NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, May 14 (Reuters) – Aldrich Potgieter made a dream PGA Championship debut as he held a four-way share of the early clubhouse lead on Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club where Jordan Spieth got his bid to complete the career Grand Slam off to a solid start and Rory McIlroy struggled to find his form.
Potgieter, who went off early from the back nine in chilly conditions before the sizeable crowds had gathered, made a pair of late birdies to card an opening three-under-par 67 that left him level with Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee and Ryo Hisatsune.
“There wasn’t a lot of people out there this morning on the first couple of holes. So it was nice to kind of get in my own little space and kind of get a groove in early on,” said Potgieter, who closed his round with a three-foot birdie.
Former champion Xander Schauffele, Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman and PGA Championship rookie Daniel Brown were all in the clubhouse one shot off the pace.
Defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler, who came into the week with runner-up finishes in his last three starts on the PGA Tour, went out late and was one under par through nine holes after mixing two birdies with a bogey.
Spieth, making his 10th crack at completing his collection of golf’s four major titles, held a share of the lead late in his round before back-to-back bogeys dropped him to one under.
“Just didn’t quite finish the way I wanted to the last three holes, but under-par was a good score,” said Spieth. “It was blowing really hard, and it was cold this morning. The course played very, very difficult.”
Former world number one Spieth was two shots back of the leaders in a group that included Brooks Koepka, former champion Jason Day and LIV golfers Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith.
RAHM HOLES OUT FOR EAGLE
Smith’s day included an adventurous bogey at his ninth hole, the par-four 18th, where his tee shot reached a TV broadcast booth way left of the fairway. He was given relief from the immovable obstruction and, after wires were moved out of the way, sent his second shot back into the fairway.
Rahm, who started on the back nine, provided one of the day’s highlights when he holed out for eagle from 98 yards at the par-four second not long after hearing the roars when Brown holed out for eagle from similar distance at the par-four 11th.
“I kind of thought, man, how often you see hole-outs in majors on TV and how rarely I’ve ever seen one in person,” said Rahm. “Then about an hour later I get to do it myself, right? So that’s just one of the funny moments in golf.”
Also sitting two shots back is Garrick Higgo, who posted a one-under 69 despite being penalised two strokes for being late to the first tee.
“It wasn’t a surprise. I was late,” said Higgo. “I mean, my caddie was yelling at me to get to the tee.”
MCILROY ENDURES FRUSTRATING OPENING ROUND
McIlroy, in only his second start since retaining his Masters title last month, was unable to get anything going on a day where he struggled mightily off the tee and carded five bogeys on a six-hole closing stretch after missing a number of makeable putts.
“I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out,” McIlroy said after using a four-letter expletive to describe his round. “Just sort of, once I get under the gun, it just seems like it starts to go a little bit wayward on me.”
Bryson DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at the PGA Championship the last two years, endured a nightmare start to the year’s second major as he waited until his final hole to card a birdie for an opening six-over 76.
DeChambeau’s round included a bogey at his second hole, the par-four 11th, where his lightly-touched birdie putt from just off the green caught a slope and rolled 52 feet past the hole.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)
Comments