Bryson DeChambeau is the leader after the end of the delayed first round Friday at the PGA Championship and he never had to hit a shot.
The 2020 U.S. Open champion shot 4-under 66 on Thursday at Oak Hill Country Club and was in second place at the end of the day. Eric Cole was at 5 under after 14 holes when play was suspended because of darkness. Cole, however, hit his first shot of the day in the water and made double bogey to drop behind DeChambeau. He shot 67.
Play was delayed nearly two hours on Thursday because of frost. When play was suspended at 8:30 p.m. local time, 11 groups still were left to finish their respective first rounds early Friday.
A slimmed down DeChambeau, who missed the cut last month at the Masters, played in the morning wave and shot a 4-under 66 that included six birdies and two bogeys.
“It's a fantastic round of golf at Oak Hill,” DeChambeau said. “It's a prestigious place. Very difficult golf course.
“As I was looking at it throughout the week, I'm like, man, I don't know how shooting under par is even possible out here on some of the golf holes. But, luckily, I was able to play some really good golf, hit a lot of fairways, did my job and made some putts.”
World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and Corey Conners joined Cole in shooting 3-under 67.
Johnson made bogey on the last hole late Thursday, attempting to finish in near darkness. He hit his approach short and left of the 18th green, chipped it to 14 feet and missed the par attempt.
DJ knocks it ⬇️ for a birdie at No. 7#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/aJ7EktWAXC
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2023
Scheffler recorded one of the most calm rounds of the day, making three birdies and 15 pars during the morning session.
“Today was probably the easiest conditions we'll see all week with the golf course,” Scheffler said. “So getting around with no bogeys was really good.”
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The biggest surprise of Round 1 came from World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who shot 6-over 76 and is tied for 117th place. He made six bogeys, a double bogey and two birdies. Among other top names, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa shot 71, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Cameron Smith shot 72 and Jordan Spieth shot 73.
DeChambeau will begin his second round at 2:31 p.m. ET. He will go off the first tee alongside Jason Day (76) and Keegan Bradley (68).
