Scottie Scheffler and five other golfers shot 67 to share the lead during the opening round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink.
Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler fired a three-under par 67 to seize a share of the lead in Thursday's opening round of the PGA Championship.
South African Aldrich Potgieter, Australian Min Woo Lee, American Alex Smalley, Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and Germans Stephan Jaeger and Martin Kaymer also shot 67 to share the lead on a wild day at Aronimink. Scheffler, a four-time major winner, made five birdies against two bogeys and found himself atop the leaderboard after 18 holes for the first time in a major.
"The golf course was pretty challenging," Scheffler said. "I did a good job staying in it mentally on a course that was difficult at times. " Scheffler made birdie putts from 38 feet at seven, 28 feet at 10 and just inside nine feet at 11 to share the lead, then answered a three-putt bogey at 14 with a four-foot birdie putt at 16.
Second-ranked Masters winner Rory McIlroy was frustrated after a 74, having no problems with his blister-hit right foot but plenty with his golf swing.
"I'm just not driving the ball well enough," McIlroy said. "It has been a problem all year for the most part. An unlikely group did solve Aronimink's trademark undulating greens, including 23-year-old Hisatsune, who made seven birdies, four of them after each bogey in his round in only his fifth major appearance.
"I'm very lucky, especially with a lot of birdies and a lot of bounceback," Hisatsune said. "I'm so happy. ""Didn't make many mistakes. Stayed out of trouble," Kaymer said.
"I avoided big numbers and the rest of it was very consistent. ""On the front I hit some fairways and made some nice putts," Jaeger said. "Kept it together on the back. " The only other time two Germans were in the top five of a major round was when Bernard Langer and Alex Cejka shared the first-round lead at the 2001 British Open.
Potgieter, a 21-year-old South African making his sixth major start, made six birdies, including a 43-foot putt at 11, in his PGA Championship debut.
"I definitely left myself in really good positions on the green, made some long putts, so it was nice the putter was warm," Potgieter said. "Drove the ball really well," Lee said. "I played pretty solid all day, didn't get myself in too much trouble.
" One back on 68 were England's Daniel Brown, who holed out for eagle from 102 yards in the 11th fairway, plus Canadian Corey Conners, Ireland's Shane Lowry and Americans Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman, 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed, who had the only bogey-free round, and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele. "I feel like I played better than I scored, which is frustrating because you want to get the most out of your round," Spieth saidOthers on 69 included five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, two-time major winners Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas plus South African Garrick Higgo, who was issued a two-stroke penalty for being late to the first tee.
Spain's Rahm holed out from the fairway for eagle with a wedge from 101 yards at the second hole.
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