He started the first round of the PGA Championship with three birdies in his first four holes on Thursday, and Dean Burmester managed to hold on for a two-under-par 69 and a share 32nd at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Burmester, who was one of LIV Golf players who got a late invitation to the second major championship of the year, started his round on the 10th hole. He was fast out of the blocks with two birdies on his first two holes. Things looked good with a third coming on the 13th, but he had to work hard after that when he bogeyed the 14th and 15th.
After turning in one-under 35, he made three birdies and a bogey on the front nine, and he found himself – like most in the field – a long way off the lead. Xander Schauffele shot a record-low nine-under-par 62 to lead by three from fellow-Americans Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala and Mark Hubbard.
Schauffele has put himself in position to silence the doubters once more with a blistering record-setting opening. A week after surrendering a lead to Rory McIlroy in the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship, recording his eighth top-10 from 12 starts this season (and second runner-up), Schauffele put together a sublime round. It tied the record for the lowest major score in history, a mark he was already part of after eight-under 62 from last year’s US Open.
It’s just the fourth 62 in major history, but the first of nine-under par. Schauffele is the first player to do it twice and is also the first person to shoot 62 in PGA Championship history. Rickie Fowler matched him last June at Los Angeles Country Club (eight-under 62) while South African Branden Grace shot eight-under 62 at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. The Olympic gold medallist joins McIlroy (nine-under 63) at the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews and Greg Norman (nine-under 63) at the 1996 Masters as the lowest score relative to par in the first round of a major.
McIlroy is lurking once again, tied fifth with his Ryder Cup teammate Robert MacIntyre at five-under. Collin Morikawa, Thomas Detry, Tom Hoge, Maverick McNealy and Tom Kim are also at the same score.
Incredibly Scottie Scheffler, who’s last five PGA Tour starts read 1-1-2-1-1 including his wins at The Players and Masters, opened his round with a hole-out eagle from 168-yards. He forged his way to a round of 67 and is second on the odds boards despite being five shots back.
Erik van Rooyen opened with a one-over 72 to be in a share of 85th, while Christiaan Bezuidenhout was on three-over.
Ryan van Velzen and Thriston Lawrence have a lot of work to do if they are to make the cut after their opening four-over 75s put them in a share of 137th.
