NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Jordan Spieth's bid to complete the career Grand Slam with a victory at the PGA Championship got off to a mixed start Thursday.
After making the turn at 1 under, Spieth birdied three of the first six holes on the front nine, his back, and was tied with the early leaders at 3 under before consecutive bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 slowed his charge. He settled for a 1-under 69 and was still in contention with three rounds left.
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Dan Brown reacts on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jon Rahm, of Spain, hits from the rough on the 11th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Justin Thomas chips onto the ninth green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Jordan Spieth hits from the fairway on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
“I struck the ball well," said Spieth, who is making his 10th try at completing the Slam. ”I was in a good position on a lot of holes. If I drive it like that, I’d expect to shoot what I did or better. Just didn’t quite finish the way I wanted to the last three holes, but under-par was a good score."
Spieth said the morning chill and wind had Aronimink Golf Club playing difficult. As the day warmed up, so did the three-time major winner.
He rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-4 16th, made the turn and drained a 10 footer at the first, and then made putts of just over 3 feet and a touch under 7 feet at Nos. 4-5, respectively.
“It’s one of those rounds where I feel like I played better than I scored, which is frustrating because you want to get the most out of your round,” said Spieth, who has 16 career wins. “It’s also a good thing, which means things are in a good spot.”
Spieth's last major victory came in the 2017 British Open. His only top-10 finish in a PGA was in 2019 at Bethpage Black.
Justin Thomas kept his hopes for a third PGA title alive with a round-saving 53-foot bogey putt at the 14th hole.
He stumbled a bit down the stretch, but was still in the hunt with plenty of golf remaining.
Tied for the lead at 3 under, the 2017 and 2022 PGA winner gave two strokes back over the final holes.
At the 14th, he pulled his approach shot left, near the grandstands, and then left his chip short of the green in heavy rough. Then, his fourth shot drifted more than 50 feet on the undulating green. He salvaged a bogey with the long-distance putt.
Thomas dropped another shot at the par-5 16th when he drove into the left rough, advanced the ball less than 100 yards with his second and hit his third shot into a greenside bunker. Two shots later he was at 1 under.
“I played, I felt like, flawless in there for probably 13 holes,” the 33-year-old said. "Honestly, I just had a very hard time staying focused. It’s a long, long day out there. It’s so, so tough, very, very windy, some tough pins.
“Really proud of the way I played and the way I hung in there. Solid first round.”
Jon Rahm and Daniel Brown added a bit of Philly flare to the PGA Championship by posting E-A-G-L-E-S in the opening round.
While some spectators at the opening round broke out in Eagles chants, Rahm heard a different kind of roar from across Aronimink. It was the kind of outburst that is prompted by a special shot, and he immediately considered the rarity of a televised eagle at a major championship.
A short time late, he made some magic of his own.
Rahm didn’t know who was responsible for the shot that prompted the loud reaction, but the possibility of an eagle got him thinking.
“I kind of thought, man, how often you see hole-outs in majors on TV and how rarely I’ve ever seen one in person,” he said. “Then about an hour later I get to do it myself, right? So that’s just one of the funny moments in golf.”
Brown's hole-out from 106 yards at the uphill, 421-yard par-4 11th prompted the cheer that grabbed Rahm's attention. His shot landed short of the pin on the green that slopes steeply from back to front, spun right and rolled into the hole for a dramatic 2.
“You try to hit it a little left of the flag because you know it kind of feeds in, and you’re just hoping it goes close,” said Brown, who is playing in his third major. “Obviously a big bonus, the crowd going wild at the back, and you kind of know it’s gone in.”
Rahm eagled the second hole — ironically, his 11th of the round — and the shot came after he wasn't satisfied with his 105-yard, downwind approach on the previous hole that he left short of the green. This time it all came together.
He said he was more committed at the same distance into the wind and felt lucky to see the ball fall into the hole.
“It was a phenomenal shot, really good wedge shot,” the two-time major champion said.
Rahm posted a 1-under 69, while Brown closed out a 2-under 68.
The two eagles were well off the pace of last year's championship at Quail Hollow, where there were there were six eagles on par-4 holes in the first round.
Rahm was unhappy with his second shot at the seventh hole and swung through the rough in frustration, sending a divot that hit an event volunteer on the shoulder and face.
Rahm was quick to apologize. He said he felt horrible about the incident and planned to track down the volunteer to make amends.
“I got a flier on my second shot that went long” he said. "It’s not a good spot. Just out of frustration, I tried to make an air swing, just over the grass, and I wasn’t looking, took a divot, and unfortunately, I hit a volunteer.
"I couldn’t feel any worse. I need to somehow track him down to give him a present because that’s inexcusable and for something that could be completely avoidable.
