Charlotte (AFP) – Ryan Gerard reeled off four birdies and chipped in for eagle from nearly 60 feet on the back nine to seize a one-stroke clubhouse lead in Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship. The 25-year-old from nearby Raleigh, making only his third major start, fired a five-under-par 66 at Quail Hollow in his PGA Championship debut.
Sharing second on 67 were England’s Luke Donald, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, German Stephan Jaeger, and American Alex Smalley, who made the field only when Sahith Theegala withdrew Wednesday with a neck injury. Gerard started a four-birdie run at the 10th hole, then made his sensational eagle chip-in at the par-five 15th to lead by three but closed with back-to-back bogeys, missing the green at the par-3 17th and finding a fairway bunker at 18.
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“It was a lot of fun, playing in my home state in a major. That has been a bucket list thing,” Gerard said. “Playing solid for 16 holes, making some good shots out there and will see if I can do more.” Gerard, ranked 81st, was a runner-up at last month’s Texas Open for his best PGA Tour showing. Not since England’s Graeme Storm in 2007 has a player led after his PGA Championship debut round.
Gerard’s back-nine birdie barrage included a five-foot putt at the par-five 10th, a 22-foot putt at 11, a nine-footer at 12, and a tap-in at the par-three 13th. Donald, chasing his first major title at age 47, is the Europe 2025 Ryder Cup captain. He is trying to become the first Englishman since Jim Barnes in 1919 to win the PGA Championship. Donald sank a clutch nine-foot par putt on the 18th hole to finish a bogey-free round.
“Very pleased with the score, bogey-free in a major,” Donald said. “It was a pleasant surprise. I got off to a really nice, steady start. I hit a bunch of fairways on the front nine which always makes me feel good about my game. I didn’t hit a ton of greens but my putter was really good.” Only four Europeans have ever won the title, most recently by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in 2014. Donald struck the opening shot off the first tee for the field of 156 at the 7,626-yard, par-71 layout, then turned back the clock.
Fox, a 38-year-old from Auckland, reached Quail Hollow off his first PGA Tour triumph last weekend at Myrtle Beach, but he has never finished in the top 15 in 22 major starts. “I played really solid,” Fox said. “It hasn’t been the ideal prep, winning last week, last man in. I knew I was playing well and just tried to get out of my own way and let it happen.” Smalley, from nearby Greensboro, learned he had a spot barely 16 hours before his tee time. But the back-nine starter sank a 71-foot eagle putt at the par-five seventh and a five-foot birdie putt at the eighth.
“I was losing hope after every passing hour,” he said. “It was nice to know before this morning I was going to play so I could mentally prepare.”
The world’s three top-ranked players — world number one Scottie Scheffler, Masters champion McIlroy, and third-ranked defending champion Xander Schauffele — started off the 10th tee in the feature group but struggled, all of them making double bogey at the par-four 16th. Scheffler followed a 35-foot eagle putt at 15 by finding water on his approach, as did Schauffele on their way to sixes at 16, Scheffler making his first career double bogey in a major opening round.
“I didn’t feel like I hit it my best,” Scheffler said. “There was some mud on the ball at times, which was challenging. Did a good job keeping a level head out there and grinding out a good score.” World number two McIlroy, after a birdie at 15, took four shots to escape the rough at 16 and missed an 11-foot bogey putt. Scheffler fired a 69 while Schauffele shot 72 and McIlroy stumbled in on 74 at a course where he has won four times.
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