Golf: PGA Championship Xander Schauffele sets course record, grabs early 3-shot lead

Xander Schauffele wasted no time at Valhalla on Thursday morning May 16th 2024. Schauffele went low to kick off the 106th Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship. Schauffele posted a course-record 9-under 62 to grab an early three-shot lead over the field when he hit the clubhouse. Schauffele’s bogey-free round tied the lowest round in major championship history, something he has now done twice.

Schauffele finished in second last week at the Wells Fargo Championship, which marked his eighth top-10 finish so far this season on the PGA Championship Tour. Schauffele has not won a major championship yet in his career, but he is inside the top 20 at ever major but two since 2019. By all accounts, Schauffele is due. Though Schauffele’s early lead was impressive, it likely will not hold.

There is still a lot of golf to be played on Thursday, let alone the rest of the week in Louisville, Kentucky. Tiger Woods stumbled to close out his round. Woods made back-to-back bogeys in his final two holes and carded a 1-over 72 in the early wave. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, made three birdies in his final five holes to get to 5-under, which has him right in the mix.

Scoring has definitely gotten harder as the day has gone on.

Only four of the top 19 players on the leaderboard are on the course. Only one player in the top nine, Thomas Detry, is still playing. After a bogey at five stalled Scottie Scheffler’s round for a moment, he took advantage of the par-5 seventh, knocking in a four-footer for birdie to get back to 3-under. It has not been a good day for Jon Rahm. Rahm has bogeyed four of his first six holes, including an absolute shank on No. 6.

Rahm missed the green by 40 yards to the left. Rahm did birdie the seventh to slow the bleeding, but he has got a lot of work to do if he is going to get back in contention. Some days, it is better than others. It is just the way it is. Woods clawed out a 1-over round to open the PGA Championship on Thursday. Scheffler just bogeyed the fifth after landing in a greenside bunker.

That dropped Scheffler back to 2-under for the day. Matching Schauffele’s bogey-free round is now out of the question for Scheffler. Scheffler just birdied No. 4 to get to 3-under for the day. The last time the PGA Championship was played at Valhalla, McIlroy won. Scheffler birdies the fourth, taking him to 3-under after his first-hole eagle. Scheffler stood at the first tee nine strokes behind clubhouse leader Schauffele.

Two swings later, Scheffler had sliced Schauffele’s lead to seven.

Since McIlroy’s two major titles in 2014, however, he has come up short every single time. But McIlroy is back near the top of the leaderboard after his opening round 66 on Thursday in Louisville. Scheffler was not going to let anybody forget about him. Scheffler just holed his second shot at the PGA Championship from the middle of the fairway to immediately get to 2-under.

Bryson DeChambeau was toiling through his round, sitting at even par through 15 holes. That eagle at No. 7 started on the back nine put him at 2-under and into the hunt. Schauffele is now the first person to ever shoot a 62 in a round at a major championship multiple times. Schauffele has set a course, PGA Championship and major record with a 9-under 62.

Woods bogeyed his last two holes. The morning tee times look to have the advantage before the course dried out, Schauffele posted a 9-under 62 to open the PGA Championship. In September 2020, DeChambeau saved his best round for last at the 2020 United States Open, carding a 3-under 67 at Winged Foot to claim his first career major championship. DeChambeau’s closing round was just two strokes off the best 18-hole score of the week as he ground out grueling, sometimes gusty conditions with an effortless combination of his length off the tee and control around the greens.

DeChambeau was the only golfer in the field to finish with a final-round score under par, cementing himself in the history books in his seventh career win on the PGA Tour.

The last time a United States Open champion owned the only final-round score under par was 1955, 38 years before DeChambeau was born, when Jack Fleck pulled off the feat after beating Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff. DeChambeau polished off hole No. 72 in style, dropping in a par save and letting out a roar. It has been a breakout year for DeChambeau, who captured golf’s first major of the 2020-21 season.

DeChambeau has added a significant amount of muscle to his 6-foot-1 frame and built himself into the longest golfer off the tees in the world. DeChambeau finished fourth in strokes gained off the tee and fourth in driving distance. DeChambeau was also the first player to make an eagle in his final round and win the United States Open since 1937, per Justin Ray.

