CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On a day when many of golf’s biggest stars struggled in the opening round of the PGA Championship, some of the sport’s not-so-familiar names littered the top of the leaderboard Thursday at Quail Hollow Club.
As if the day wasn’t strange enough, Jhonattan Vegas, who last made the cut at a major when he tied for 57th at the 2021 U.S. Open, carded birdies on five of his last six holes to post a 7-under 64 that gave him a two-stroke lead.
Vegas, who was playing with Australia’s Elvis Smylie, is the first player from Venezuela to have the lead or co-lead after the first round of the major.
“It feels amazing,” Vegas said. “It’s what we dream of.”
Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis were tied for second at 5 under, and European Ryder Cup team captain Luke Donald was among five golfers at 4 under.
Can it get any stranger at Quail Hollow on Friday? Here’s what to watch for in the second round.
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Thoughts on Rory, Scottie and Xander heading into round 2?
Mark Schlabach: If not for a couple of mud balls on the par-4 16th on Thursday, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele might have been right in the mix after 18 holes. Neither of them played their best in the first round, but Scheffler hung in enough to post a 2-under 69. Schauffele was 1 over after 18 holes.
Scheffler wasn’t happy about the conditions, especially after a mud ball contributed to his double-bogey 6 on the 16th. Schauffele hit nearly the same shot, and Rory McIlroy also made a mess of the long par 4.
“Overall, I did a good job battling and keeping a level head out there during a day [in] which there [were] definitely some challenging aspects to the course,” Scheffler said. “I did a good job posting a number on a day where I didn’t have my best stuff.”
McIlroy was a popular pick to win the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time this week, especially because he won the Wells Fargo Championship four times at Quail Hollow. His game was far from dialed in Thursday, especially off the tee. He hit only four of 14 fairways and lost about 2½ strokes to the field in putting.
While it wasn’t pretty, it’s too early to write off McIlroy. Remember that he had two double bogeys in the final four holes of his opening round at the Masters for an even-par 72, which left him seven strokes behind first-round leader Justin Rose. McIlroy put together 66s in each of the next two rounds to take a two-stroke lead into Sunday. He did just enough and beat Rose in a playoff to win a green jacket.
What unlikely name near the top of the leaderboard do you think could stick around over the weekend?
Schlabach: Give me the guy who was among the last golfers to qualify for the PGA Championship: New Zealand’s Ryan Fox. He got into the field by winning last week’s Oneflight Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina in a playoff over Mackenzie Hughes and Harry Higgs. It was Fox’s first victory on the PGA Tour. He has won four times on the DP World Tour.
On Thursday, Fox posted a 4-under 67 after very little prep work this week. He hit some balls and played one hole before storms arrived Tuesday, then played 18 holes the next day.
“Just pick my targets, hit my shots and trust that I’m playing well,” Fox said. “It’s amazing what finding a bit of confidence can do. Like all of a sudden, the bad shots that were irking me a couple weeks ago didn’t seem to matter quite so much today.”
You also have to like Fox’s mental toughness. His father, Grant, played on the All Blacks team that won the Rugby World Cup in 1987.
Paolo Uggetti: It depends on who you consider unlikely, but I’ll go with Stephan Jaeger.
Jaeger is a PGA Tour winner who has gained a ridiculous amount of distance off the tee over the past few years and has truly grinded his way into being a top-50 player in the world. But on Thursday, the German was actually not driving the ball that well. He lost strokes to the field off the tee and yet, he was still in the top 10 in strokes gained: tee to green. In other words, his approach game was stellar — he gained 1.4 shots on the field in this category — a recipe that bodes well for his ability to remain in the mix as the tournament progresses.
“This golf course is hard, it’s long and plays even longer this week because it’s wet,” Jaeger said. “You have to be able to hit it in the fairways and decently long in the fairways so you can hold the greens with mid-irons rather than long irons.”
Jaeger hit 12 of 18 greens Thursday and the ones he missed, he rendered moot with his short game, which gained him over two strokes on the field. If there’s anyone who has some kind of sustainability among the eclectic group that finds itself atop this leaderboard, I’m willing to bet Jaeger will still be in the mix come the weekend.
Who do you think is now the favorite to win after round 1?
Schlabach: There’s a reason Scheffler is No. 1 in the world. He won by eight strokes in his last start on tour at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson on May 4. With all due respect to Gerard, Fox, Alex Smalley, Jaeger, Alex Noren and others, they don’t have a pair of Masters trophies at home.
On Thursday, Scheffler drove the ball well, his chipping was world-class as usual, and his iron play was just OK. He lost about a half-stroke to the field in putting, so he’ll be difficult to beat if his flat stick heats up on the weekend.
After catching a bad break on No. 16 on Thursday, Scheffler has some ground to make up. But it could have been a lot worse, and he’s right there lurking on the leaderboard.
Uggetti: Obviously it’s hard to disagree with Scheffler, who had his C game Thursday and still shot 2-under, but aside from him, I would still lean toward Bryson DeChambeau. The two-time major winner continued his poor approach play from the Masters (ranked 116th in strokes gained: approach) and still managed to patch together an under-par round. DeChambeau is not winning this tournament if he doesn’t improve his approach game, but his driving distance remains such a weapon that if he simply improves everything else slightly he will find himself in contention.
Another big name that is maybe flying slightly under the radar that I would not count out is Jon Rahm. Yes, the Spaniard has struggled to make some noise at recent major championships, but it often has been because his opening rounds have been suboptimal. This week, he’s off to a much better start, shooting a 1-under 70.
