US PGA Championship, day one – as it happened

And here’s Andy Bull’s account of day one at Aronimink Golf Club.

Joint-leader Alex Smalley pars the last so defending champion Scottie Scheffler finishes the opening round in a seven-way tie at the top. A great start for the World No.1. pre-tournament favourite but not a good day for Rory McIlroy as the Masters winner ends the day seven shots off the pace after a 4-over 74.

Here’s the top of the day one leaderboard:

-3: Potgieter, Jaeger, Lee, Hisatsune, Kaymer, Scheffler, Smalley -2: Brown, Theegala, Greyserman, Schauffele, Conners, Reed, Lowry

Thanks for reading everyone. We’ll be back tomorrow.

It’s a par for Scheffler at 18 and he shares the clubhouse lead. A very well executed round of 3-under 67. with the putter giving it some spark when perhaps his steady approach play pointed to something closer to par.

Playing partners Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick take different routes to their par 70s. Rose has more for the highlight reel and that includes an excellent up-and-down at the last. Both are very much in contention.

Now we see if Smalley can birdie the last to break out of that huge tie for top spot.

-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F), Kaymer (F), Scheffler (F), Smalley (17)

Alex Smalley remains in a seven-way tie at the top with par at 17. He pulls his tee-shot long and. surprisingly, opts to putt from down in a hollow when most would have chipped it back. His first putt ends up just over six-foot shy but he holes a testy one to stay at -3.

Scheffler pulls 8-iron for his second to 18. From 172 yards, he’s just a fraction shy of the green although just 29 feet from the hole. He can putt that. There’s still a chance last year’s winner can take the outright lead on his own.

Scheffler puts a lot of right shoulder into his drive at 18 but finds the fairway. Once again, he has that uncanny ability to aim left. know full well that his ball will peel back into the fairway. And it does. No surprise that he ranks 1st for Driving Accuracy today.

Big break for Scheffler. His ball has ended by a sprinkler buried in the rough. he’d have to stand on a second sprinkler if playing it from where it lies. The rules allow him a club length from those man-made objects and. wouldn’t you know it, he’s now able to drop his ball onto the green rather than face a difficult chip from the gnarly stuff. It’s a far easier shot with putter in hand. he cashes in by rolling his ball over a ridge to just over three feet away. He holes the putt and stays tied for the lead.

Scheffler is joined in the lead at -3 by Alex Smalley after the American flicks a wedge onto the par-5 16th green. holes the short putt.

-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F), Kaymer (F), Scheffler (17), Smalley (16)

Scheffler’s tee-shot at the par-3 17th with a fairway wood leaks a little right. runs into the shorter cut of greenside rough. Tough up and down from there it has to be said.

A little earlier, Patrick Reed completed the first bogey-free round of the day via 16 pars and two birdies. The secret? “Just being patient … hit 16 greens … I was just able to go out there. play boring golf,” says Reed with a smile.

Scheffler shares the lead again. It looks unlikely after his tee-shot into rough and hack out into the fairway at the par-5 16th. But, in a rare show of aggression, he goes for the flag with his approach from 140 yards. ends four feet away. In goes the putt. now he has the chance to end the first round with the lead on his own if he can find one more birdie.

Also at 16… hurrah, Matt Fitzpatrick makes his first birdie of the day. It’s a significant one though as 14 pars. a bogey over his first 15 holes have enabled him to get back to even par with just that one circle on his scorecard.

Sky showing an incident where Jon Rahm angrily swished at the turf after a shot he wasn’t happy with. The flying grass hit an eldery spectator on the cheek, leaving the Spaniard to apologise profusely.

Can anyone get to -4? It’s looking increasingly unlikely now with conditions getting colder. Alex Smalley probably has the best chance as he’s -3 with four to play although finding sand off the tee at the brutal par-4 15th has left him with a 25-footer for par. Perhaps Scheffler can get there with a birdie at the par-5 16th. one more par breaker at 17 or 18.

