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Scheffler shares US PGA lead as Aronimink bites back
Scheffler shares US PGA lead as Aronimink bites back
Going into this week's US PGA Championship, there was a fascination with how Aronimink would play and what challenge it would present.
There was a strong feeling the Pennsylvania course might be ripe for being tamed.
Instead of having its belly tickled and rolling over, Aronimink bit back on day one of the season's second major. It bit back hard.
At the completion of Thursday's first round, only 32 players - barely a fifth of the 156-man field - had finished under par.
The world's best struggled to get to grips with the task presented by an undulating course with thick rough and firm, sloping greens.
Fittingly, it was the world's very best - Scottie Scheffler - who coped as well as anyone.
The defending champion is part of a seven-way tie for the first-round lead after plotting a three-under round of 67 which encapsulated his ability to play with relentless diligence and barely a flicker of fluster.
The world number one has often struggled to make fast starts - a trait which has proved particularly costly this season - but is now leading a major after 18 holes for the first time in his career.
But the 29-year-old American is not surrounded by the usual suspects.
Scheffler finds himself alongside German pair Martin Kaymer and Stephan Jaeger, South Africa's Aldrich Potgieter, Australia's Min-Woo Lee, Japan's Ryo Hisatsune and Alex Smalley of the United States - none of whom many would have expected to see at the top of the leaderboard.
England's Dan Brown is one shot behind the leaders on his overseas major debut.
"Earlier in the week there was some chatter where people thought 15 to 20 under par was going to win. And I think that got to somebody in the PGA [of America], and they did something about it," said Spain's Jon Rahm, who finished one under par.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy's gameplan of bashing the driver as far as possible came unstuck late on in his round after more erratic tee-shots.
The 37-year-old from Northern Ireland, who had no issues with the troublesome toe which affected his preparations, ended seven shots behind the leaders after finishing with four successive bogeys to post a four-over 74.
"There certainly is a penalty for missing the fairway. Probably more than what I anticipated," said McIlroy.
Bryson DeChambeau, another big bomber, shot a six-over 76 as power was trumped by precision.
The unorthodox American's short game badly let him down.
Getting to grips with the geometry of the greens was always likely to prove a key battleground and, after some overnight rain slightly softened up the putting surfaces for the early starters, the devilish pin positions invited trouble.
DeChambeau notably found that to his cost when a feathery touch from the back of the 11th raced his ball the 30 feet to the pin - and another 57 feet past it.
The difficult greens contributed to only one player - in-form American Patrick Reed, who is one shot off the lead - signing a card which was bogey free.
English pair Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose, ranked among the favourites to win the Wanamaker Trophy, scrapped to level-par finishes.
"The players underestimated the difficulty of playing this golf course from the rough and we're not seeing a whole lot of putts holed," said former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.
McIlroy's day was neatly summed up by the first word which came out of his mouth in his post-round news conference.
Lobbed a gentle opener by the moderator for a description of his opening round, the smiling world number two replied with a four-letter expletive.
When asked to elaborate why it was so bad, he said: "I started missing fairways. I missed the fairway right on four, the fairway right on six, the fairway right on seven, fairway right on nine."
Rogue driving has been a problem for McIlroy for virtually all of the season.
It was even a problem at Augusta National, where he needed his short game to dig him out of bother in the opening two rounds, allowing him to build a platform from which he was able to create more history by securing back-to-back Masters.
At Aronimink, there was no such escape.
McIlroy's round started ominously with a bogey on the 10th after landing in the thick rough and clogging his second shot 104 yards, short of the green.
Although he quickly steadied the ship, the six-time major champion unravelled in the closing stages as his leaking driver led to his closing quartet of bogeys.
Hitting only five fairways proved to be a telling statistic.
"From there, it's hard. I didn't have great angles either. Then obviously you start missing it just off the edges of these greens, it gets tricky," added McIlroy, who finished his round around 2pm local time but remained on the practice range until after 6pm.
Anyone wondering what had happened to European Ryder Cup hero Kaymer - who famously holed the winning putt at the Miracle of Medinah in 2012 - has not been alone.
The 2010 US PGA winner revealed his Aronimink renaissance has been fuelled by a PGA of America member asking at Tuesday's Champions Dinner whether he was still playing professionally.
Since moving to LIV Golf in 2022, the 41-year-old German has been plagued by injuries which led to a lack of practice and elongated a run of poor form which began more than a decade ago.
"I got asked by a guy if I'm playing this week or if I'm done with golf. That really motivated me," said Kaymer, who had a short spell as world number one in 2011.
He recorded his second major success at the 2014 US Open, but has only chalked up one more top-10 finish - a tie for seventh at the 2016 PGA Championship - at the sport's biggest tournaments since.
This season, he has not finished higher than joint 25th in six LIV events.
However, a fast start at Aronimink - two birdies in his opening three holes - provided an encouraging platform and further boosted his confidence as he finally plays pain-free.
"Everything is going the right direction. I can practice. It's fun. I have a great passion for the game," he said.
Playing those tough golf courses and doing well executing the golf shots the right way, that is really fun. I look forward to hopefully have another three good days.
The on-course behaviour of players has recently come under increased scrutiny after Spain's Sergio Garcia and Scotland's Robert MacIntyre were reprimanded for angry outbursts at last month's Masters.
As part of a response from the game's governing bodies, the PGA of America pinned up a new code of conduct in the Aronomink locker room, warning players they may be hit with penalties for actions seen as unbefitting.
Kerry Haigh, the PGA's chief championship officer, said action would be taken if a player did "something egregious".
Former world number ones Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas will hope the incidents which they were separately involved in are deemed to fall short of this standard.
Rahm inadvertently hit a course volunteer in the face with a piece of turf when a poor shot on the seventh led to the Spaniard furiously swiping his club through thick rough.
A clump flew up and the man had to wipe mud off his face before a remorseful Rahm immediately apologised.
"I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that's inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable," Rahm said afterwards.
Thomas will also be hoping to avoid punishment after the American angrily threw an iron from the 14th tee and seemingly did not shout fore when pulling his ball left into the crowd.
Source: BBC
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