Newtown Square (United States) (AFP) – Aldrich Potgieter, a 21-year-old South African making his sixth major start, fired a three-under par 67 on Thursday to seize the early clubhouse lead at the PGA Championship at Aronimink. Potgieter, who won his first PGA Tour title last June at Detroit, made six birdies, including a 43-foot birdie putt at 11, in his PGA Championship debut.
“I hit it on the right spots on the golf course, especially on the greens,” Potgieter said. “I didn’t feel like I had to putt over some of these big slopes we had. I definitely left myself in really good positions on the green, made some long putts, so it was nice the putter was warm.”
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Also at three-under still on the course were Germany’s Stephan Jaeger and Australian Min Woo Lee. Jaeger birdied five of the first nine holes but struggled on the back nine as Aronimink’s undulating greens provided a stern test even after nearly a quarter-inch of overnight rain. Some contenders found early success on the 7,394-yard, par-70 layout even as others faltered.
Jaeger, who won his lone PGA title at the 2024 Houston Open, made three consecutive birdies on putts from just inside 40 feet at the fourth, 22 feet at the fifth, and 16 feet at the sixth. Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, who would complete a career Grand Slam with a victory this week, began on the back nine and made a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-five 16th before a birdie-bogey start after the turn. Spieth was one one-under, two adrift, with fellow Americans Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay among others.
Also in the one-under pack was South African Garrick Higgo, who was issued a two-stroke penalty for being late to the first tee for his 7:18 a.m. (1118 GMT) starting time after spending too long on the practice putting green. Jon Rahm, who could become the first Spaniard to win the event, holed out for eagle with a wedge from 101 yards at the second hole to reach level par.
England’s Daniel Brown, in his third major start and PGA Championship debut, made the first eagle of the day, holing out from the 11th fairway as his 102-yard shot bounced three times and rolled into the hole to put him on two-under. Six-time major winner Rory McIlroy made a bogey-birdie start on the back nine followed by pars on the next 10 holes. The world number two and reigning Masters champion showed no sign of trouble from a right pinky toe blister that nagged him earlier in the week.
Not since Spieth in 2015 has a player won back-to-back majors or the first two majors in a season. Not since Jack Nicklaus in 1975 has a player captured the Masters and PGA Championship in the same year. Two-time major winner Bryson DeChambeau, another back-nine starter, made four bogeys in his first nine holes.
Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler starts in the late afternoon alongside Englishmen Justin Rose, who won the 2013 US Open at nearby Merion, and Matt Fitzpatrick, the 2022 US Open winner who captured three PGA Tour titles in the past two months. Scheffler has been a runner-up in his past three starts, including the Masters. Fitzpatrick won the Valspar and Heritage crowns plus the US PGA Tour pairs event at New Orleans with his brother Alex. Another afternoon starter is third-ranked American Cameron Young, who won The Players Championship in March and at Doral two weeks ago.
© 2024 AFP
