The course showed its teeth.
World number one Scheffler shot 67 to tie for the lead with six other players, marking his first major lead after 18 holes despite historically slow starts. Top-ranked players like Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau struggled significantly, with McIlroy's erratic driving costing him four consecutive bogeys to finish seven shots back.
- Scottie Scheffler shot 67 to share the lead with six others, his first major lead after 18 holes
- Only 32 of 156 players finished under par in the first round
- Rory McIlroy finished at four-over 74, seven shots back, hitting only five fairways
- Patrick Reed was the only player to post a bogey-free round
- Martin Kaymer, a 41-year-old German two-time major winner, shares the lead after years of poor form
Scottie Scheffler shares the lead at the US PGA Championship after day one as the demanding Aronimink course proves unexpectedly difficult, with only 32 of 156 players finishing under par.
Aronimink was supposed to be vulnerable. The Pennsylvania course had drawn speculation all week—whispers that it might be tamed, that the scoring would run deep into double digits under par. Instead, on Thursday, the course showed its teeth.
Only 32 players out of 156 finished the opening round in red figures. That's barely a fifth of the field. The undulating layout, the rough that swallowed balls whole, the greens that tilted and rejected anything but the most precise approach—all of it conspired to humble the world's best. All except one.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and world number one, posted a three-under 67 to share the lead with six others: Martin Kaymer and Stephan Jaeger of Germany, South Africa's Aldrich Potgieter, Min-Woo Lee of Australia, Japan's Ryo Hisatsune, and American Alex Smalley. None of them were names anyone expected to see atop the leaderboard. Scheffler's 67 was a masterclass in diligence and composure—the kind of round that has defined his career. What made it historic was that this marked the first time in his career he held the lead after 18 holes in a major championship, despite a season marked by slow starts that have cost him.
England's Dan Brown, making his overseas major debut, sits one shot back. But the real story was what happened to the favorites. Rory McIlroy, the 37-year-old from Northern Ireland, came to Aronimink with a gameplan: hit the driver as far as possible. The course had other ideas. His tee shots grew increasingly erratic as the round wore on, and he closed with four consecutive bogeys to finish at four-over 74, seven shots behind the leaders. He hit only five fairways. "There certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway," McIlroy said afterward. "Probably more than what I anticipated." He spent the afternoon on the practice range, still working at 6 p.m. local time, trying to understand what had gone wrong.
Bryson DeChambeau, another power hitter who relies on distance off the tee, shot six-over 76. His short game abandoned him entirely. On the 11th hole, a delicate chip from the back of the green raced 30 feet past the pin, then another 57 feet beyond that—a brutal reminder that Aronimink punishes imprecision. Patrick Reed, the only player to post a bogey-free round, sits one shot off the lead. Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, both ranked among the favorites, scraped to even par.
The greens were the battlefield. After overnight rain softened them slightly for the early starters, the pin positions became instruments of torture. The geometry of the putting surfaces proved to be the course's greatest weapon. "The players underestimated the difficulty of playing this golf course from the rough," said Paul McGinley, the former European Ryder Cup captain, "and we're not seeing a whole lot of putts holed."
Martin Kaymer's presence at the top of the leaderboard carried its own narrative. The 41-year-old German, a two-time major winner who famously holed the winning putt at the Miracle of Medinah in 2012, has spent the last decade in the wilderness. Since joining LIV Golf in 2022, injuries and poor form have defined his career. At Tuesday's Champions Dinner, someone asked him if he was still playing professionally. The question stung. It also motivated him. "I got asked by a guy if I'm playing this week or if I'm done with golf," Kaymer said. "That really motivated me." He opened with two birdies in his first three holes and finished pain-free for the first time in years. "Everything is going the right direction," he said. "I can practice. It's fun."
Jon Rahm, the Spanish former world number one, finished at one-under par and offered a theory about why Aronimink had bitten back so hard. "Earlier in the week there was some chatter where people thought 15 to 20 under par was going to win," he said. "And I think that got to somebody in the PGA, and they did something about it." Whether by design or circumstance, the course had been set up to demand precision, and precision had been in short supply. As the championship moves into Friday, Scheffler and his unlikely companions hold the advantage—not because they hit it farther or longer, but because they understood what Aronimink was asking of them.
Citações Notáveis
There certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway. Probably more than what I anticipated.— Rory McIlroy
I got asked by a guy if I'm playing this week or if I'm done with golf. That really motivated me.— Martin Kaymer
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did so many of the best players in the world struggle on the same course?
Because Aronimink doesn't reward what they've been practicing all season. The power hitters—McIlroy, DeChambeau—they came with a strategy that works almost everywhere else. Here, missing the fairway by a yard means you're in rough so thick you can't control your next shot. And then the greens are so firm and sloped that even if you get close, you're not making putts.
But Scheffler struggled with slow starts this season. Why did he break that pattern now?
Because the course demanded what he's always been good at—patience, precision, not forcing anything. He didn't need to be the longest hitter. He just needed to be the most careful one. That's his strength anyway.
What about Kaymer? He hasn't been relevant in golf for years.
Someone asked him at dinner if he was still a professional golfer. That question—that dismissal—woke something up in him. And for the first time in years, his body didn't hurt. He could practice without pain. When you combine that with a little bit of anger and a course that doesn't care how far you hit it, suddenly the old skills come back.
So the course itself was the great equalizer?
Exactly. It didn't care about your ranking or your reputation. It only cared whether you could hit the fairway, read the green, and accept that sometimes the best you can do is par. That's a different test than what these players usually face.
What happens if the course stays this hard for three more days?
Then Scheffler's lead becomes enormous. He's already shown he can handle it. Everyone else is still figuring out how to play it. The favorites are going to have to completely change how they think about their game.