along merrily and the lefty birdies the long par-5 9th to turn in 3-under 32. Now for the second nine which measures 150 yards longer than the front – 3,749 yards to 3,600. The finishing stretch is particularly testing. These are the final five holes with difficulty level in brackets: 14th (3), 15th (4), 16th (17), 17th (7th), 18th (5th). The par-5 17th is a good birdie chance puts pars are very acceptable at the others.
Ouch Viktor Hovland. His three-footer for birdie at 6 horseshoes out and he remains at +2. Compatriot Kristoffer Reitan, who scored a superb win in last week’s Truist Championship, finished earlier at +1. Staying in the region, Sweden’s Alex Noren also signed for a 1-over 71 but the best Scandie golf is being played by the Danes. Nicolai Hojgaard, who finished runner-up to Reitan at Quail Hollow last Sunday, came in with a 1-under 69 while Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is -1 after 6. As for Nicolai’s twin, Rasmus Hojgaard is level par after 11. Oh, and let’s not forget that Ludvig Aberg had to settle for a 2-over 72 earlier.
Harrogate’s finest, John Parry, is one of the big bunch at -1. The Englishman is having a solid first crack as a PGA Tour player after winning his card last year. He’s had four top 20s, with a best of eighth in Puerto Rico. He’s an engaging chap too, like your chirpy, easy-going mate down the pub who comes back to the table with a few bags of crisps to share without being prompted.
Thanks Scott. Everyone jockeying for position it seems. Will those 67s be beaten? A 67 (Corey Conners) led the way at Kiawah Island in 2021 but since then the pacesetting totals have been 65 (2022), 66 (2023), 62 (2024) and 64 (2025).
… and with that, I’ll hand you back to David Tindall, who will take this baby home. Enjoy the rest of this opening round, and see you again tomorrow!
It’s not quite happening for Scottie Scheffler yet. His second into 3 rolls off the back of the green, inches away from gripping onto the putting surface and spinning back towards the cup. Instead he’s forced to bump a chip close. It’s not far from going in. But he remains at level par. No fast start to what is in theory the easier nine. But then they were predicting a low-scoring bomb-and-gouge riot before anyone actually teed it up, and look how that’s panned out for some of the lads. Theory schmeory.
The 31-year-old North Carolinian Andrew Novak missed the cut on his PGA Championship debut last year. But he’s since made cuts at the US Open and the Open, plus won the mixed Grant Thornton Invitational with Lauren Coughlin, and now he’s going very nicely in his second PGA outing. He’s responded well to bogey at 2, picking up shots at 5, 7 and 9 to hit the turn in 33. The third of those birdies, at the par-five 9th, was this close to becoming an eagle: a fairway wood with a gentle fade into the middle of the green followed by a 20-foot putt that stopped just short. He joins the group at -2.
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F)
-2: Brown (F), Theegala (F), Greyserman (F), Schauffele (F), Novak (9), Bhatia (8), Kaymer (6*), Campbell (3*)
Cameron Young, who is busy making good on his early promise this season, rattles in a 20-footer on 3. He moves into the red at -1. Meanwhile slow starts for Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood. They drop strokes at 1, 3 and 3 respectively, and are +1 early in their rounds.
Remember Michael Block? Of course you do. The club pro from California finished in a tie for 15th at Oak Hill in 2023, the high point a hole-in-one celebrated during the final round with his playing partner Rory McIlroy. Well, he’s back, and despite a month away from turning 50, is playing as well as ever. Three birdies on his card today already, on 10, 13 and 16. though that’s been slightly soured by a double at 12. But only slightly, and he’s currently the only one of the 20 club pros competing this week in red figures. He’s -1 through 17, his first eight holes, and one way or another, we’ll be hearing of him again this week.
Par at the last for Ryo Hisatsune. The 23-year-old Japanese prospect matches the best-of-day 67s by Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger and Min Woo Lee. Meanwhile news of last year’s Ryder Cup captains: par for Keegan Bradley at 1, but birdies on 5 and 6 for Luke Donald! The former was reward for one of the shots of the day, at the 179-yard par-three to six feet.
