PGA Championship: Scottie Scheffler shares early lead as Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau struggle at Aronimink Golf Club | Golf News

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler grabbed a share of the early lead at the PGA Championship, as Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau made nightmare starts at Aronimink Golf Club

Scheffler, runner-up in his last three worldwide starts and chasing a fifth major victory in as many seasons, posted four birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn on his way to an opening-round 67.

The world No 1 sits in a seven-way tie at the top of a congested leaderboard, with Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Alex Smalley and former champion Martin Kaymer also on three under.

A further seven players sit a shot back, including 2024 champion Xander Schauffele, Patrick Reed, Shane Lowry and England’s Daniel Brown, while Jordan Spieth is just two adrift as he searches for the elusive major required to complete the career Grand Slam.

Jon Rahm is alongside Spieth on one under and one of 33 players within two of the lead, as McIlroy’s bid for back-to-back major title was derailed with a four-bogey finish to his opening-round 74 and DeChambeau struggled to a six-over 76.

Scheffler makes ominous start to title defence

Scheffler was among the later starters on the opening day, 12 months on from his five-shot victory at the Quail Hollow Club, with the 29-year-old making a slow start when he followed a three-par start with a bogey at the fourth.

He responded with a birdie at the sixth and nailed a 40-footer at the next, before scrambling a par at the eighth and starting his back nine with successive birdies to join the logjam on three under.

Scheffler cancelled out a long-range three-putt bogey at the 14th by taking advantage of the par-five 16th, with his impressive display off the tee – missing just one fairway – and strong putting guiding him to the first opening-round co-lead of his major career.

“Definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year, maybe besides American Express,” Scheffler admitted. “It’s a really tight leaderboard. At this moment, it’s anybody’s tournament. It’s nice to get off to a good start.”

Lowry chipped in for eagle at the par-five ninth during his opening-round 68, with Reed also one back after making a bogey-free start to his bid for a second major title while Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman, Corey Conners and Schauffele complete the group one back.

Rahm posted a birdie-birdie finish to his one-under 69, having started his fightback with a hole-out eagle from the second fairway – his 11th hole, as Spieth and Justin Thomas both slipped two back into the contingent on tied-15th after two late bogeys.

Work to do for McIlroy and DeChambeau

Masters champion McIlroy described his opening round as s***, having seen a solid start to his bid for a seventh major title unravel with ‘wayward’ driving over his closing holes on the opening morning.

McIlroy was level par for his round with four holes to play – having holed a 30-foot birdie at the fifth – but then bogeyed each of his last four holes, with McIlroy struggling both off the tee and with his putter to leave him at risk of an early exit.

“I’m just not driving the ball well enough,” McIlroy admitted. “It’s been a problem all year for the most part. I miss it right, and then I want to try to correct it. And then I’ll overdo it, and I’ll miss it left.

“It’s a little bit of back and forth that way. So that’s pretty frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball well. I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out.”

DeChambeau has finished runner-up at the PGA Championship two years running but is in danger of a second successive major missed cut, after an erratic display left him tied-135th and nine strokes adrift.

The two-time US Open champion – beginning on the back nine – bogeyed two of his opening four holes and fell further behind with successive dropped shots from the 17th, then saw a run of pars ended when he failed to get up and down from off the seventh green to save par.

The round unravelled further at the par-three eighth, where two misjudged chips left him needing to hole from 10 feet to scramble a double-bogey, before his only birdie of a disappointing day coming at the par-five ninth.

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