“Whether it was my intention or not, it was just not good.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Dan Brown reacts on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jon Rahm, of Spain, hits from the rough on the 11th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Justin Thomas chips onto the ninth green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Jordan Spieth hits from the fairway on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — The biggest logjam in 57 years after the opening round of a major championship still had one name that stood out above the rest: Scottie Scheffler handled everything Aronimink threw his way Thursday in the PGA Championship.
Scheffler took advantage of two long birdie putts and one big break on the 17th hole for a 3-under 67 to share the lead with six other players — former PGA champion Martin Kaymer perhaps the biggest surprise — on a tough day in the Philadelphia suburbs.
It was the 13th round in the majors that Scheffler has had at least a share of the lead, and remarkably the first time after the opening round.
Joining them at 67 were Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune and Alex Smalley. The seven-way tie was the largest since nine players shared the lead in the 1969 PGA Championship at NCR Country Club in Dayton, Ohio.
And to think it could have been eight players. Garrick Higgo had a 69, which included a two-shot penalty before he even hit a shot for being 10 seconds late to the tee for his group's starting time.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy bogeyed his last four holes for a 74 that sent him to the practice range for most of the afternoon.
Not since Oakland Hills in 2008 — Jeev Milkha Singh and Robert Karlsson at 2-under 68 — has the low score to par after the first round of the PGA Championship been worse than 3 under. Aronimink with its severely sloped greens, fast fairways and plenty of wind that shooed away morning clouds was every bit a major challenge.
Scheffler has struggled with opening rounds for most of the year since opening with a 63 in his season debut at The American Express, his only victory. But this was quality work. He missed only one fairway, which cost him one of his two bogeys on the day.
“Definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year, maybe besides American Express,” Scheffler said. “Your scores are definitely going to be lower if you hit the ball on the fairway, but it’s still really, really difficult to make birdies.”
He made one from just inside 40 feet on the par-4 seventh, and another birdie from just inside 30 feet on the par-4 10th. And even the No. 1 player in the world needed a little help.
Scheffler was in the thick collar of rough to the right of the par-3 17th, facing a chip over a ridge and down toward the hole. But his golf ball was close enough to a sprinkler cap that he was given free relief, dropped on the fringe and putted it to close range for a par.
Scheffler wasn't interested in this being his first time atop the leaderboard on Thursday at a major. All he saw was the long list of names next to him and behind him — 48 players within three of the lead.
“At this moment, it's anybody's tournament,” he said.
That it includes Kaymer is a surprise. He won the PGA Championship in 2010 at Whistling Straits, giving him a lifetime exemption. Kaymer joined LIV Golf in 2022 and has yet to finish in the top 10 in the few European tour events he has played since then. He is No. 1,160 in the world ranking. He hasn't been in the top 10 after one round of any major since the 2020 PGA Championship.
During the champions dinner on Tuesday, he said one PGA of America officer asked him if the German planned to play this week.
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s why I’m here. I’m not flying from Europe to here to have a New York strip with you guys, you know?’ Of course, I'm playing. And that really motivated me.”
Patrick Reed was the only player who made it around Aronimink without a bogey, his two birdies giving him a 68 and in the large group with Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry, who played the two par 5s in 3 under.
Jordan Spieth, lacking only the PGA Championship for the career Grand Slam, bogeyed two of his last three holes — and did not birdie the par-5 ninth, the easiest hole at Aronimink — to join the group at 69 that included Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas.
“Just didn’t quite finish the way I wanted to the last three holes, but under par was a good score,” Spieth said. “It was blowing really hard, and it was cold this morning. The course played very, very difficult. It was a good start. I’m going to need to improve on it, I think, each day.”
Rahm was headed for another rough start in a major until he holed out for eagle from the 11th fairway, chipped in for birdie on the tough par-3 eighth and shot 69. He was told some people thought scoring would be better in the morning. This surprised him.
“People thought it would be lower?” he replied. “Have you been out there? Have you seen this course?”
McIlroy had the toughest finish. He struggled out of the damp, dense rough. He struggled on the greens. He closed with four straight bogeys and described his round in one word that translates loosely to doo-doo.
No one struggled quite like Bryson DeChambeau, who didn’t make a birdie until he ended on the par-5 ninth. That kept him from matching his highest score in the PGA Championship. He shot 76 and now has to work toward avoiding a second straight missed cut in a major.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Scottie Scheffler chips onto the ninth green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Fans watch Scottie Scheffler hits on the eighth green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Xander Schauffele chips to the green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, hits from the rough on the ninth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jon Rahm, of Spain, waves after his putt on the sixth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Ryo Hisatsune, of Japan, watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Billy Horschel chips to the green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Bryson DeChambeau hits from the fairway on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Jordan Spieth hits from the fairway on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, retrieves his ball from the hole on the 10th green during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Aldrich Potgieter, of South Africa, watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Justin Thomas hits from the third fairway during a PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