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F)
-2: Brown (F), Theegala (F), Greyserman (F), Schauffele (F), Bhatia (6), Donald (6), Kaymer (5*), Neergaard-Petersen (4*), Campbell (2*)
Scottie Scheffler nearly slam-dunks his second at 1 into the cup. The ball lands a couple of inches behind and to the left … but instead of spinning back into the hole, keeps going for another 20 feet. He can’t make the birdie putt, and that’s unfortunate for the world number one, who was so close to a sensational eagle. If anything, he hit that wedge in too well.
Rory McIlroy is always out of position on the par-five 9th. Having visited a deep fairway bunker and only just squeaked onto the green, he three-putts for bogey, his fourth in a row. What a disastrous end to his round. A four-over 74. To par, that equals his worst-ever showing at the PGA Championship. But it’s a birdie-birdie finish for Jon Rahm, who will be feeling much more chipper for his 69. Chipper being the operative word, seeing he holed out with one twice. And completing the match, it’s a par for Jordan Spieth: given those dropped strokes at 7 and 8, that’s a slightly disappointing one-under round of 69. His dream of completing the career slam this week is very much on; Rory’s hope of sweeping all the majors this year not so much.
Scottie Scheffler begins the defence of his title. In reverse order, his last three finishes at the PGA Championship are win, tied eighth, tied second. He missed the cut in 2022, then before that, another tie for eighth and a tie for fourth. It’s an astonishing record. Anyway, having come second in his last three tour events, he’s coming into this week in form … and he splits the 1st fairway with a boomer. Of course he does.
Brooks Koepka, winner in 2018, 2019 and 2023, has hardly made a putt all day. He misses a short birdie effort on 18, and slaps the face of his putter in irritation. By all accounts he was on the practice green yesterday with an array of flat sticks, putting having been his achilles heel of late. Some more decisions to be made, then … though he’s still managed to card a one-under round of 69. His playing partners: Xander Schauffele in with a 68, Tyrrell Hatton with a disappointing 72 that threatened to get out of control early doors, with a bogey-bogey-double run … so perhaps he’ll not be too disheartened. But there’s another player hotly tipped before the tournament started, only to stumble now the action’s underway.
The Players champion Cameron Young begins his bid for that as-yet-elusive maiden major. He crashes his first drive down the left-hand side of the 1st fairway. He’s going round today with the two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas, and the 2011 winner Keegan Bradley. Both find the fairway as well. Meanwhile some news of another erstwhile winner: Martin Kaymer, the 2010 champ following birdie on 11 by walking in another from downtown at 12. He’s -2 in short order.
Back-to-back birdies for Ryo Hisatsune, at 15 and 16, and the upcoming Japanese star joins the leaders at -3. Heading the other way: Max Greyserman, who can’t get up and down from sand at the front of 18 to save his par. Bogey to end an otherwise impressive opening round of 68. He’s -2.
… meanwhile the third member of that stellar group, Rory McIlroy, can’t get up and down from the side of 8. A third bogey in a row, his fourth in five holes, and the calendar slam is beginning to look like a pipe dream already. He’s +3. Which is bad, but not as painful as the 76 Bryson DeChambeau signs for, after taking two putts on the 9th and making his first birdie of the day on his very last hole. He’s +6, and two of the pre-tournament favourites may well have played themselves out of contention.
Jon Rahm holed out from 100 yards for eagle on 2; now he’s chipped in for birdie from the side of 8! That’s only the second birdie of the day on this long par-three, Ryan Fox with the other. He’s back to level par for his round. Meanwhile it’s two bogeys in a row for his playing partner Jordan Spieth: a careless three-putt on 7 and now a weak chip having left himself shortsided on 8. He’s -1.
Bryson DeChambeau has suffered an absolute shocker today. The latest indignity: chipping back and forth across the par-three 8th green for a double bogey that sent him clattering down the standings to +7. So with little left to lose on his final hole of the day, he opens his shoulders at the 609-yard par-five 9th and sends a ripper down the middle. Followed by a fairway wood whip-cracked into the heart of the green. He’ll have a look at eagle from 35 feet. One way or another, whatever the big man gets up to, it’s very difficult to take your eyes off him.
