Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy headline wide open PGA Championship leaderboard at ‘gettable’ Valhalla

5 storylines from Round 1 of the 106th PGA Championship

Xander Schauffele, just a Thursday

Schauffele set major single-round scoring record (62) for the second time in two years.

Schauffele marched through Jack Nicklaus’ Kentucky course with an unflashy ease. He landed 12 of 14 fairways, and 14 of 18 greens. Nine birdies, no bogeys. Workmanlike.

One of his playing partners, Justin Thomas, called Xander’s round one of the “easiest nine-unders you’ve ever seen.”

Schauffele, ranked no. 5 in the world, knows better than anybody: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Schauffele has the lowest scoring average in the opening round of majors (minimum 25 starts), yet is still seeking his first trophy.

“Yeah, it’s a great start to a big tournament,” said Schauffele. “One I’m obviously always going to take. It’s just Thursday. That’s about it.”

Including last week’s runner-up at the Wells Fargo Championship, Schauffele has 21 top-10s on the PGA Tour since his last victory in July 2022.

“Probably, yeah,” Schauffele said when asked if he’s playing the best golf of his career. “I feel there’s spurts, moments in time where you feel like you can control the ball really well; you’re seeing the greens really well; you’re chipping really well. But over a prolonged period, it’s tough to keep up high performance. Yeah, I’d say it’s very close to it, if not it.”

Schauffele finished T10 at the 2023 U.S. Open after his first round 62. He has eight consecutive top-20 finishes in majors.

“Scrappy” Rory McIlroy

McIlroy entered the PGA Championship as a back-to-back winner on the PGA Tour (while mired in policy board drama and personal developments).

In terms of ball-striking, McIlroy didn’t have anywhere close to A-game. He placed two balls in the water and uncharacteristically struggled off the tee (seven of 14 fairways). And yet, the 35-year-old kept plugging away.

His up-and-down to save par after a drop penalty on No. 18 — placing a wedge 120 feet to within five feet — encapsulated his day. One hole later, on the par-4 1st, he nearly holed out with his wedge. Somewhere in the desert, Butch Harmon is smiling.

“I could have easily bogeyed 18 and been back to even par, and then again, that ball on 1 could have hit the flagstick and went anywhere,” recalled Rory. “I could have made bogey from that, potentially being 1-over par through 10. I’m 2-under. So it’s a three-shot difference. It’s a big swing.”

McIlroy birdied three of his last five holes.

“I sort of felt like it was pretty scrappy for the most part,” McIlroy said about his 66. “I don’t really feel like I left many out there. I thought I got a lot out of my game today.

McIlroy has 20 top-10 major finishes without a victory since winning the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

If Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka can make putts…

The world no. 1 began his first professional round as a #golfdad with a bang, going eagle from 167 yards.

Scheffler’s first professional round in three weeks featured more hiccups than usual. But, there he is, at 3-under, after carding his 19th under-70 round out of his last 21.

Scheffler was fourth in strokes gained: off the tee, 10th in SG: around the green, and T12 in SG: total. That’s despite being 111th in SG: putting.

“I’d like to clean up a few of the mistakes,” Scheffler said. “I missed two putts I felt like I should have holed today, but that’s going to happen when the greens get a little chewed up.”

Koepka, the defending champion, also overcame a shaky flatstick to post a 67. The owner of three Wannamaker trophies was a “ho-hum” 1-under through 16 holes when he stumbled into an eagle on the par-5 seventh — thanks to a shrewd application of relief rules (Brian Harman enjoyed friendly relief, too; apparently a trend).

Koepka birdied the par-3 8th to end the day at T10.

For the day, Koepka ranked in the top-25 in strokes gained: total, SG: approach, and SG: around-the-green. He’s 96th in putting.

“[My caddie] Ricky [Elliot] kept me telling all day just stay patient, wait your turn, and I think that’s one of the things I’m exceptionally well at,” said Koepka. “Sometimes you’re in a round of golf, you’ve just got to wait your turn and catch that run like I did with an eagle-birdie.”

Subpar LIV showing

Outside of Koepka, fresh off a win at LIV Singapore, none of the 16 representatives (of the 156 person field) from the Saudi-backed circuit find themselves in the top 10 after Round 1.

Major champs Bryson DeChambeau (-3) and Cameron Smith (-3) are the only names lurking. DeChambeau, like Scheffler, holed out for eagle.

Jon Rahm found himself on the 13th hole chucking clubs and sitting at 4-over par. To his credit, the Spaniard battled back to birdie four of his last six and hit the clubhouse in the red (-1).

Tiger Woods, passable rust

Tiger Woods — making his first start since the Masters — was predictably rusty but held his own just fine. Playing in an early group with fellow PGA Tour veterans Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley, Tiger had trouble keeping drives on the fairway, and was inconsistent with the putter and irons.

“It took me probably three holes to get back into competitive flow again and get a feel for hitting the ball out there in competition, adrenaline, temperatures, green speeds,” he said.

Woods did sink plenty of clutch putts: a 15-footer on No. 12 to save par, an 18-footer on No. 13 for birdie, a 13-footer on No. 7. He briefly caught fire midway through his second nine, and even got back under par through 16 holes after a birdie on the par- sixth.

However, consecutive three-putts on Nos. 7 and 8 sent him down to 1-over (72) for the day. On the plus side, Tiger will enjoy a full 24 hours of rest before his 1:28 p.m. ET second round tee time.

Rain and thunderstorms are expected throughout Friday and Saturday. Fireworks, too.