Charlotte (AFP) – Europe 2025 Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, trying to become the first Englishman since 1919 to win the PGA Championship, seized a share of the early clubhouse lead in Thursday’s first round at Quail Hollow. Donald, chasing his first major triumph at age 47, sank a nine-foot par putt on the 18th hole to fire a bogey-free four-under par 67 to match New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and American Alex Smalley for the top 18-hole total.
Germany’s Stephan Jaeger was on the course at five-under through 16 holes with American Ryan Gerard at five-under after 13 holes. Not since Jim Barnes took the first two in 1916 and 1919 has an English player captured the PGA Championship crown, and only four Europeans have ever won the title, most recently by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in 2014.
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It was a “turn back the clock” day for Donald, a world number one in 2011 who topped the US PGA and European tours in prize money that season, an unprecedented double that brought PGA Tour and European Player of the Year awards. The most recent of Donald’s 17 global wins came in Japan in 2013 at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament. His most recent top-40 major finish was shared 12th at the 2015 British Open.
Donald struck the opening shot off the first tee for the field of 156 at the 7,626-yard, par-71 layout then played masterfully. Donald, who matched his best major finish with a share of third in the 2006 PGA Championship, sank a four-foot birdie putt at the par-three fourth hole, a five-footer to birdie the par-four eighth, and rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-five 10th.
When back-nine starter Fox sank a 14-foot birdie putt at the fifth hole to grab the lead alone at four-under, Donald was hot on his heels, dropping his approach inside four feet at the 14th and sinking the birdie putt to share the lead again. Donald found a bunker 40 feet from the hole with his approach at the 18th, blasted out to nine feet, and sank a dramatic last putt, securing his first top-10 place in a major round since the 2015 British Open second round at St. Andrews.
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.” Fox made birdie putts from just inside eight feet at the par-five 10th hole, from 30 feet at the par-three 13th, just beyond four feet at the 14th and 14 feet at the fifth. After a bogey at the sixth, Fox birdied seven and eight before missing a 13-foot par putt at nine.
Smalley, from nearby Greensboro, only made the field as an alternate Wednesday when Sahith Theegala withdrew. 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 to grab a share of the lead. “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 all stumbled with double bogeys 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 — Scheffler making his first career double bogey in a major opening round. 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 stood on level par after 14 holes, with McIlroy and Schauffele both on two-over.
© 2024 AFP