A fast start for Adam Scott. A monster putt on 1, and the 2013 Masters champion is immediately into red figures at +1. He’s playing in his 99th consecutive major this week; he’ll make it 100 should he tee it up at Shinnecock in next month’s US Open, which he will do unless life somehow gets in the way. If he does it, he’ll become only the second player in history to reach the century, the other being Jack Nicklaus, who made it all the way to 146.
Thanks David … and hey, a handover’s pretty much the perfect time for a leaderboard update, isn’t it? Now featuring Max Greyserman, who has just sent a tramliner chugging into the cup at 17.
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), MW Lee (F), Greyserman (17)
-2: Brown (F), Theegala (F), Schauffele (16*), Spieth (16*), Hisatsune (15), Bhatia (3)
Bryson DeChambeau hits a monstrous drive at 8. But the graphic which pops up to show his score as he larrups it down the lengthy par 5 says +7. The latest calamity: a double bogey at 7, his 16th. With that, I shall hand you over to Scott Murray for 90 minutes of descriptive excellence.
Only one left-hander has ever won the US PGA Championship – Phil Mickelson. In fact, he’s won it twice, the second as a 50-year-old at Kiawah Island in 2021. It’s time for another southpaw to step up and how about Akshay Bhatia. The 24-year-old, who would surely fight at featherweight if he took up boxing, has started birdie-birdie and just now missed a 17-footer for the hat-trick.
It’s gone a bit snakes and ladders for Rory. Bogey, birdie and now another bogey at 6. He’s +1 with three to play.
David Howell describes Bryson DeChambeau’s tee-shot at 8 as “atrocious”. Not unfair. A waft that goes way, way right into gnarly rough. At +5 with two play, it’s been a thoroughly miserable day one at Aronimink for the two-time major winner. Not the sort of content he was looking to provide.
As a moron shouts “mashed potato”, we see Viktor Hovland warming up on the range. After compatriot Kristoffer Reitan won last week’s Truist Championship, could Viktor make it a glorious fortnight for Norwegian golf? Hovland is in rather skittish form this season but his record in this event is very good: tied second at Oak Hill in 2023 and solo third at Valhalla in 2024. Some exciting tee-times coming up soon, with Hovland teeing off in 20 minutes.
1832 Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, Shane Lowry
1843 Chris Gotterup, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood
1854 Cameron Young, Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas
1905 Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose
Jordan Spieth is on a roll. Remember, Spieth needs to win this to complete the Grand Slam of all four majors. And he’s certainly going about it the right way. At 5, he hits his tee shot to three feet and taps that in for birdie while he puts another circle on his card from double the distance at 6. Four tied at the top now.
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F) MW Lee (17*), Spieth (15*)
Tyrrell Hatton looked ready to throw many TVs out of many windows earlier. He’d suffered a run of bogey, bogey, double bogey at 13, 14 and 15 to slump to +3. But despite the fury still simmering after a couple of good chances went begging on his second nine, the Englishman has picked off birdies at 1 and 4 to return to +1 with three to play. And that’s just fine, Tyrrell. It’s just fine.
Brooks Koepka is popping up in the coverage fairly regularly and it’s easy to think you’re watching a replay. The story of his season is elite tee-to-green play and hopeless putting. And it’s the same story today. Every time we see him he’s hitting a glorious approach and then fluffing the putt. A glance at the stats on the very impressive US PGA app backs up the eye test. The three-time winner of this event ranks 1st for Strokes Gained: Approach but 83rd (of the 95 players currently finished or out on the course) for SG: Putting.
Talking of putts that won’t drop, Min Woo Lee misses his six-footer for par at 8 (his 17th) and falls back into a tie for the lead.
Much further down the leaderboard, Bryson DeChambeau still can’t get anything going. After a clumsy outward nine of 4-over 39, he’s made six straight pars on the front. The family of club pro, Tyler Collett, need to screengrab the leaderboard right now as their boy is one shot better than Bryson at +3.
Let’s do a leaderboard. An international top three.
-4: MW Lee (16*)
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (17)
-2: D Brown (16), Theegala (16*), Cauley (15), Greyserman (15), Schauffele (14*), Spieth (14*), Hisatsune (13)
We have a new leader and it’s Min Woo Lee. Then again, how long will the Aussie stay there? He gets to -4 by sinking a 13-footer for birdie at 7 but at his penultimate hole, the long par 3 8th, he bowls a wide off the tee. It’s a mile right and in the thick stuff.