It’s getting a bit ragged for Justin Thomas as he takes six swishes on the par-5 16th. An obvious birdie chance turns into a bogey and he drops to -1.

Meanwhile. a very rare error off the tee from Scheffler at that same par 5 as he pulls his drive into thick rough. Up at 18, Shane Lowry’s 14-footer thinks about it but drops in for birdie. An excellent 2-under 68 for the Irishman.

Good news for Scottie Scheffler fans. Factory settings have been restored and he pars the tough par-4 15th to stay at -2, one back.

Shot 1: 344 yds to left fairway. 187 yds to hole Shot 2: 200 yds to left green, 48 ft 8 in. to hole Shot 3: Putt 46 ft 8 in., 2 ft 1 in. to hole Shot 4: In the hole

Rose (evens) makes par after holing a 10 footer while Fitzpatrick (+) also signs for a ‘4’. After 14 pars. a bogey, the man from Sheffield now has the reachable-in-two par-5 16th to go at and land that elusive first birdie of the day.

Michael Kim has given some thoughts on Garrick Higgo missing his tee-time and being hit with a two-shot penalty. The young South African is taking some flak on social media for his attitude to the error. with words like ‘entitled’ being bandied around. Higgo in his own words said: “If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid back. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual, yeah.”

Here’s what Michael Kim had to say on social media:

double quotation mark I was almost late to my tee time too.

Because 1 and 10 share one tee box, tee times are in 5 min intervals between 1 and 10. Spieth teed off on 10 at 841, me off 1 at 846. I was putting until the entire group teed off. But because I’m used to 10 min gaps between a group teeing off, just out of habit I was walking leisurely. by the time the last guy teed off on 10, it was 843. I then briskly walked to 1 tee. Not an excuse and idk what Higgo exactly thought, just sharing my experience.

Martin Kaymer completes the fifth round of 67 today. The German is a fraction away from a closing eagle after pumping a driver off the deck onto the green to 15 feet. Some thump that: it’s measured at 298 yards. Good to see the two-time major winner back on top of a leaderboard.

-3: Potgieter (F). Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F), Kaymer (F), Smalley (13) -2: Brown (F), Theegala (F), Greyserman (F), Schauffele (F), Conners (17), Reed (17*), Thomas (15), Rai (15*), Scheffler (14), Schmid (13*)

Scottie Scheffler is playing computer golf. It’s as if he’s been set to ‘smart’ mode as every hole he comes out with the same thing. What do you expect the Scot-bot has been programmed do on a lengthy par 3 with the flag at the back? Yes, find the green but near the front-middle to avoid going over it. And that’s what he does, hitting his tee-shot to 58 feet and hitting a good lag. But, then, malfunction! Scheffler misses a three-footer for par and makes bogey. Surprisingly, he laughs at the dribbled effort going wide. Perhaps he is human after all.

But to show that golf is a mix of art. science, playing partner Justin Rose produces some off-the-cuff magic, holing his bunker shot. Huge roars for the Englishman, who won the 2013 US Open down the road at Merion. That’s back-to-back birdies for Rose and the little burst has jumped him from +2 to even par.

And to complete an extremely entertaining few minutes. Fitzpatrick ends his 13-hole par streak with a bogey to drop to +1. It’s all happening.

After his wild tee-shot at the par-3 14th, Thomas needs two more attempts to find the green. Even then, he’s still nearly 40 feet away so is staring double bogey in the face. But JT has a special relationship with this event – he’s won it twice, his ‘only’ two major wins –. avoids the big number by draining his putt from downtown. Far less dramatic so far for Matt Fitzpatrick, who has made 14 straight pars.

Sky showing Rory McIlroy trying to work something out on the range. Meanwhile, back on the course, Scottie Scheffler again plays a smart, no-risk approach shot at 13, avoiding trouble. finding the heart of the green. He knocks his 35-footer to kick-in range. Par. T1.

