A final-hole double-bogey in near darkness robbed Adam Scott of the clubhouse lead on an incomplete first round at the PGA Championship in New York.
Freezing cold temperatures in the perennially chilly upstate New York caused significant frost on the ground, which delayed the start of the 2023 PGA Championship first round at Oak Hill CC in Rochester.
That darkness likely contributed to Scott’s final hole double just when he was soaring.
Five birdies and a bogey in the first 14 holes were the result of Scott swinging and putting beautifully. After blasting his drive down the 18th fairway, Scott looked set to make par and at least join former US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (66) in a share of the clubhouse lead at four under par.
But Scott pulled his approach into a greenside bunker and a treacherous downhill lie saw him leave the shot in the sand. He then failed to get up and down for bogey. Scott was left frustrated with a two-under 68.
The consolation for Scott, who came to the PGA with two straight top 10s under his belt, was that he was only two behind DeChambeau and three behind Eric Cole, who sits at five under but did not complete his first round due to darkness.
World No.2 Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners and Dustin Johnson all finished their rounds and shot 67 for a three under total.
Meanwhile, last week’s winner on the PGA Tour, Australia’s Jason Day, was among the big names including world No.1 Jon Rahm who struggled on opening day at the brutal Oak Hill CC course.
Day, coming off a drought-breaking win at the Byron Nelson in Texas battled with bogey-laden six-over par. Rahm was also six over.
Day wasn’t the only big name to struggle, with Rory McIlroy, an Oak Hill member, one over par and battling an illness while US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick joined Masters champion Rahm languishing at six over.
Scott was the only one of seven Australians in the field to sit under par. Sydney’s Cameron Davis was the next best at one over, with reigning Open champion Smith a shot further back at two over.
Min Woo Lee finished at 3-over and Lucas Herbert was two shots further back, while major debutant David Micheluzzi’s seven bogeys sank him to seven over when his round was ended with three holes remaining.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox shot 68 to join good mate Scott at two under and in contention.
Three-time DP World Tour winner Fox’s lead up was not ideal. He developed an illness during his Masters debut last month before pulling out mid-round the next week at the RBC Heritage. Fox flew home to Auckland, was diagnosed with pneumonia and took two weeks off. In that time, he welcomed the arrival of his second daughter, Margot.
“It’s been an interesting last month,” Fox, a two-time winner on the European Tour last season, said after his round. “At the Masters, I was pretty sick on the weekend. Tried to play Hilton Head, withdrew from there after nine holes, just feeling awful. Got home and got told I caught pneumonia, which pretty much explained why I felt so bad.
“Basically, as soon as I got over that, our daughter was born, which was just over two weeks ago now. So I had a few sleepless nights and not a lot of practice. One of the days I was supposed to go to practice, Auckland flooded for the third time this year. So I think I drove around Auckland covering 27 kilometres in four hours in chaos.
“It wasn’t quite the ideal preparation for a major, but I was kind of hoping the fact I needed a break after a busy start to the year and being mentally fresh would have been important this week. It’s pretty surprising to have four weeks off and shoot 68, especially when the course is pretty brutal if you are out of position.”
First-Round Leaderboard
1 Eric Cole -5 thru 14
T2 Bryson DeChambeau 66 (-4)
T3 Scottie Scheffler 67 (-3)
T3 Corey Conners 67 (-3)
T3 Dustin Johnson 67 (-3)
Australian Scores
T6 Adam Scott 68 (-2)
T27 Cam Davis 71 (+1)
T42. Cam Smith 72 (+2)
T63 Min Woo Lee 73 (+3)
T99 Lucas Herbert 75 (+5)
T117 Jason Day 76 (+6)
T133 David Micheluzzi *15 holes (+7)