My bad suggesting Rory would two-putt from as 31 feet at the 5th. He needs just one use of the shortstick, his ball tracking into the heart of the hole at a healthy pace. Back to even par.
Rory rather flubs his chip at 4. His ball never has enough oomph and starts rolling backwards down the green just to prove the point. That leaves him 30 feet for par and, unsurprisingly, he needs two swishes. Bogey. He’s +1 which always sounds worse than simply saying he’s four off the lead. At the par-3 5th, playing 178 yards today, he’s probably a club short with his tee-shot so a two-putt par looks most likely there.
A loose tee-shot from Rory at 4. He sprays his drive right and comes up short of the green with his approach from the heavy grass. McIlroy had 15 birdies over his first 36 holes (67-65) when winning at Augusta last month. Still just one here but plodding along in 20th (even par) is fine for now. That’s just three back. Michael Block, the club pro who famously made a hole-in-one with Rory watching on at the 2023 US PGA when defying the odds to finish 15th, shows McIlroy the way with a birdie at his opening hole.
You want that quiz answer, don’t you. The man in question (see 17:04) was David Lynn.
Brown and Fox next to each other on the leaderboard on -2. Fox plays quick and if Brown jumps over a lazy brown dog we’re in business. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy cleans up for par at 3, his 12th hole of the day. Just one birdie so far for McIlroy. Since then: 10 straight pars.
Too much money in golf? Paul McGinley, in the Sky commentary box, reveals that Jon Rahm’s caddie, Adam, has just put his house up for sale. Asking price? $14m. Good grief. Meanwhile, the boss has a 44ft putt for birdie at 3. Will he make par? That’s the $64m question (or about four-and-half Adam’s houses). That third hole is playing as the sixth hardest so far (average 4.302) so par will be just fine.
Hats off to Garrick Higgo – which sounds like something you’d have watched at The London Palladium back in the day. The South African was hit with a two-shot penalty earlier for not making his tee-time (by a minute). But since that sloppy piece of timekeeping he’s made three birdies against a single bogey and sits even par for the tournament after 16 holes. That’s currently tied 22nd which tells us that 21 players are currently under par.
England’s Dan Brown made one of those two eagles and that’s helped him into a tie for the lead. It also leads us to a quiz question: who posted this on social media earlier?
Uspga week, always reminds me of 2012 kiawah island, RU [runner-up] on my own, a very fond memory. What’s mad though is I’m the highest placed Englishman in that tournament in 107 yrs, get your head round that, a quiz question no one would ever get right haha, play well boys.
Thanks Scott. Yes, Jon Rahm’s mood nicely highlighting the wild contrasts we’ve seen so far. Earlier, a shriek of ‘how’ and a thigh slap as his putt stayed left; now, a huge smile after he drained his second at 2. Fun fact: we’ve had two eagles so far and both have come via hole-outs on par 4s.
Nothing much had been going right for Jon Rahm. His approach into 1 toppled back off the false front of the green, and led to a bogey, his second of the day. No birdies. And he’s still not carded a birdie … but he does now have an eagle, holing out from 101 yards on 2! A couple of soft bounces and in. He’s back to level par …
… and with that, I’ll hand over to Dave Tindall for a wee while. See you again soon.
At the age of 21, the big-hitting South African Aldrich Potgieter already has appearances at the Open, Masters and US Open under his belt. Now, on his PGA Championship debut, he’s just carded his first sub-70 round at a major. Birdie at his last hole, the par-five 9th, to sign for a 67 … and a share of the lead!
-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (14), D Brown (13), Cauley (13)
-2: Burns (15*), MW Lee (12*), Schauffele (11*), Fox (11), Spieth (10*)
All change at the top! Dan Brown birdies 13 to grab a share of the lead, and the prospect of a first English winner since 1919 is now just 59 holes away. Stephan Jaeger sends his tee shot at 14 wide left of the green, from where he’s unlikely to get up and down. But though he sends his chip 15 feet past, he rattles in the putt coming back and saves his par. Par too for Bud Cauley, who tentatively prods at a good birdie chance on 13. But it’s another birdie for Jordan Spieth, who may finally have rediscovered his mid-2010s mojo in time to complete a career slam! This one at 1, and he’s just one off the lead now.