Justin Thomas, one of the joint-leaders, gets hot under the collar. He hoicks his tee-shot way left at the long par-3 14th – his ball almost ending in the grandstand -. angrily spears the offending iron into the turf. It bounces away, performing a triple lutz before resting near a microphone. Will he get a telling off after the round? Maybe, but I don’t think Pete Townshend has much to worry about.

Scheffler does the sensible thing at 12. It’s a medium-tough hole, playing a tad over par. Scottie finds the fairway again, hits an approach to just inside 50 feet. takes two putts to remain tied for the lead. The 13th is a shorter par 4 so he’ll be able to go in with something like a 9-iron. Once more, he’ll be doing so from the fairway. Aronimink is a much more straightforward test if you’re constantly hitting from short grass.

I claimed earlier that two Germans had never been tied for the lead at a major. But. get this, that unofficial record could now extend to three as Matti Schmid is now just one off the lead. True, Martin Kaymer is also one back after a bogey but he. Schmid both have holes to play and could join Stephan Jaeger at the top again. Now just checking if Bernhard Langer is in the field.

Scottie Scheffler ties for the lead! A fourth birdie in six holes for the defending champ as he adds another circle to his scorecard at 11. This one comes on a short par 4 so he’s able to get closer to the pin this time after yet again finding the fairway. His wedge from 99 yards plonks down just over eight feet away. such putts are now meat and drink to the World No.1. It’s a seven-way tie again.

-3: Potgieter (F), Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F), Conners (14), Thomas (11), Scheffler (11)

Often in majors, you need to be right up there from the start. Take the US Masters where six of the last seven winners were in the top three after 18 holes. But here at the US PGA, there is some wriggle room if you don’t hit the ground running.

Winners and where they stood after R1

2025 Scottie Scheffler: 20th. five back 2023 Brooks Koepka: 38th and six back 2020 Collin Morikawa: 33rd and four back 2018 Brooks Koepka: 33rd and five back 2017 Justin Thomas: 44th and six back

This is good news for those who are at +1, +2. +3, a bunch which includes Ludvig Aberg, Tyrrell Hatton (both +2).

Scottie Scheffler’s putter is on fire! At the par-4 10th, he hits a careful tee-shot, a sensible approach to 28 feet. then drains the putt for birdie, his ball just catching enough of the hole to do a little twirl and drop. That seems to be his strategy today. No risks tee to green and ride a hot putter. It’s working as the World No.1 is now just a shot off the lead.

Here’s Jon Rahm’s theory on why scoring is tough. He fired a pleasing 1-under 69 but that included a hole-out eagle and a chip-in.

double quotation mark If you just go by some of the numbers. some of the fairways are wide, the greens aren’t crazy firm. But a lot of those fairways are sloped in a way that they play very narrow. Like 15 today, I thought I was going to be in the fairway undoubtedly, and I was off the fairway. Same on 10, same on 4. It can easily roll off.

I can see how in appearance it might be easier, but it’s not. You need to play really good golf to shoot lower than 3-under. And then on top of that, those pin locations today are good ones. I mean, they’re tucked. They’re not easy.

There was somebody earlier in the week where there was some chatter where people thought 15- to 20-under was going to win.. if the golf course stays like this. it keeps firming up, yeah, obviously it’s not going to be anything like that.

No movements at the very top of the leaderboard. Justin Thomas stays tied for first place with a solid two-putt par at 10. A rung below, major winners Patrick Reed and Shane Lowry have pulled to within a shot.

-3: Potgieter (F). Jaeger (F), Lee (F), Hisatsune (F), Kaymer (14*), Thomas (10) -2: Brown (F), Theegala (F), Greyserman (F), Schauffele (F), Conners (12), Reed (12*), Lowry (11), Stevens (9*), Smalley (8)

Simon McMahon emails.