DeChambeau accomplished that on the ninth hole and cruised to victory from there. DeChambeau made that long eagle putt and shocked himself making it, too. Finishing runner-up is Matthew Wolff, who was on the precipice of making his own history before surrendering his 54-hole two-stroke lead. If he had closed it out, Wolff would have become the youngest United States Open winner since 1923 (Bobby Jones) and youngest major champion since Woods (1997 Masters).

Instead, Wolff finished with a final-round 5-over 75 as he tried to keep up with DeChambeau’s mesmerizing performance.

It is Wolff’s second consecutive top-five finish in a major. Rounding out the top five is a two-way tie for third between Harris English and Louis Oosthuizen. There was a three-way tie for fifth with Dustin Johnson, Will Zalatoris, and Schauffele. DeChambeau has built his game around length off the tees. It is fitting, then, that DeChambeau finished third in the field in strokes gained off the tee, strutting to his first major championship on the strength of his best skill.

DeChambeau had just one bogey on No. 8 and found a new stride after an eagle on No. 9. DeChambeau played the front nine at 2 under and played a bogey-free back nine at 1 under. It is easy to look at Wolff’s runner-up finish as a disappointment after he held the 54-hole lead, but finishing runner-up in a major championship at his age is the stuff of legend.

In fact, Wolff, 21, is the youngest runner-up at the United States Open in 80 years (Jack Nicklaus, 1960). How Wolff hit only two fairways and still squeaked out a 5-under 65 will forever remain majestic. Wolff’s weaknesses, particularly with his putter, showed in his 5-over 75, losing strokes on the field with his putter. But being one of only two professional golfers on tour to not be over par at wicked Winged Foot is something he can build off.

One-time major champion Oosthuizen finished in sole possession of third, his second-best finish at the United States Open ever, on the strength of a final-round 73.

Oosthuizen played with control all week, finishing in the top 20 in greens hit in regulation and in fairways hit. As treacherous as Winged Foot played all week, it was a distinct advantage Oosthuizen used to overcome his lack of length off the tees. Best finish in a major ever for English. English is coming off one of his most productive seasons on the PGa Tour and was in the thick of it all week.

Kicking his day off with a double bogey put his back to the wall, English rallied to play the final 17 at 1 over. English finished the week second in the field in fewest number of putts at 111. In each of Schauffele’s four wins, he has entered the final round trailing by at least two strokes. Schauffele had a strong even-par opening nine to hang around, but had five bogeys in his last six to drift just outside the mix.

Strong overall showing for Schauffele this week, finishing first in the field in strokes gained with his short game and 11th putting. Round 2 of the 2020 Golf United States Open brought out the wicked ways of Winged Foot Golf Club. There were 21 golfers in total who started under par, yet only six finished in the red as the course’s setup suffocated the field.

The conditions firmed up and the scores steadily rose with only three golfers carding rounds under par after a scoring bonanza.

Patrick Reed sits atop the leaderboard through 36 holes of action. Reed leads by one stroke over DeChambeau and two strokes over Rafa Bello, English, and Justin Thomas. Reed stayed on the offensive, aggressively attacked the pins and rewarded himself with some fine putting. Reed’s 25 putts tied for the least among the field in Round 2. It was a rollercoaster of a day for DeChambeau, who finished with five bogeys, five birdies and an eagle.

But overall, it was undeniably a net positive outing as DeChambeau followed up his first-round 69 with a second-round 68. DeChambeau finished second in the field in strokes gained off the tee and stayed in control of his driver. DeChambeau felt like a lot of things were working well for him, he was driving well, his iron play was impeccable. Arguably no golfer had a more dramatic about-face from first nine to back nine than Thomas.

After carding a United States Open Round 1 record-low of 65, Thomas came out flat, bogeying four of his first eight holes. But Thomas rallied late, starting with a birdie on number 18 and continuing onto the front by brushing off a double on number 1 to play the final eight holes at 2 under. None of it was particularly elite-level golf, but this was the type of round that could have derailed Thomas’ contention chances, and instead he grinded out a 3 over 73 to survive another day.

English and Bello, though, tied for the best round of this trio with both finishing at even par.