-3: Jaeger (14), D Brown (13), Cauley (13)
-2: Potgieter (17*), Burns (15*), MW Lee (12*), Schauffele (10*), Fox (10), Spieth (10*)
… but no, it’s just not happening for the two-time US Open winner. Bryson rolls his birdie putt four feet past, a confident rap but one that was never dropping, always destined to stay high on the left. Just a par. And it’s par too for Åberg, who chips up from the swale behind the green to 12 feet and tidies up. No pictures on the card, and he stays at -1. Bryson is +4.
Åberg airmails his second at 2 from trouble to trouble, the concessions area to a swale over the back of the green. Bryson finds the middle of the dancefloor from a similar position, though, and will have a decent look at birdie from 20 feet. That’s his shot of the day, though he’s not set his personal bar high. Perhaps that’ll kick-start one of the pre-tournament favourites into action?
… and Bryson DeChambeau follows Åberg, sending his ball towards the food and drink tent to the right of 2. Meanwhile on 13, the co-leader Stephan Jaeger nearly drains a 40-footer for birdie: he’ll stay in a share at -3. Xander Schauffele nearly joins them, but fails to read a little left-to-right drift on an uphill 12-footer at 1.
Ludvig Åberg moves into red figures for the first time today, with birdie at 1. He’s made a couple of fine up-and-downs to keep himself in good nick. But then he carves a wild tee shot at 2 over the gallery down the right and perhaps over a concession tent too. Meanwhile par for Rory McIlroy at 18, as he turns in level-par 35.
Sam Burns rattles in a 30-footer on 4. It’s his second birdie in four holes, and suddenly this is a solid start for the 29-year-old from Louisiana, who has been trending upwards in the majors, with recent near misses at the US Open and Masters. He’s -2.
The leader Stephan Jaeger sends his tee shot at 12 into a fairway bunker. He does extremely well to crack his second into the heart of the green, but he’s left with a long uphill putt, and leaves it a knee-knocking distance short. The par putt dies off to the low side on the right, and that’s a shot gone.
-3: Jaeger (12), Cauley (11)
-2: Potgieter (16*), C Smith (11*), Brown (11), Lee (10*), Detry (9), Schauffele (8*), Fox (8)
Xander Schauffele does pretty well to limit the damage at 17 to bogey. His chip back to the green, from miles wide left, nearly bobbles off the other side, but the fringe knocks his ball back, snooker style off the cushion. Two putts later and he’s -2. Meanwhile poor Bryson DeChambeau’s misery continues, as he shortsides himself in a bunker at the front of 18. Back-to-back bogeys, his third and fourth of the back nine, which he’s played in 39 strokes. He’s +4 and looking extremely downcast.
Alex Fitzpatrick goes from bunker to bunker at the par-three 14th, a slapstick route to double bogey. And then on 15, he finds himself in more greenside sand, and whistles his wedge out 30 feet past the flag. He swipes the sand a couple of times in great frustration. Bogey, and that’s three shots gone in short order. He’s +1, and how quickly a good day’s work can unravvel.
We’re just over four hours into the first day’s play, and finally somebody has made a birdie at the 245-yard par-three 8th. Ryan Fox with the reward for sending his tee shot to seven feet. And there are more crowd-pleasing antics on the 11th, where Dan Brown holes out from 102 yards for the first eagle of the week! The 31-year-old Englishman is making his major championship debut Stateside, though he finished in the top ten at the 2024 Open. Both Fox and Brown are -2.
Jordan Spieth finally gets something going. He steers in a 25-foot right-to-left curler on the par-five 16th, and that breaks a run of pars. He moves to -1, and the career slam is ON. There’d not be many more popular winners. Meanwhile his playing partner Jon Rahm gets up and down from the bunker he’d dunked himself into, scrambling his par to remain at +1. And a par for Rory, who stays at level par.
There is some entertainingly wild play going on. The sort that makes your weekend hacker feel a bit better about life in general. Jon Rahm dunks a chip out of thick rough into a greenside bunker at 16. Meanwhile up on 17, Xander Schauffele tugs a wild hybrid 50 yards wide left of the green. These are the best players in the world, and they’re putting themselves through this so we don’t have to.