“Evening David. Golf pro names have always been a source of fascination for me. Your mention of the PGA club pros took me back to my Sega Mega Drive days. the likes of Joey Sindelar, Brandt Snedeker, Chip Beck, Bob Tway, Lanny Wadkins, Fuzzy Zoeller to name but a few. Maurice Flitcroft and his aliases may well have been in there too?”

Yes, I can recall those on-screen messages saying that Joey Sindelar has made birdie at the 13th. Or Bruce Lietzke has eagled the 7th at TPC Avenel.

Then again. if you weren’t following last week’s golf action, Simon, Brandt Snedeker (now 45) actually won the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic. I know that because it flashed up on my Commodore 64.

At least he’s honest. Rory McIlroy is asked how he would describe his opening round 74. In a theatrical move, he leans into the mic, says “shit” and turns his head away again.

He opens up a little more when probed further.

double quotation mark I’m just not driving the ball well enough. It’s been a problem all year for the most part.

I’ve sort of got, like 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 like I pride myself on driving the ball well.

The stats back it up. He’s currently ranking 118th for Strokes Gained: Off The Tee. There does seem to be some recency bias in his answer though. Check out the season-long Off The Tee charts and Rory ranks 1st.

An email. Kim Thonger (another club pro surname contender) gets in touch with a theory on why no-one can get beyond 3-under.

“Watching the round develop I feel sure that the failure of the entire field to deliver a really low score is simply. none of them are deploying an 11 wood. My regular golfing partner ridiculed mine when I started using it this year,. he’s had to admit that it produces remarkable results. I’m so pleased with it I’m now thinking of ordering a 13, 15. 17 wood from an American bespoke manufacturer of such weapons. It does occasionally let me down, yesterday I pulled my drive slightly on the 158 yard par 3 18th at Saffron Walden. it bounced heavily into the thankfully toughened glass of the clubhouse French doors. A couple of members were roused from their afternoon nap, I know because they gesticulated to that effect in unison,. nobody died. Anyway, such clubs are the future. I urge the top players to experiment.”

Playing partners Cam Young and Keegan Bradley have come dressed the same today. Not sure who is the David Brent to the Neil Godwin. Is Young trying to impress his Ryder Cup captain or is Bradley trying to show he’s as cool as the massively in-form World No.3. Regardless, both look the part in their Sergio Georgini outfits. both are going on along pretty well at even par after 8 holes.

Can Scheffler make it three birdies on the spin? It’s a tough ask on the 245-yard par-3 8th. is averaging more than half a stroke over par so far today. Scheffler looks set to make that average climb as he finds sand and can only splash out to 14 feet. But, once again, the putter trumps what came before it. he pours in the par attempt to remain at -1.

Should the US PGA really still persist with 20 club pros? Michael Block is the best advert after his 15th place at Oak Hill in 2023. he’s flying the flag for them again here: -1 after 14. Plus, they often have surnames you’ve never seen in any other walk of life. In the field this week we have Garrett Sapp, Jesse Droemer, Michael Kartrude and Braden Shattuck. Is this actually an in-joke by the PGA of America? Perhaps these guys are really called Bill Smith. Dan Johnson and they just allocate them a daft name for the week. Sort of a strange nod to Maurice Flitcrfoft entering the Open as Gene Paycheki, Arnold Palmtree. Count Manfred von Hoffmanstel.

Shane Lowry eagles in big events usually come in the form of hole-in-ones. He’s had two at Augusta and one each at Sawgrass and Pebble Beach. But here he does it in more conventional style after chipping across the par-5 9th green and, from 100 feet away, watching his ball track towards the hole. drop. The clenched fist marks a notable move from +1 to -1.

Is this the first time two Germans have ever held the joint-lead in a major? Surely it’s a ja. Martin Kaymer, the 2010 US PGA winner, joins Stephan Jaeger in T1 with a birdie at 2, his 11th. It’s a seven-way tie at the top and Scheffler and Players Championship winner Cam Young are just two back. Official leaderboard status: ‘bunched’.