We had a John Deere Classic break out after the first round of the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, as the leaderboard is not what anyone expected after 18 holes of play.
Let’s start with Rory McIlroy, who played absolutely awful in his first major since becoming a Masters champion, firing a three-over 74 to begin his week. McIlroy lost 2.1 strokes putting on his round and hit just 4-of-14 fairways. He played alongside World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 3 Xander Schauffele, in what was the marquee group of the morning.
This round could have also been a lot worse for the Northern Irishman, who came quite close to hitting a few balls out of bounds. On the par-4 16th, he drove the ball way into the left rough, and then lost his footing on the wet grass during his second shot, which caused him to chunk his second shot just 63 feet. He would go on to make double bogey.
Overall, McIlroy carded just two birdies on his round and will likely need to shoot under par on Friday to make the cut, which projects at two-over at the moment. McIlroy is currently +3000 to win on DraftKings Sportsbook despite sitting 10 strokes back of the lead.
Scottie Scheffler did not have his best stuff on Thursday either, but he’s so good that he still shot a two-under 69 with his B-game. Much like McIlroy (and Schauffele), Scheffler made a double-bogey on the 16th hole, where he hit his approach into the water. He was not happy post-round because apparently there was mud on his ball, which was due to all the rain that fell at Quail Hollow during the week.
Regardless, he finished his day with a ridiculous birdie on 9, where he stuck a 200+ yard approach to 2.7 feet. Scheffler is five back of the lead currently and the current betting favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook at +330.
Speaking of the lead, it was the big Venezuelan, Jhonattan Vegas, who posted the low round of the day with a seven-under 64. The big fella made a whopping nine birdies on his round, including three consecutive circles on holes 7, 8 and 9 coming down the stretch. Vegas struck the ball really well, but did a lot of his damage with his short game, where he gained 2.8 strokes putting and 2.1 around-the-green.
Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis are currently tied for second and sit two shots behind Vegas. Gerard had whirlwind of a round, posting a stretch of four birdies and an eagle from holes 10-15. He then went on to finish bogey bogey on his final two holes.
Bryson DeChambeau didn’t quite have his best stuff, posting a round of even par to begin his championship.
Justin Thomas also struggled for most of his round, but really battled back to finish with a two-over 73. He was five-over par at one point.
Both Brooks Koepka and Jordan Speith had forgettable rounds as well, shooting four and five-over respectively.
Check back in on Friday to see who made and missed the cut!