ROCHESTER, NY — John Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the top three players in the world golf rankings, but only one of them performed as well in the opening round of the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Thursday.
Scheffler, who achieved his first major victory at the Masters last season, one of his six victories since February 2022, took a 3-under-67 to claim third place, one stroke behind leader Eric Cole. After a nearly two-hour frost delay to start the day, play was suspended at 8:30 PM ET due to darkness.
It was another strong start for Scheffler, who has already earned seven top-10 finishes in 11 starts in the majors as a pro, including a tie for 10th at the Masters in April. Thursday’s effort was the first bogey-free in the 51st Grand Tour. Scheffler hit 8 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 on the green and went 7-for-7.
“This place is very difficult,” Scheffler said. “I came into today’s round just trying to play hard golf. I kept the course in front of me for the most part and hit some shots on really good tees on the important holes. Those places where you hit maybe a single shot maybe barely offline, and sometimes you can hit a good putt And you end up in a place where it’s severe punishment. There are a lot of hard holes in there.”
McIlroy and Ram found plenty of penalty points on Thursday. Ram, the No. 1 player in the world after his second major at the Masters, scored 6-over-76. The Spaniard bogeyed the first hole and was under 1 after six holes, but then had a six-bogey, double-bogey and a single birdie the rest of the way.
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, Rahm has the worst opening round score tied for the PGA Championship by the world’s No. 1 player. Greg Norman (1990) and Tiger Woods (2005) shared the previous record of 5 overs.
“The main thing on this course is to get to the fairway,” said Ram, who only hit 5 of 14. “If you put the ball in the lane, you can actually give yourself a lot of good chances. … I couldn’t find the fairway and the lanes I missed cost me a lot of bogey.”
The bad news for Ram: The last player to have a card of 76 or worse in the opening round of a major and come back to win was Jack Fleck at the 1955 US Open. Ram said he would keep fighting to try to get back into contention.
“If I could somehow put [up] “Low tomorrow and I find myself close to even on Sunday, I think I’ll have a good chance,” said Ram.
McIlroy, a four-time winner, had many of the same problems on Thursday that plagued him when he missed out on losing at the Masters in April. He splashed his driver, hitting just 2 of 14 fairways. He also needed 30 runs and lost more than one stroke in the field.
For everything that went wrong, McIlroy put 1-over 71 together. He finished his round with three pars and a birdie on the final four holes. Slow starts are nothing new for McIlroy. His average first-round score in the majors has averaged 71.7 since 2015. According to ESPN Stats & Info, his scores are improving in each round: 70.7 in the second, 70.2 in the third, and 69.4 in the fourth.
“there [were] A couple of glimmers of hope out there coming, said McIlroy.
From where I do not know
Injuries, swings, body changes – and the fact that players don’t get world ranking points for their finishes in LIV Golf League events – have caused Bryson DeChambeau to drop to No. 214 in the world.
How bad has his game been lately? Consider these stats from ESPN Stats & Info:
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In the last 9 72-hole world championships Dechambeau has played since January 2022, he has missed the cut or withdrew seven times.
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DeChambeau tied for eighth at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in July, but this was the exception. In the American majors, he had scored above average in each of his previous nine rounds, averaging 75. He had not bowled below par in a US major since 68 in the third round of the 2021 US. Opens.
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DeChambeau has never had a lead after a round in his two-year LIV Golf career. His best finish in the championship was a tie for fifth in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, last week.
But there was DeChambeau on Thursday, hitting long (and straight!) putts, hitting 15 of 18 from the greens and ranking near the top of the field in strokes earned: the putt. He made a 4-under 66 and was alone in second place when play stopped.
Not all of Dechambeau’s footage was online. He hit an errant putt on the 17th fairway that hit PGA club professional Kenny Bigman, who was standing in the 18th tee box. Dechambeau shouted, “In front of me!” And apologize to Pigman.
Bryson DeChambeau got a wrong shot that hit Kenny Bigman 😬 pic.twitter.com/1r6LwM1xBH
– SportsCenter May 18, 2023
It’s been a long way back for the 2020 US Open.
“Look, I love the game, and I love being a part of helping inspire kids to play golf and grow the game in any way I can,” DeChambeau said. “But I will say there were times when it was like, ‘Man, I don’t know where this is all worth it.'”
What about the other LIV Golf League guys?
DeChambeau wasn’t the only LIV Golf League player on the Oak Hill leaderboard when play was suspended Thursday night. Dustin Johnson (3-under) was tied for third, and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters was tenth (1-under). Harold Varner III (doubles) was tied for 20th. Phil Mickelson, tied for second at the Masters, was aged one through 16 holes.
Brooks Koepka had a bogey on the final hole to score 2 over a par 72, and Open Championship winners Cameron Smith and Patrick Reed matched the score. Mito Pereira, who led by 1 on the 72nd hole of the PGA Championship last season, was over by 2 after 15 holes. Talor Gooch (4th-15th) and Joaquin Niemann (4th over) both have work to do on the weekend.
Who is at risk of losing a wound?
Even on a warmer and lightly windy Thursday, Oak Hill East Stadium showed its teeth. Scheffler was the only player in the top 10 in the world (No. 9 who did not play Zlatoris after undergoing back surgery) to score below par.
Players with a best score of 70 and a tie will go 36 holes. There were 75 players aged 3 over or better when play was discontinued. Players at risk after 18 holes include Cameron Young (4 over), Sam Burns (4 over), Patrick Cantlay (4 over 16 holes), Matt Fitzpatrick (6 over), Ram (6 over), Jason Day (6 over). more) and Sungjae Im (10 more).
Jordan Spieth, who can complete a grand slam by winning the Wanamaker Trophy, took 3 for 73 in the first round. He skipped last week’s scheduled start at AT&T Byron Nelson due to a left wrist injury. This is the fourth year in a row that he has opened the PGA Championship with a score of 72 or higher. He tied for 71st in 2020, 30th in 2021, and 34th in 2022.
The weather should be better
After a cold start on Thursday, temperatures should be much warmer when Round 1 resumes at 7 a.m. ET on Friday. There were 33 players left on the field when play stopped. Forecasts are for temperatures in the mid-50s. There is an 80% chance of rain on Friday night and an 89% chance on Saturday. About half an inch of rain is expected on Saturday.
“I felt that there wasn’t much wind today, and [Friday] It looked like the wind was going to blow from 10 to 20 [mph]Scheffler said. “I thought I saw a lot of that over the next three days, too. Even today it looked like it was going to be really quiet. That was just my thinking he could be wrong.”