They say three things are certain in life. Scottie Scheffler being among the frontrunners at a major championship is definitely one of them.
With favorites falling to the wayside all over the undulating greens at Aronimink Golf Club, the ever-unflappable Scheffler sits atop the leaderboard after the opening day’s golf in Philadelphia.
Scheffler is joined at the top of the pile by six other players on 3-under-par, who will all look to do their best to stay close to the World No. 1 over the next few days.
Scheffler helps set the pace
Sport, particularly golf, is loved for its unexpected nature. But these rules don’t apply to Scheffler.
There is now an air of inevitability whenever the four-time major champion walks to the first tee box at one of golf’s premier events. And today was no different.
The 29-year-old was the big favorite coming into the second major of the year and all the talk seemed to be about who could keep up with the reigning champ.
But these expectations seem to weigh very little upon the shoulders of Scheffler as he ticked off another brilliant day of golf.
An opening round of 67, featuring five birdies, has put Scheffler in a great spot to retain his title.
“Definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year, maybe besides American Express maybe,” Scheffler said after the round.
“Yeah, I felt like, especially going into the weekend, when you look at like the Masters and Hilton Head and Cadillac, finishing second was probably not all that bad from where I was starting the weekend. Yeah, definitely nice to get off to a better start this week.”
The greatest compliment you can give to Scheffler is that he makes a sport so fraught with danger seem somewhat sedate at times.
But Scheffler isn’t alone shooting three-under.
Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Martin Kaymer and Alex Smalley all share the first-round lead.
With it looking like it will only get more challenging out there, Friday could see a lot of movement among the frontrunners.
McIlroy’s day of mishaps
But while a whole host of players made moves towards the leading pack, Rory McIlroy struggled throughout his opening round.
Just over a month from winning his second consecutive Masters title, McIlroy came into the PGA Championship as one of the favorites – and rightly so.
What materialized on the course at Aronimink Golf Club, however, was far from the form of a contender.
The six-time major champion was miles from his best and shot an opening round of 74, leaving himself on 4-over-par and seven shots behind the leaders.
When asked to sum up his round, McIlroy’s answer was simple.
“Sh*t,” the Northern Irishman said of his opening 18 holes.
McIlroy said the root of his problems came from repeatedly not finding fairways.
The rough at Aronimink is unforgiving at its best and McIlroy found this out firsthand on the first hole of his day.
The two-time PGA Championship winner missed his target by mere inches and had to punch out from the damp, long first cut.
It didn’t get any better for McIlroy from there and the World No. 2 will now have his work cut out to make the cut heading into the weekend.
Time is of the essence
Conditions at Aronimink seem to be difficult enough already.
They then become even harder when you have to factor in a two-stroke penalty for poor timekeeping.
And that’s exactly what happened to Garrick Higgo.
In a move all too familiar to amateur golfers, the South African golfer was late to his tee time but, rather than being given a slight telling off, Higgo had to accept a costly punishment.
But time is a construct after all, and Higgo made sure to remind us of that.
“I was there on time,” the 27-year-old said after his round. “But the rule is if you’re one second late, you’re late. So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean.”
But Higgo said he wasn’t surprised to be given the penalty after hearing his caddie yelling at him to get to the tee box.
Higgo summed it up in a way many of us can relate to in all walks of life.
“I was obviously too casual,” he summarized.
