It was a throwback to the days when the US PGA Championship was oblivious to reputations. Rory McIlroy was put through the wringer, Xander Schauffele couldn’t keep up, Justin Thomas was mangled, Brooks Koepka was barbecued, and for the first time since 1994 at this event, nobody from the top 10 in the world rankings was in the top 10 in the first-round leaderboard.
It was a skittish day. For the first time this week there was no rain at Quail Hollow, but the downpours from the practice days generated a world of mud balls and a chorus of complaints from the players. In their post-round press conferences, Scottie Scheffler and Schauffele, two of the best players in the world, scarcely talked about anything else.
Preferred lies on wet golf courses are not unusual on the professional tours, but at the Majors it is regarded as a solution of last resort. In a short, firm and pointed statement on Wednesday night the PGA said that “the playing surfaces are outstanding and drying by the hour”. Taking the ball in hand was categorically ruled out, as if the very suggestion was a slight on the course’s honour.
Scheffler and Schauffele were hot under the collar because they both double-bogeyed the 16th from the middle of the fairway. Mud on their balls had exaggerated the right to left flight of their approach shots and landed them both in the lake. It was the first time that Scheffler had ever recorded a double-bogey in the first round of a Major.
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“It’s kind of stupid,” said Schauffele. “I’m not the only guy. I’m just in front of the camera. I wouldn’t want to go in the locker-room because I’m sure a lot of guys aren’t super happy with the conditions there. I feel like the grass is so good, there is no real advantage to cleaning your ball in the fairway. The course is completely tipped out. It sucks that you’re kind of 50/50 [for a mud ball] once you hit the fairway.”
McIlroy was the third player in that group, but he couldn’t blame the soft conditions for his chaotic three-over-par round of 74. He hit just four fairways from 14 and even his longest drive of the day, a 343-yard bomb on the par-5 15th, was perilously offline and just a few paces from disappearing into water.
Starting on the 10th, the birdie he made on the 15th was his last of the day and McIlroy was nearly in the water again at the next. He was so far out of position, that he lost his footing on the wet slope while trying to manoeuvre the ball back into play. He ended up playing his third shot from gnarly rough and recorded his first double-bogey on that hole since his very first competitive round at Quail Hollow, 15 years ago.
No part of his game was in sync. He repeatedly tugged his tee shots left and lost nearly two and a half shots to the field on the greens. For driving accuracy, he was in the bottom 10 per cent of the 156-man field. On this track, driving has always been his point of difference.
McIlroy’s immediate target now is to make the cut. He was seven shots behind after the first round of the Masters last month, but he trails by more here, and no winner of the US PGA this century has been worse than 44th after the first round. McIlroy finished the day outside the top 100. After his round he refused to do interviews. You can fill in the blanks.
Scheffler, the other pre-tournament favourite, held on to his score with typical bloody-mindedness. His eagle at the 15th was wiped out by a six at the next but he finished with two birdies in his last three holes to sign for a two-under-par 69. As is so often the case, he is firmly in the hunt.
“Overall, I did a good job keeping a level head out there during a day which there was definitely some challenging aspects to the course,” said Scheffler. “I did a good job of battling back today and not letting a bad break like that [mud ball on 16] get to me. Did a good job battling after that and posting a decent score.”
Shane Lowry mustered three birdies in the middle of his round, including a raker from 68 feet, but he still finished two over and frustrated yet again at this venue.
“I mean I always struggle around here and today was another one of those days. It is what it is. I’ll just have to go shoot a low one tomorrow. I don’t see the ball going close out there and I don’t see birdies. It’s tough when it’s like that.”
He wasn’t alone.
