PGA Championship 2024: 3 Instant Reactions to Thursday Leaderboard Scores
Xander Schauffele put himself in the men's golf record book for the second time on Thursday.
Schauffele carded the fourth 62 in a major tournament round to open the 2024 PGA Championship.
The nine-birdie, bogey-free round placed Schauffele three shots ahead of his closest competition at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.
A who's who of major winners and usual title contenders sit beneath Schauffele after one round of play.
Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa are each four shots back of the lead, while Scottie Scheffler, who started his day with an eagle at No. 1, resides five shots behind Schauffele.
Xander Schauffele Shoots Second 62 at Major Tournament
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Schauffele now owns two of the four 62s to be carded in men's major tournament golf.
He also shot a 62 in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open, where both he and Rickie Fowler tied Branden Grace's record from The Open in 2017.
Schauffele's first birdie came on the 11th hole, but he did not catch fire until the middle of his round. He birdied the 15th, 16th and 18th holes and then produced a similar stretch on the second, fourth and fifth holes.
"I'll take 62 in a major any day," Schauffele told PGATour.com. "It's a great start to a big tournament. One I'm obviously always going to take."
A strong start does not guarantee a win, as Schauffele knows from his U.S. Open experience last year. He dropped five shots over three rounds after he shot an eight-under 62.
Schauffele also started strong last week at the Wells Fargo Championship, but he was then caught and eclipsed by Rory McIlroy.
A year ago, Bryson DeChambeau played one-over golf across three rounds after he led the first round.
It is a great start for Schauffele, but he still has plenty of work to do claim his first major title.
Low Scores Dominated First Round
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The soft conditions at Valhalla allowed golfers to turn in low scores in both waves of tee times on Thursday.
Schauffele, McIlroy, Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala were among the low scorers from the afternoon wave. Tom Hoge, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler climbed the leaderboard in the afternoon.
In total, there were nine rounds of 66 or better, led by Schauffele's 62, and 66 rounds under par among the 156 participants.
The low scoring may be a one-day trend, or it could be a sign of things to come for the rest of the tournament. The golfers will be under more pressure come Friday since the projected cut line will be close to even-par, or even one-or-two-under if low scores continue.
Right now, it looks like the winning score at Valhalla will fly past the nine-under score Brooks Koepka posted to win at Oak Hill in 2023.
Scottie Scheffler Lurking Five Shots Back
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Scheffler's four-under 67 was a bit disappointing because of how his round started.
The two-time major champion one-hopped an approach shot into the cup on the first hole to start with an eagle.
Scheffler only produced two birdies on each nine and gave shots back at the fifth and 14th holes.
It wasn't Scheffler's cleanest round of golf. but it was enough to put him in a decent spot going into Friday.
Scheffler rarely played in the 70s throughout his dominant PGA Tour season and he has the opportunity to put pressure on Schauffle, McIlroy and others since he tees off in the morning wave on Friday.
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