Rahm continues to rack up top-10 finishes on the LIV tour, but it feels as if he’s due to be in contention at a major. In fact, it’s starting to become a storyline that he hasn’t put himself in position since winning the 2023 Masters. This could be a good week for him to get in the mix again.
Biggest names with work to do Friday?
Schlabach: The top 70 scores and ties will make the 36-hole cut, and there are many big names who will have to play better Friday to stick around for the weekend, including several past major champions.
Sepp Straka, Rickie Fowler, Shane Lowry, Jason Day, Max Homa and Justin Thomas were 2 over.
Along with McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Min Woo Lee and Gary Woodland were 3 over. Rose and Jordan Spieth were 5 over.
Several LIV Golf League stars are also in danger of missing the cut: Joaquín Niemann (3 over), Brooks Koepka (4 over), Sergio Garcia (4 over), Cameron Smith (7 over), Dustin Johnson (7 over) and Phil Mickelson (8 over).
A Ryder Cup captain showcase in Round 1
Uggetti: In very fitting fashion, the PGA of America’s major championship features the two Ryder Cup captains near the top of the leaderboard after Round 1. Both Keegan Bradley (3 under) and Luke Donald (4 under) showed up to Quail Hollow this week with slightly different priorities and expectations, but now both find themselves inside the top 10 of a major championship.
“Someone just told me it was the lowest first round in a major I’ve had since 2004 or something. So you know, obviously I’ve been trending with all the missed cuts coming into this week,” Donald said sarcastically. “But no, it was a pleasant surprise. I got off to a really nice, steady start. I hit a bunch of fairways on the front nine which always makes me feel good about my game.”
The 47-year-old Donald, who is not playing a full schedule and got into this tournament only because of an invitation from the PGA of America for being a captain, has missed three cuts in three appearances this year. He hasn’t exactly been trending but, even though the captaincy is taking up most of his time, Donald has been working on his game.
“I was pumped to see Luke up there,” Bradley said. “I know how hard he’s been working back home. Luke is an all-time great player. Doesn’t surprise me.”
Bradley, for his part, has six top-20 finishes this season, including a top-five at Bay Hill. He’s not quite at the form he was last season when he won once and had two runners-up, but he’s still plenty capable of competing at a major. It’s why, on the topic of potentially being a playing captain, only one of the two has a real shot come September.
“Keegan is top 20 in the world. He can have one good week out here, win, which he’s very capable of, and he’s absolutely in the conversation of being a playing captain,” Donald said. “I don’t think that’s quite in my future, but Keegan, we live very close together. I see where he practices, and he practices very hard. He’s still one of the top players in the world.”
Thoughts on how the course played and how it could set up for the next three days?
Uggetti: The talk of the tournament after one round is the mud balls players encountered Thursday. After Quail Hollow received several inches of rain the past few days, it’s clear that the course has not been able to fully dry out. As a result, players have been dealing with their least favorite kind of shot: the one they can’t predict.
“It’s one of those deals where it’s frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it’s going to go,” Scheffler said. “I understand it’s part of the game, but there’s nothing more frustrating for a player. You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball, and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes.”
On Wednesday night, the PGA of America released a preemptive statement that said they would not be playing preferred lies during the first round despite the rain. As a result, players were finding that just because they hit a perfect drive Thursday didn’t mean they would have a perfect lie. Typically, when mud is on the right side of a ball, for example, it has the tendency to go hard in the opposite direction. Sometimes, though, the mud will fly off on contact and it will react as normal. It’s like spinning a roulette.
Several players said they were surprised that, even though this was a major, rules officials decided to not play the ball up in the fairways given the conditions.
“I wouldn’t want to go in the locker room because I’m sure a lot of guys aren’t super happy with the sort of conditions there,” Schauffele said. “I feel like the grass is so good, there is no real advantage to cleaning your ball in the fairway. The course is completely tipped out.”
Scheffler was, in particular, frustrated at the mud ball he had on the 16th fairway. After hitting a perfect drive, his approach curled left and into the water. He made double bogey. Schauffele also suffered the same fate.
The defending champion was clearly frustrated and he also left a word of warning about the upcoming conditions the next three days.
“The mud balls are going to get worse. They’re going to get worse as the place dries up. They’re going to get in that perfect cake zone to where it’s kind of muddy underneath and then picking up mud on the way through,” Schauffele said. “I mean, you just keep — I don’t know, maybe it hit it a little bit lower off the tee, but then unfortunately the problem with hitting it low off the tee is the ball doesn’t carry or roll anywhere, so then you sacrifice distance. It’s a bit of a crapshoot.”
A crapshoot might make for an unfair competition in the eyes of some players, but as a viewer, the mud balls could provide the kind of uncertainty and chaos that could make this major far more interesting than it currently seems.
“Normally, I feel like the PGA does a really good job with setup. It’s always fair. If they have the right golf courses, it’s fair and hard,” Jaeger said.
“That SubAir is going and the greens are going to get firmer and faster as the week goes on. They were manageable today. I felt like you could spin some and stop a mid-iron, but I know the weather looks pretty hot for the weekend. So it’s going to be baked out by Sunday for sure.”
For DeChambeau, the uncertainty the conditions might bring is something he’s trying to embrace.
“You just have to manage your ball a little bit better. It’s not easy,” DeChambeau said. “I hit a couple shots where the ball is over-curving and you just have to go, ‘Ok I got to play it out more one way’ … everybody has to deal with it.”
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