Tales of the unexpected, in many cases. The opening round of this 105th edition of the US PGA Championship, delayed by morning frost which provided a picture-perfect scene like that from a winter wonderland to Oak Hill Country Club, eventually brought with it a difficult examination in crosswinds that had many players utterly frustrated.
One of those exasperated souls was none other than the world number one and Masters champion Jon Rahm.
And as the Spaniard’s major expectations unraveled, ultimately signing for a 76, others, among them the man immediately behind him in the world rankings, contrived to demonstrate that difficult questions can always be answered.
Scottie Scheffler, somehow, navigated a route that enabled him to sign for a bogey-free 67. “I am so impressed with that, no bogey?” said Pádraig Harrington on hearing of Scheffler’s feat, although the American’s round of three birdies and 15 pars featured some degree of escapology in avoiding any dropped shots.
The frost, though anticipated, provided a disruptive morning which lost one hour and 50 minutes of play before a shot could be struck in anger; and, when the championship belatedly got under way, it tested many a player’s sanity with the crosswinds making it difficult for players to find fairways and consequently made approach shots, if from thick rough, proving hard to find the greens.
Scheffler’s 67 was matched by Canadian Corey Conners and the pair lasted little more than an hour sharing the clubhouse lead before Bryson DeChambeau went one better. Eric Cole had reached five under after 14 holes when play was suspended for the day due to darkness.
DeChambeau’s opening round 66 grew better and better as he came home on the front nine having started on the 10th, producing a three birdie bogey-free run on that half of his journey.
[ US PGA Championship: Day One as it happenedOpens in new window ]
Having lost weight and toned up under a new dietary regime, and also pain free again after his hand injury cleared up, DeChambeau – one of those who primarily plays on the LIV Golf circuit these days – produced a fine round in his quest to add a second Major to his US Open win of 2020.
An obedient driver proved to be the most important tool in DeChambeau’s bag. As he put it after his round the bonus of his first round was “hitting the driver straight, finally. That’s been the most surprising part because I’m so used to hitting it everywhere. Look, it could happen tomorrow. I don’t think it will, I feel really confident. Golf is a weird animal. You can never fully have it, like Arnie [Palmer] said, ‘you always think you have it one day and then it just leaves the next’. Just got to be careful.”
For the three Irish players in the first half of the draw, there proved little cheer. Rory McIlroy’s swing was out-of-sorts but he battled to a 71, while Pádraig Harrington signed for a 72 and Shane Lowry for a 73. Séamus Power was five-over par for his opening round.
“I worked hard for it,” confessed Harrington, still troubled by a “sore” rib that manifested itself last week. “I drove it okay but didn’t hit many fairways which was a killer. I feel like I can play better. If that was my bad day, you’re delighted,” he added.
For Lowry, the frustration was evident as he held his head in his hands and rested them on his golf bag after exiting the recorder’s tent. “It was relentless out there. Every time I hit an average shot, I made a bogey. I hit a lot of good shots, played a lot of good golf, but three-over is not great, is it? Two-over would have been fine but a bad bogey on nine leaves a bit of a sour taste,” said Lowry.
His woes were exemplified by his fate on the drivable par 4 14th, his fifth hole of the day. There, Lowry and the others in his group, Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, all drove into the bunker in front of the green. Lowry had to move his ball so that the others could play and then replace his in the trap, only to fly it over the green and run up a bogey five.
“I probably should have walked up, took my time a bit more,” said Lowry afterward, adding: “That was very annoying because I played the first number of holes well and didn’t really miss a shot, except on 13. It is how it is, that is kind of how my year has been going so far. I just have to keep battling away.”
Rahm’s uphill trek is even stiffer, after that 76 which came – like so many – from failing to find fairways. “There’s many ways to do this, you don’t need to play .. if I can somehow manage to putt a low one tomorrow and find myself close to even par going into Sunday, I think I’ll have a decent chance,” he insisted.
It wasn’t as if Rahm was alone in feeling the wrath of the course. US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick too signed for a 76, while Jordan Spieth – still looking for the one final leg to complete the career Grand Slam – shot a 73. Jason Day, winner of the Byron Nelson last week, opened with a 76.
In the circumstances, Scheffler’s bogey-free round was so impressive; perhaps even more than DeChambeau’s, given that he managed to avoid any dropped shots. His feats of escapology were particularly evident on the par 5 fourth, his 13th of the day, where he drove into the rough and was blocked out by trees but saved par by playing back out to the fairway, finding a greenside bunker with his third and then getting up and down, sinking a 12 footer for his par.
“This place is pretty tough. I came into today’s round just trying to play solid golf. I kept the course in front of me for the most part and hit some really good tee shots on the important holes. Then I had some nice saves as well. It’s just one of those places where you hit one shot maybe barely offline, and sometimes can you hit a good shot and end up in a place where it’s pretty penalising. There’s lots of tough holes out there. I’m just going to go out there and keep trying to hit good shots,” said Scheffler.
