CHARLOTTE — Scottie Scheffler called it a “tremendous amount of fun.” The guys he was playing with might have muttered under their breath, “Speak for yourself.”
The PGA of America smartly created a mega group for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, putting together Scheffler, the World No. 1, with the next two men in the rankings, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele.
This and other majors have gone to that well before, but it was a no-brainer this week. Scheffler has been the best player on the planet for an extended period and was coming off a recent runaway win at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. McIlroy just completed the career Grand Slam with his Masters triumph a month ago. Schauffele is the only player who can boast being the reigning champions in two majors.
On current form alone, Scheffler and McIlroy were the top two betting favorites for the week, with Schauffele still a bit of a mystery while continuing to recover from his early season injury.
The golfers were ready for this, and so was a big gallery that showed up early in the morning on Thursday as the superstars started on the 10th hole. “The crowd had great energy,” Scheffler would later recall.
Unfortunately, the players themselves provided the massive buzzkill only seven holes into the tournament when, to the shock of every living thing on the property, the trio made double-bogey 6s at the demanding 16th that begins Quail Hollow’s diabolical finish.
Only this was their front nine, and it left the golfers looking as ashen and shellshocked as the fans.
“I kept the honor with making a double on a hole, and I think that will probably be the first and last time I do that in my career unless we get some crazy weather conditions,” Scheffler said.
Ultimately, Scheffler withstood his setbacks the best. He made eagle on the par-5 15th before the No. 16 disaster, and with three birdies on his back nine, including one at his closing hole, the Texan managed to shoot 69 on the par-71 layout to trail clubhouse leader Ryan Gerard by three as the afternoon wave played.
As for McIlroy, who shot 74, and Schauffele (71), they will go into Friday with eyes on the cut, with neither currently inside the bubble of the top 60 and ties who make the weekend.
The McIlroy development was stunning, of course. The Ulsterman’s four previous wins at Quail Hollow created the assumption that he would contend deep into Sunday. That may still happen, but McIlroy clearly didn’t feel his usual comfort here, and there were no insights, as he didn’t speak after the round.
At one under over the first six holes, he was in decent shape, but unlike Scheffler, McIlroy didn’t recover from the double bogey at 16—the result of hooking his drive into a steep bank, punching out and eventually missing a 12-foot putt for bogey.
Driving and putting would be an issue all day for McIlroy, who made no birdies, along with two bogeys, the rest of the round. There was some signs of a leaky driver last week at the Truist, and McIlroy struggled with control on Thursday, hitting just over a quarter of the fairways. He also lost 2.398 strokes to the field on the greens.
Xander Schauffele hits out of a bunker in the first round of the PGA Championship.
David Cannon
Schauffele, the defending PGA champion after winning his first career major at Valhalla last May, was even par heading into 16, and after a strong drive into the fairway, his approach curved into the water left of the green, just as Scheffler did. Schauffele left himself 33 feet for a bogey putt and missed it. He kept the card clean the rest of the way, but made only one more birdie, by getting up and down from a fairway bunker at No. 8.
Both Schauffele and Scheffler blamed their issues from the fairway at 16 on mud balls. (The PGA of America announced on Wednesday night that there would be no lift, clean and place despite a course made soggy by heavy rain in the buildup.)
“I think there’s a lot more good in there than bad,” Schauffele said of his play. “Had a ridiculous mud ball there on 16 with Scottie. We were in the middle of the fairway, and I don’t know, we had to aim right of the grandstands probably. I’m not sure. I aimed right of the bunker and it whipped in the water and Scottie whipped it in the water, as well.
“It is what it is,” he added, “and a lot of guys are dealing with it. But it’s just unfortunate to be hitting good shots and to pay them off that way. It’s kind of stupid.”
So, yes, that “tremendous amount of fun.” It was in the eye of the beholder.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
