News breaks in Kentucky. Record to whet the appetite at the PGA Championship. Xander Schauffele (-9) has handed in a 62-stroke card at the Valhalla Golf Club, equalling the absolute best record in the history of the Majors. With today’s, there are now four rounds of 62. Branden Grace made the first in the third round of the Open Championship in 2017 at Royal Birkdale and Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele himself (that’s two now) achieved it at the debut of the US Open last year at Los Angeles Country Club. It’s a result that hadn’t been achieved in the first 156 years of the Majors and has now been repeated four times in the last seven. It seems obvious to think that, beyond materials and physical preparation, there is a certain trend towards sweetening in the Majors.
As for the result in relation to par, that -9, also equals the lowest of all time in the first round of a Major. Specifically, Greg Norman did it in the 1996 Masters, and Rory McIlroy in the 2010 Open Championship. On both occasions, both Augusta National and the Old Course at St Andrews, were par 72, so Rory and Norman’s cards were 63 strokes. So, Schauffele has today signed the biggest rout in the history of the Majors, the first result of 62 strokes which is also nine under par, as the 62s made by Grace, Schauffele himself and Fowler, previously mentioned, were eight under par because they were playing on par 70 courses.
The start of the PGA Championship has confirmed all suspicions. There was a feeling in the air that Valhalla could be hurt… and it certainly is happening. With the whole afternoon shift still ahead, we have 35 players under par at the time of writing this report. That’s a lot. A true reflection that conditions are affordable. As has been reported, the course is receptive, catching fairways is facilitated because the ball hardly rolls and the greens are very docile. The ball stays where it bounces and even backspins quite easily. If we add to this impeccable surfaces for putting and unbeatable weather conditions, with heat and no wind, the conclusion is that Valhalla is today the paradise of the birdie. You have to run to keep up…
Schauffele (-9) leads with authority after a sensational golf display, the same one he has been demonstrating in recent weeks. The world number 3 comes from being second in the THE PLAYERS, fifth in the Valspar, eighth in the Masters and second in the Wells Fargo in his last five outings. Today he has achieved birdies with an arsenal of resources. He has made good putts, left more than one given and signed some legendary approach, like on the 4th, to leave the birdie given on this short par 4.
It should not be surprising that Schauffele was the author of this card today. After all, among those golfers who have played at least 25 Majors, the American has the best stroke average and the only one below 70.
In a very demanding result that puts everyone on their toes. It is true that there are several roosters that have also started very strong. Up top we have Rory McIlroy (-5), who has made 66 strokes with a solitary bogey. It’s his 19th round in the Majors of 66 or less, the most of the last 30 years only behind Tiger Woods. It seems that the bubble plan to win a Major ten years later is still working. By the way, McIlroy started with this same round of 66 strokes in 2014… and ended up winning, although then the leaders were at -6. Tied with Rory are Scottish Robert MacIntyre (-5), one stroke behind Tony Finau (-6) and Sahith Teegala (-6).
Other powerful names that have started briskly are Brooks Koepka (-4), Cameron Smith (-3), Max Homa (-3), Viktor Hovland (-3), Jordan Spieth (-2) or Justin Thomas (-2). Similarly, the start of Martin Kaymer (-3) is striking, showing that his recovery is becoming more and more real.
On the other hand, there are others who have already left a lot of ground. The most significant case is Dustin Johnson (+2), located at the tail of the pack, but there are also Tiger Woods (+1), Adam Scott (+1) or Ludvig Aberg (+1). It can be said that these four are already very far to think about winning, that their chances of victory have been reduced to the bare minimum.
