– Ryan Gerard (-5) leads the PGA Championship standings once the morning round of play on the first day is completed, with a one-shot advantage over a large group of pursuers consisting of Luke Donald (-4), Ryan Fox (-4), Alex Smalley (-4), and Stephen Jaeger (-4).
– And that’s despite Gerard finishing with bogeys on holes 17 and 18. The Green Mile proved challenging for him, but there doesn’t seem to be a better way to debut in this tournament, as the young American is playing the third Major of his career, but it’s his first PGA. Donald’s situation is very different, but no less surprising: he is playing this major for the seventeenth time, but he hasn’t appeared in the top ten of a Major since the second round of the Open in 2015, at St. Andrews, almost ten years ago.
– The matter, this Thursday, at Quail Hollow, is about captains, because Keegan Bradley (-3) has signed another splendid card, in his case of 68 strokes, which initially puts him at the top. It is curious that halfway through this first round, neither the European Ryder captain nor the American one have any of the players who will presumably make up the two squads at Bethpage, in four months’ time, ahead of them on the leaderboard…
– Nonetheless, Donald understands there are differences between Bradley and himself: “I am his neighbour and I see how he works, he is among the top 20 in the world and could win this tournament.” However, there is something the Englishman has done that no one else has managed in the morning. He is the only one who has finished under par. To achieve this, he has displayed a stellar short game. He has signed nine out of nine recoveries.
– And so far, none of the big names, the undeniable favourites, appear at the top of the leaderboard. In fact, a few have already gotten into serious trouble and will have to work hard to make the cut. This is the case for Brooks Koepka (+4), Patrick Cantlay (+3), and especially Rory McIlroy (+3). Koepka wasn’t coming in his best form, but he is always expected to deliver his best version in these events, even knowing he hasn’t signed a top ten in a Major since he won the PGA in 2023. Cantlay is not quite firing on all cylinders, although he shows up here and there. As for Rory… No matter how you look at it, this erratic start from the Masters winner is a real surprise: poor from the tee, inconsistent with the irons, and deficient with the putter in hand. Too much baggage. Perhaps he finds solace in knowing that in 2017, on this course, the eventual PGA winner, Justin Thomas, started with a round of 73 strokes, six off the lead.
– Scottie Scheffler (-2) has saved face for the group of the most illustrious. It’s remarkable how the landscape can change with a single golf shot, of enormous demand and masterfully executed. The World Number One finished his round on hole 9, one of the most difficult at Quail Hollow, and was coming in with a score of one under after 17 holes, a bit erratic and without firmly grasping the reins of the round. But he had saved the best shot of the round for the penultimate breath, a fabulous 6-iron from 196 metres to the flag, with a bit of tailwind, to leave himself a final birdie that, as we said, suddenly elevated his start in this Major to another dimension.
– Scheffler’s round had become complicated after signing a double bogey on the 16th from the middle of the fairway, but there was a catch, as he found the ball with a good chunk of mud. Something similar happened to his playing partner, Xander Schauffele (+1), who also left there with a double bogey. The PGA of America had decided yesterday to play without placing the ball on the fairway, despite all the rain that fell in the previous days, and Scottie, once he signed his card, lamented it. “I don’t think they understand what it is to literally dedicate your whole life to learning how to hit a golf ball, to control it, to execute shots and control distance, and then suddenly, because of a rules decision, all of that is completely taken away from you, purely by chance. In golf, there is already enough luck throughout a 72-hole tournament for the story to be about whether or not the ball is placed. When I think of golf tournaments, I want the purest and fairest test possible, and in my opinion, maybe today it should have been played with the possibility of placing the ball,” he noted.
His frustration is understandable, but also that in a Major, they push the limits to play without placing the ball. The rules are the same for everyone, and there shouldn’t be much more to discuss on the matter.
– Be that as it may, and if irony is allowed, the World Number One has descended into the mud of Quail Hollow today and emerged clean from the challenge, especially if we understand that he has managed to play under par without his best version. He is three shots behind the provisional leader, agreed, but his shadow appears long and clear.
