It was a tough afternoon at Southern Hills — especially for the world’s top three players — No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 John Rahm and third-ranked Collin Morikawa.
None of the all-star feature group managed to break par on day one of the 2022 PGA Championship. None of the three managed to shoot even-par 70. Scheffler was the group’s medalist, making an incredible par save at the 18th to shoot 71.
Scheffler was good on the front nine. His highlight of the day came at the 665-yard par five fifth when he smashed his drive around the 350 mark then crushed a three-wood that stopped 10 feet from the hole. He made it for eagle, bogeyed the ninth to turn one-under then lost control of his driver over the final nine holes. He hit just two fairways and both times his ball hit into the trees and bounded back into the short grass. At 18, his drive found the creek on the right side of the hole, he dropped, hit a huge slice around the trees that found the green and he holed a 16-foot putt to save his par and take low round in his group.
Rahm made just two birdies all day, Morikawa one.
It was that tough in the afternoon but they’ll go out early Friday a look for better scoring conditions.
How The Rest Of The Top 10 Fared:
World No. 7 Rory McIlroy emerged as the first round leader with 65. Rory’s two bogeys came on both front nine par threes. Justin Thomas (No. 9) had the second-best round from the top 10, a three-under par 67 that left him tied for fifth.
No. 4 Cam Smith probably had the best two-under par 68 of the day. In all, he had seven birdies but offset them with a double-bogey and three bogeys. No. 10 Xander Schauffele turned in a 68 in the morning wave. No. 6 Viktor Hovland played in the morning and shot even-par 70.
Worst of the bunch was No. 5 Patrick Cantlay. His 76 left him in need of a low round on Friday to make it to the weekend.
Brooks Koepka Goes Out In 40:
Brooks Koepka withdrew before the start of the Byron Nelson last week. He must not have spent the week practicing. Koepka fell flat on his face over the first nine holes Friday, shooting a nifty, five-over par 40. But give Koepka credit, he rallied and shot even par on the back nine and turned in a 75 that left him tied for 117th. Koepka, who boasted last year that he’d equal or pass Tiger Woods’ 15 major championships, failed to beat the limping, rehabbing Woods on day one.
Jesse Mueller Low PGA Professional:
There are 20 members of the PGA Of America who qualified for the championship. Low PGA guy on day one was Jesse Mueller with a two-over par 72. Jesse was the winner of the 2022 Club Professionals Championship at Barton Creek in Austin this spring. He’s the general manager of the Grand Canyon University golf course.
John Daly: Great Start, Lousy Finish:
It was attention getting when John Daly got off to a nice start and shot a one-under par 34 for his first nine holes Thursday. J.D. then made birdie at 10 to get to two-under and followed with three-straight pars — he was two-under through 13 holes. Then reality or fatigue set in. Daly bogeyed four of his last five holes but still turned in a respectable two-over par 72.
Denny McCarthy In For Bryson DeChambeau:
Denny McCarthy had a hunch Bryson DeChambeau would be a no-go for his Thursday morning tee time and McCarthy’s hunch was spot on.
After playing nine holes on Wednesday, Bryson gathered his team for a decisive meeting.
Quick questions from his team:
Do you feel 100%? No, he responded.
Do you think you can win? No, again.
Then the answer was obvious: He needed to withdraw from the PGA Championship.
DeChambeau notified tournament officials at about 5 p.m. (Central Time). “I had a feeling he was going to pull out,” McCarthy said. “I was ready either way.” He played nine holes each of the past two days in preparation.
DeChambeau:
I just realized it wasn’t going to be the right decision for me to play this week – it was going to be a stretch,” DeChambeau said in the player parking lot. Doctors initially told him, after the procedure on April 14, that he’d miss roughly eight weeks after removing a fractured hamate bone in his left hand, an issue that has caused him discomfort all season.
“I want to give somebody else a chance that’s fully prepared and ready to go out here,” he said. “Feeling fatigued and tired, four days is a big stretch for me right now.
Byrson will try again next week in Fort Worth for the Colonial. Best estimate is he’ll be back for Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial tournament.
For the record, McCarthy opened with a three-over par 73 on Thursday.
UPS Ends Its Deal With Westwood Over LIV Series:
Lee Westwood felt the fallout from his defection to the upcoming LIV Series quickly.
UPS was one of his major sponsors and it has basically fired Westwood as a brand ambassador, ending their 14-year relationship.
The statement by UPS:
“We value the relationship we’ve had but make decisions based on what is best for our business. We will continue to focus on sponsorship initiatives that are important for UPS and consistent with our business priorities. The decision to end our partnership is a strategic business decision that allows us to focus on other initiatives. We maintain alternative sponsorships across other sports as well as cultural, philanthropic and sustainability-led initiatives to support our brand and meet the needs of our business.”
Westwood showed up at the PGA Championship minus the UPS logo on his golf shirt.
Phil Mickelson’s sponsors did the same thing — they all ended their alignments with the golfer after his revelation of his dealings with the Saudi league.
