Charlotte – There, they stood in the middle of the fairway. The two best Americans in the game were relieved in their first rounds of the 107th PGA championship before, well, the mud hit the fan. It was not the game of a native statesman near the top of the ranking or how a major championship labeled as a three -horsepower race opened its doors on Thursday at the Quail Hollow Club which was the subject of the conversation. It was rather the organic matter itself.
There was nothing natural in the blows they touched. Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele were both confused (at best) when their second shots turned to the left and in the water at the start of the green mile. Scheffler looked at his bagman, Ted Scott, with a bubbling rage under the surface, while Schauffele put his hand on his mouth, mumbled a few words and looked at his shopping cart as if the duo knew exactly what was going to happen.
“This is one of those offers where it is frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and make mud on it and not know where it will go,” said Scheffler. “I understand that it is part of the game, but there is nothing more frustrating for a player. You spend your whole life trying to learn to control a golf ball, and due to a rules of rules, all of a sudden, you have absolutely no control where this golf ball goes.”
The discussion Thursday went from the golf tournament itself under the conditions in which the golf course took place. This one day with a sunny sky and a refreshing wind, be careful. Rather than discussing golf played during one of the 16 most important cycles of the season, both sides of “Should they have played favorite lies?“The argument was heard. Scheffler, Schauffele and Michael Kim were the most vocal, the latter nothing on the social networks that he had up to five mud balls during his round.
The players are pampered; It is an outdoor sport, allow them to face adversity because lucky is involved in the competition of tournaments. This variable should not be introduced, it penalizes good shots; Luck is part of the equation but not to this degree. Both sides have been heard and now is time to move on.
It should be muders – those who thrive in difficult conditions – which should be the subject of discussion, not the conditions themselves.
Thursday at Quail Hollow was one day strange in many ways, mainly in the ranking but also in the middle of the general environment in which he developed. The vibrations were extinguished, as children say. The roars were difficult to find around the golf course. Some of the stars seemed to have triggered the bus as members of a dry football team about to follow a program that was paid to play the game.
No matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels, this major championship remains, and it will work. He will crown a champion worthy of this Wanamaker trophy. He will descend into history books and will be referenced in the future. He will produce a drama while some of his competitors will reach the moment while others wilt. And that will persist.
After all, we only have 18 holes in the PGA 2025 championship, and there are still a lot of golf course. There are also a lot of take -out dishes from Tour 1.
The Tarheel
Wednesday morning, a pair of North Carolina products served through the first nine at Quail Hollow. The sunglasses buried by Ben Griffin were impossible to miss, identifying the recent winner of the PGA Tour, but his playing partner remained a little guess. He ended up being Ryan Gerard, who turned out to be one of the best names in the ranking on Thursday.
With his father walking inside the rope line looking at his gunshot, there was a quiet confidence on Gerard. However, even this performance could not have been imagined. The 25 -year -old did not play in two major championships before this week, but as we say, the third time is charm.
Gerard played Quail Hollow in a way that recalls how the course is set up. He was even equal through his first six holes and caught fire in the middle of his round in the middle of an influx of rating opportunities. He cashed these chances, playing the section through n ° 15 in 7 in fashion. Some late Bogeys may have aggravated his dinner a little worse but not much when you are within the comfortable limits of your country of origin.
“It’s good when everyone encourages you,” said Gerard. “But it’s pretty cool. I saw so many people that I know this week that I know will be here and just a lot of people who wear light blue logo shirts, UNC and everything there. It is a big family of Tar Unc heels where we all root ourselves and support ours, and I all like.”
The subtle edge of Scheffler
It almost served as a kick in the back. The start of Scheffler was lucky because the world n ° 1 found itself 2 under its first six holes thanks to a chip-in birdie on n ° 12 and an eagle conversion from the green on the n ° 15. It was certainly without its best things, and when the star group left the 16th green with not one or two double bogeys, it started to turn the corner.
Scheffler has peel on the last two holes of the green mile and played his last nine holes in 2 sous, highlighted by two circles on his dashboard in the last three holes. He finished in a burst – as he does so often – thanks to a long iron laser in the difficult finisher by 4 on the nine before. Various points of his game bordered it at various points in its round, but what has remained throughout is what continues to serve as a greater asset – its consistency between the ears.
“As I said, I don’t do the rules. I deal with rules,” said Scheffler. “I could have let myself be disturbed today when you have a mud ball and it cost me a few shots. It cost me two shots on a hole, and if I left it bothering me, it could cost me five shots of the round. But today, I was proud of the way I stayed in there, I did not let it go and I could play a solid scoring.”