After hitting two fewer fairways and two fewer greens in regulation than his 4 under 64 opening round, Wolff swung wildly in the opposite direction with a 4-over 74 in Round 2. Wolff struck the ball well but he needs to clean up little things to really score and compete in a meaningful way. Wolff should get a chance to do that just three strokes off the lead.

Schauffele, on the other hand, took advantage of the conditions before things got treacherous, carding a second-round 72. Schauffele finished his final five holes at 3 over, sapping some momentum he built up throughout the round. Impressive all-around outing for Rahm again, braving the conditions to get in at 2 over despite a five-bogey day. Rahm finished birdie-birdie-bogey to get in the clubhouse with a final nine score of even-par, and for a second straight day, he was among the longest in the field off the tees.

The combination of Rahm’s power, ball striking and control tee to green caters to his strengths at such a grueling course, and he is going to be one of the non-leaders to watch closely into Moving Day. McIlroy had everything working in Round 1 from tee to green, finishing first in strokes gained off the tee and inside the top 25 in that category with the putter. Makeable pars McIlroy continuously turned to bogeys, and easy putts for him on a normal day were a grind in Round 2.

McIlroy is not totally out of this, but he needs to find the happy medium and do it consistently to win his second United States Open.

Johnson, meanwhile, saved his best work, finishing with a bounce back 70. Johnson had the putter working and was long and confident off the tees, setting him up to potentially win his third outing in his last four events. Gary Woodland, hobbled with injury, followed up his opening round 74 with another 74, missing the cut. Woodland explained post-round he has a torn labrum in his left hip and is set to see a specialist because he just can not get around the pain.

Sometimes great storylines just do not pan out, in a nostalgic return to Winged Foot for the older guard of the game, both Woods and Phil Mickelson missed the cut, marking the first time ever the two missed it at the same United States Open after 20 prior events they played together. Woods went 2 under in his final three but still finished at 7 over on the day, while Mickelson with a second-round 74 could not overcome the first-round 79. The top of the leaderboard through Round 1 of the 2020 United States Open is loaded with star power as Thomas leads the field through 18 holes and four of the golfers inside the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings – Thomas, Reed, McIlroy, and Schauffele – all comprise part of the leaderboard’s top 10 at Winged Foot.

Thomas fired an opening-round best 5-under par 65 to get his week started, playing a near-flawless first round with only one bogey and six birdies. It was a really solid round of golf. It is one of the best rounds Thomas has played in a while tee to green. There are a couple things here and there that definitely could have been better, but Thomas made sure all of his misses were in the right spot, and that was what he had to do at a United States Open.

Reed, Thomas Pieters, and Wolff are T2 through Round 1, trailing Thomas by just one stroke.

McIlroy, Lee Westwood, and Oosthuizen are 3 under and T5. It was a surprising day on the track comparative to expectations. Winged Foot quick greens and treacherous roughs were projected to give golfers fits, yet 20 golfers are in the red with the stars taking advantage of the conditions and the set up. McIlroy hit the ball very well, he kept it in play, hit a lot of greens, hit a lot of fairways, did everything he had to do at a United States Open.

Playing with control and shaping shots will be key, and that is exactly what Thomas did to take the lead through 18 holes. Thomas finished T8 among the field in fairways hit and T7 in greens in regulation, converting some big opportunities with his putter when he needed. Thomas went on a birdie-birdie-birdie run from holes 9-11 and finished with a 3 under 32 on the back.

Reed’s day turned around in a hurry on the front nine. Reed double-bogeyed the par-4 5th hole, birdied the 6th, then made the first of two hole-in-ones on the par-3 7th to get under par. From there, Reed played the final 11 holes at 3 under without a bogey. After dropping his first stroke of the day on number 10, Wolff rallied for a birdie streak from 11-13 to climb back into contention and into position as T2 through Round 1.

Wolff was crisp in his approach and solid around the greens, too, where he gained 1.45 strokes on the field.

Pieters on the other hand struggled around the greens but gained strokes on the field off the tee in his approach. Pieters finished his final nine with a bogey-free 2 under. McIlroy led the field in greens hit in regulation at 83% and in strokes gained off the tee.