Xander Schauffele wasted no time at Valhalla on Thursday morning.
Schauffele went low to kick off the 106th PGA Championship. He posted a course-record 9-under 62 to grab an early three-shot lead over the field when he hit the clubhouse. His bogey-free round tied the lowest round in major championship history, something he’s now done twice.
Schauffele finished in second last week at the Wells Fargo Championship, which marked his eighth top-10 finish so far this season on the PGA Tour. He hasn’t won a major championship yet in his career, but he’s inside the top 20 at every major but two since 2019. By all accounts, he’s due.
Though his early lead was impressive, and it matched the largest opening-round lead in tournament history, it likely won’t hold. There’s still plenty of golf to be played the rest of the week in Louisville. Tiger Woods stumbled to close out his round. He made back-to-back bogeys in his final two holes and carded a 1-over 72 in the early wave. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, made three birdies in his final five holes to get to 5-under — which has him right in the mix.
Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala are tied in second at 6-under. Robert MacYntire, Tom Hoge, Tom Kim, Thomas Detry and Collin Morikawa joined McIlroy at 5-under. Scottie Scheffler, who pulled out a wild eagle hole out to start his day, finished at 4-under.
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Scottie Scheffler will start tomorrow 5 shots back from Xander Schauffele.
Leaderboard Update
After Thursday’s opening round, here’s a look at where things stand at Valhalla.
Leaderboard:
1. Xander Schauffele (-9)
T2. Tony Finau (-6)
T2. Sahith Theegala
T4. Rory McIlroy (-5)
T4. Robert MacIntyre
T4. Tom Hoge
T4. Thomas Detry
T4. Collin Morikawa
Other Notables:
T10. Brooks Koepka (-4)
T10. Scottie Scheffler
T18. Max Homa (-3)
T18. Bryson DeChambeau
T31. Jordan Spieth (-2)
T31. Justin Thomas
T45. Jon Rahm (-1)
T87. Tiger Woods (+1)
T127. Phil Mickelson (+3)
T155. John Daly (
After his eagle to start the day, Scottie Scheffler finished with three straight pars to close out his round. He carded a 4-under 67, and trails Xander Schauffele by 5 heading into Friday.
Rickie Fowler really settled in after a wild front nine today.
Xander Schauffele will carry his 3-shot lead into Friday. The last two who had a lead that big after the opening round pulled off the win.
A 3-shot lead for Xander Schauffele will tie the largest after the opening round in @PGAChampionship history.
1963 Dick Hart (finished T-17) 1964 Bobby Nichols (won) 1982 Raymond Floyd (won) 2024 Xander Schauffele
He had to throw a club, but Jon Rahm got into the red to close out his opening round on Thursday afternoon. Rahm made four birdies in his final six holes to finish with his 1-under 70.
After his four early birdies to start the round, that’s a very impressive finish.
Jon Rahm today:
First 12 holes: +3, -2.50 strokes gained putting Last 6 holes: -4, +1.14 strokes gained putting
Phil Mickelson just doubled the 18th, and went 4-over in his last four holes to card his 3-over 74. He was under par before that last stretch. Just a brutal finish as he’s trying to make a record 28th cut at the PGA Championship this week.
Tom Kim finished with a 5-under 66, which makes him the youngest player to shoot a 66 or better to open the tournament in more than 20 years. He’s T5 now, four shots back of Xander Schauffele
Tom Kim (66 today, age 21) is the youngest player to begin a @PGAChampionship with 66 or better since Sergio Garcia opened with 66 in 1999 at age 19.
It was only a matter of time, and Jon Rahm finally lost his cool. His frustration had been building all day. Of course, he scrambled for par right after this …
And then made birdie on No. 17 to get him back to even. So the lesson for all you youngsters out there …
Jon Rahm still saved par after this club throw. So, everything worked out for him I guess. He’s 1-over now with two holes to go.
Scottie Scheffler just went birdie-bogey-birdie to get to 4-under on the day. After stalling out a bit from his hot start, he’s right back in the mix.
Though he’s a ways back from Xander Schauffele, Lefty still has a lot on the line this week at Valhalla.
Phil Mickelson moves to 1-under. He has 46 career rounds under par at the PGA Championship, second all-time to Jack Nicklaus (53 rounds).
Mickelson has 27 career made cuts at the PGA, tied for most all-time with Nicklaus and Ray Floyd.
Thomas Detry is still scoring, but he’s about the only one. He just picked up his fifth birdie of the day to get to 5-under, which has him T4.
Rickie Fowler’s scorecard …
… is a piece of art. Behold:
(PGA)
Am > PM
Scoring has definitely gotten harder as the day has gone on. Only four of the top 19 players on the leaderboard are on the course. Only one player in the top nine — Thomas Detry (-4) — is still playing.
Scheffler gets one back …
After a bogey at five stalled his round for a moment, Scottie Scheffler took advantage of the par-5 seventh, knocking in a four-footer for birdie to get back to 3-under.
Rahm struggling …
It’s not been a good day for Jon Rahm. He’s bogeyed four of his first six holes, including an absolute shank on No. 6. He missed the green by 40 yards to the left. He did birdie the seventh to slow the bleeding, but he’s got a lot of work to do if he’s going to get back in contention.
