PGA Championship Round One Highlights
Charlotte, North Carolina – What a peculiar start to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow on Thursday.
Where do you even begin to describe the first round? There’s definitely a lineup of lesser-known players ready to make their mark.
Take Jonattan Vegas from Venezuela, for instance. He has played in 16 major tournaments and had never cracked the top 20, chalking up 10 missed cuts. Yet, he stunned everyone by leading the tournament with a remarkable 7-under par 64.
That’s his best round in a major ever, fueled by six consecutive birdies to finish, including one at 8 PM—the final hole of the day.
“We all dream of days like this, especially at major championships,” Vegas commented. “Today worked out well. But, in this game, you have to focus on repeating your performance tomorrow.”
Trailing closely behind him are Cam Davis and Ryan Gerald, just a shot back at 5-under 66.
“You can’t force a great score,” Davis said. “I felt good when I teed off, and I’m happy with 5-under, especially in a major.”
The next players are 47-year-old Luke Donald, European Ryder Cup captain, alongside Alex Smalley, Ryan Fox, Aaron Rye, and Stephen Jaeger.
Meanwhile, world No. 2 Rory McIlroy is struggling. After a month off following his Masters win and four PGA Tour victories, he found himself at three over par, hitting just four fairways and finishing with a shaky 74—10 shots off the lead. This isn’t the trend he’d prefer to face moving into Friday’s round.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele shot 1 over, posting a 72, while Bryson DeChambeau, the reigning U.S. Open champ, is at even par.
Justin Thomas, who came into this week as a favorite, played to a 73, sitting at 2 over. Jordan Spieth, still chasing a career grand slam, had a rough round of 76, facing a tough uphill battle to make the cut.
The hype surrounding these big names has been palpable, but World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler also faced challenges, managing to finish at 2 under 69.
Luke Donald, now ranked 871st, is playing this week thanks to a special invitation after missing five cuts. He’s one of the shorter hitters on a long course.
For Gerald, this was only his third start in a major and his first PGA Championship. Coming from Raleigh, North Carolina, and a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, he shared, “It’s amazing to be here. I know a lot of people in the crowd, and I’ve played this course a few times. I love North Carolina; it feels like a home game.”
He reminisced about his first visit to Quail Hollow in 2007, when he watched the PGA Tour event featuring Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. “Seeing them compete was surreal for me as a kid; it really hooked me on golf,” he recalled.
Like Gerald, Smalley is also from North Carolina, specifically Greensboro. “I know Alex well, but he went to Duke, so we joke around about that,” Gerald said with a chuckle.
Smalley joined the field last minute when Sahith Theegala withdrew due to a neck injury, having been the fifth alternative when the lineup was announced. “Replacing someone at the last moment is intriguing,” Smalley noted. “I was on edge waiting for confirmation.”
Currently, he’s trying to excel in his fourth major championship.
The average ranking of the 19 players above 3 under is 111th; among them, Keegan Bradley and Tyrrell Hatton sit in the top 20.
With 30 players within four shots of the lead, it certainly has been an unusual day.
