PGA Championship Day 1 Winners, Losers as Xander Schauffele leads

Xander Schauffele set a number of information through the first spherical of the PGA Championship, as he holds a commanding three-shot lead over Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala by means of 18 holes.

A gaggle of six gamers, together with Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Tom Kim, and Robert MacIntyre, lurks 4 photographs behind Schauffele.

However loads of different vital storylines developed at Valhalla on Day One, so let’s discover the winners and losers from Thursday within the Bluegrass State.

Winners:

Xander Schauffele

Schauffele not solely set a brand new Valhalla course file, however he shot the bottom rating in PGA Championship historical past with a 9-under 62. He made 9 birdies and 9 pars, a clear scorecard that soared him to the highest of the leaderboard.

Picture by Patrick Smith/Getty Photos

He has been on this place loads of instances earlier than, although. Schauffele owns the bottom all-time first-round scoring common in majors at 69.81 for these gamers who’ve appeared in 25 of them, per Elias Sports activities Bureau. Brooks Koepka ranks second with a mark of 70.74.

Now, the query revolves round Schauffele sealing the deal. He has 12 top-10 finishes in majors however no titles to indicate. A win this week would change his profession, give him an additional dose of confidence, and take away him from atop the checklist of ‘Finest present participant by no means to win a serious.’

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy has loads of drama in his private life in the intervening time, together with his pending divorce and discussions surrounding the PGA Tour Coverage Board.

Regardless, one has to really feel for the Northern Irishman, who’s experiencing a whirlwind outdoors of the ropes.

However contained in the ropes, McIlroy appears to be like nearly as good as ever. He scrapped his means round Valhalla to card a 5-under 66 on Thursday, which included six birdies and one bogey.

Picture by Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour by way of Getty Photos

Recognized for his driving prowess, McIlroy didn’t have his greatest stuff off the tee on Thursday—even discovering the water along with his driver on 18. He managed to avoid wasting par there, giving him a much-needed momentum enhance going to his second 9.

He took benefit of that and now has a stable probability to seize his first main championship in a decade.

ESPN Protection

ESPN started stay protection of the PGA Championship at 7 a.m. ET on Thursday morning on its streaming platform, ESPN Plus. Tv protection started at Midday ET, and the community concluded its broadcast at 8 p.m., thus ending a marathon day to the delight of golf followers in every single place.

The ‘Worldwide Chief in Sports activities’ has completed an exceptional job protecting the second main of the yr, exhibiting loads of golf photographs throughout a number of feeds. Commercials didn’t boggle down the printed both. Even the No Laying Up crew had a two-hour present on ESPN2 from 1 to three p.m. ET, which was a delight.

Scottie Scheffler as a Dad

Many golfers within the subject this week joked about Scheffler needing extra sleep after he and his spouse welcomed a son into the world final week.

Evidently, Scheffler didn’t get off to a sleepy begin.

He one-hopped his method shot into the primary gap, making an eagle two to start his first main championship as a father.

Absolutely, his 8-day-old son, Bennett, was impressed.

Scheffler completed the day with a 4-under 67 as he eyes his second straight main title.

Brooks Koepka’s Persistence

‘Huge, Dangerous, Brooks’ carded a 4-under 67 on Thursday, forcing persistence upon himself to trickle up the leaderboard on the finish of his spherical.

He made solely three birdies to 1 bogey, however an eagle on the par-5 seventh—his sixteenth gap of the day—considerably improved his standing. He then made a kind of three birdies on the very subsequent gap, the par-3 eighth.

Curiously, Koepka, the defending champion, opened with a 2-over 72 at Oak Hill a yr in the past. Will his five-shot enchancment in spherical one this time function a harbinger of issues to return?

Losers:

Phil Mickelson

Mickelson, a two-time winner of this occasion, started the day with a bogey on the par-4 1st and a double-bogey on the par-4 2nd. He ended the day with one other double, as he splashed his drive into the water to the appropriate of the 18th fairway.

Picture by Christian Petersen/Getty Photos

He shot a 3-over 74, which isn’t a foul rating contemplating it included two double bogies, however Mickelson has loads of work to do if he desires to make the minimize.

It’ll probably take a spherical within the mid-60s.

Michael Block

The Block Occasion ended on the 2nd inexperienced at Valhalla early Thursday morning.

Block, who performed within the first group of the day, crisscrossed the 2nd inexperienced a number of instances, hitting quite a lot of chips throughout the placing floor. He lastly made a quadruple-bogey eight, sending him down the leaderboard and into the abyss.

He’ll probably miss the minimize after carding a 5-over 76, however Block performed his ultimate 16 holes in even par.

Valhalla Golf Membership

This Jack Nicklaus-design structure yielded loads of birdies, primarily because of the gentle circumstances.

However that doesn’t low cost the truth that Valhalla is simply too simple for the very best gamers on this planet. The profitable rating will probably hover round 20-under-par, proving how benign this course is. With three par-5s and loads of gettable par-4s, this structure pales compared to what the gamers noticed at difficult Oak Hill one yr in the past.

Count on to see a birdie barrage over the subsequent few days, which, for my part, diminishes the mystique of a serious. The primary spherical ended with 65 gamers beneath par, probably the most in PGA Championship historical past.

It is not like it is a new improvement, both. Rory McIlroy gained the 2014 version at 16-under, whereas Tiger Woods and Bob Might completed at 18-under in 2000.

Absolutely, this match will finish the streak of three consecutive PGA Championship winners ending at single digits beneath par.

Plus, limestone waterfalls are for resorts, not for main championships.

Brian Harman’s Tempo of Play

Brian Harman’s sluggish tempo of play has been well-documented earlier than. He tends to waggle his membership face endlessly earlier than hitting a shot, drawing the ire of golf followers in every single place.

However ESPN determined to have a bit enjoyable at Harman’s expense on Thursday.

After Harman addressed a putt, he walked away from it to get a re-assessment. However as an alternative of staying on the shot, the ESPN producer determined to pan to a turtle sitting beside considered one of Valhalla’s quite a few water hazards.

Maybe this transfer ought to fall beneath the ‘Winners’ class above, the place ESPN’s protection has claimed a spot. However no person likes sluggish play. Everybody loathes it. So, to Harman and golfers in every single place, please choose up the tempo as a result of no person desires to play behind a turtle.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. Be sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.