Seven-Way Tie Leads Historic First Round at PGA Championship
A record seven players share the lead at 3-under after the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, with 48 competitors within three strokes of the lead.
The opening round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club concluded with an unprecedented seven-way tie for the lead at 3-under par. This marks the highest number of co-leaders after any round in a men's major championship since the 1977 U.S. Open. Additionally, 48 players are within three strokes of the lead, the most in the modern era of major championships.
Defending champion and world number one Scottie Scheffler is among those tied at the top. He is the third defending PGA champion to hold at least a share of the 18-hole lead, following Tiger Woods in 2000 and Brooks Koepka in 2019. Scheffler's performance included over 120 feet of putts made and hitting the first 12 fairways of the round.
Veteran golfer Martin Kaymer, 41, also shares the lead after shooting his lowest round in a major championship in over 2,100 days. Kaymer had just one bogey on his card and is the oldest player to hold a share of the first-round lead at the PGA since Jim Furyk in 2013.
The other five co-leaders—Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, and Alex Smalley—are each holding a lead in a major championship for the first time. Potgieter, the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year at 21, is the youngest to lead after any round of the PGA since Sergio Garcia in 1999.
Aronimink Golf Club, a Donald Ross-designed course established in 1926, presented a formidable challenge. The 3-under leading score is the highest to lead after Round 1 of a PGA Championship in 18 years. The course's difficulty was evident, with 11 holes playing over par and a green in regulation rate of 63.2 percent in Round 1.
Notable performances include Shane Lowry, Xander Schauffele, and Patrick Reed, who are among seven players just one shot back after opening with 68s. Reed recorded the only bogey-free round of the day, the third such round in his major championship career.
Conversely, Rory McIlroy struggled, opening with a 74. He hit just five fairways and needed 34 putts, his most in any PGA Championship round in seven years. McIlroy made bogey on each of his last four holes, a first in his nearly 1,000 official rounds on the PGA Tour and major championships.
Bryson DeChambeau also faced difficulties, making just one birdie in an opening-round 76. He is now a combined 20 over in Round 1 of his last four majors and will need a strong second round to make the cut.