Difficult starting may not be that rough
Well, Rory McILroy made a early double bogey as he did at the Masters, so he could well be in the form of a major championship. Strike only four fairways and have a lot of luck at certain steps – mainly the 15th par -5 – McILroy pulled an opening 74, which makes its Fourth-Séjour at Quail Hollow in his career, which includes four victories for this course. As for its 6 on the 16th par-4, it was the first double bogey from McILroy to Charlotte over almost a decade and a half.
McILroy began the seven strokes of last month of the rhythm established by Justin Rose, and he begins this PGA 10 shots of the rhythm established by Jhonattan Vegas. Although the parallels could be drawn, these opening efforts were hardly the same that it was mainly clear to Augusta National (and it was mainly cowardly at Quail Hollow).
The good news? Despite an evil of its driver, despite the cowards of his irons, despite the missing short putts and despite the difficulties of the green sometimes, McILroy was only a worse blow on the field. He has only five strokes behind the favorite of the bets (Scheffler), and he can look him in the eye on Friday as they once again share an hour of departure in the second round.
Play captains (s)?
How is it for a cool nugget? The only time the two seated captains of the Ryder Cup were among the first 10 at the end of a major championship in a year Ryder Cup was at the 1937 open (Walter Hagen, Charles Whitcombe). Now Hagen and Whitcombe have company because Keegan Bradley has played his way, but more surprising, former world n ° 1 Luke Donald has done so too.
Donald not only pulled 4 sub -sous – his first lowest round in a major since 2004 – he did it without dropping a shot, which made him the only man in this area not to put a square on his dashboard Thursday. While Bradley is still considered a top 20 player in the world and has been surrounded by thoughts to serve as a game captain, Donald prepared for his second pass as the main man of Europeans. By coincidence, it was Donald who was the chief among Europeans in this ranking.
“I’m just going (sending an SMS), I’m going to give a little shit (Luke Donald),” said Bradley. “I’m going to tell him how happy I am for him to play like that, and to go out – you know, I don’t know when the last time he played in a major was. Well, he played here last year. But getting out here and shooting 4 under the first day of this course is impressive.”
Bang
Bryson Dechambeau was the most popular selection to win this tournament with a wide margin, and very early on, it did not look great. However, Bryson had remained hard as he does so often on this scene. Fighting certain problems of remote control with his irons in the first part of his round, the champion of the United States Open returned 1 and relied on his putter on the nine rear.
Dechambeau drove in a few snecks of this range of 10 to 15 feet – that he was 64% in his last eight hollow quail rounds entering the week – before composing the correct number on the difficulty in 3 17th. Giving his loved one Ace with a bogey on the last hole, which arrived at the best of them, Dechambeau danced in the clubhouse even in the same position where he entered the week – Scheffler on the right on the Odds board.
Classification
For the second time since 1994, there are no players in the top 10 in the ranking at the end of a round that is classified in the top 10 in the official golf ranking. It is an eclectic group, an island of unsuitable toys, a smorgasbord filled with flavors from all corners of the globe. A United Nations Convention broke out.
Will it last? There may be no name on the first page of the ranking which attracts fear in the eyes of competitors, but there is more than much not too far behind. Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg and Dechambeau are all even by or better. They all stay in the photo to hoist the Wanamaker trophy.
The green mile
There was a lot of rain and there were a lot of opinions, but there is no need to deny that Quail Hollow showed his teeth on Thursday. The golf course played on average about 2, and this was largely due to a handful of holes, including the infamous Mile Green. The three -hole end section only gave 29 birdies against 194 Bogeys and 27 doubles or worse. N ° 16 played as the most difficult hole in the golf course and the 17th par-3 was not far behind.
The cake area
A final note on the Boue Mahem (TM) ball which took place Thursday was the description of Schauffele of conditions in the future. Referring to the way the fairways dry, the title champion described him as “perfect cake” more conducive – let’s simply call them – unhappy breaks.
“The mud balls will get worse. It was not your question, but they will get worse because the parts tighten,” said Schauffele. “They will enter this perfect cake zone to the place where it is a little muddy below, then pick up the mud on the way. I mean, you just keep – I don’t know, maybe it strikes it a little more of the tee, but then the problem with the hit on the tee is the ball or do not drive anywhere, so you sacrifice the distance.”
