LIVE: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD UPDATES
Rory McIlroy endured an opening round to forget at the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Despite teeing it up at one of his favourite venues in the world, reigning Masters champion McIlroy endured a miserable start to his week.
McIlroy, who is looking to become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win the first two majors of the season, had a rare bad day with the driver and it all led to a dismal first round of 3-over 74.
The Northern Irishman now has an awful lot of work to do on Friday to not just get back in the mix for a third career PGA Championship, but to just make the weekend.
World No.1 and tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler also did not have his best stuff out there in the opening round, but the two-time Masters champion recovered well coming home with two birdies on the final three holes to post a solid 2-under 69.
The third member of the marquee group Xander Schauffele also experienced a tough day in Charlotte, and the defending champion went round in a 1-over 72.
After the round, Scheffler fumed at the PGA of America's decision to not play preferred lies despite three days of heavy rain in the lead up to the PGA Championship.
Scheffler - and the rest of the field for that matter - noticed a number of 'mud balls' during the first round.
The man they all have to catch after the first 18 holes is Jhonattan Vegas, who birdied five of his last six holes to fire a 7-under 64.
Vegas, who is seeking a first major title, finds himself two shots clear of Ryan Gerard and Cameron Davis.
Luke Donald is also in the mix for a first major title at 4-under par alongside Stephan Jaeger, Aaron Rai, last week's winner Ryan Fox and Alex Smalley, who made it into the field at the last moment when Sahith Theegala withdrew through injury.
European Ryder Cup captain Donald, 47, was incredibly the only player in the field to go round without a bogey in the first round.
Jhonattan Vegas | -7 |
Cam Davis | -5 |
Ryan Gerard | -5 |
Luke Donald | -4 |
Ryan Fox | -4 |
Alex Smalley | -4 |
Stephan Jaeger | -4 |
Aaron Rai | -4 |
Tyrrell Hatton | -3 |
Viktor Hovland | -2 |
Scottie Scheffler | -2 |
Tommy Fleetwood | -1 |
Jon Rahm | -1 |
Collin Morikawa | -1 |
Ludvig Aberg | -1 |
Bryson DeChambeau | Par |
Xander Schauffele | +1 |
Justin Thomas | +2 |
Rory McIlroy | +3 |
Scroll below to see how the first round played out at the 2025 PGA Championship...
Vegas -7 (F)
Jhonattan Vegas finishes the round with five birdies in his last six holes to take the lead on 7-under par.
Vegas, who is seeking a first major title, finds himself two shots clear afte the first round.
Hovland -2, DeChambeau Par (F)
It's disappointing bogeys at 18 for both Hovland and DeChambeau.
But both players are still very much in the hunt for the title.
Hovland ends the day at 2-under par, while DeChambeau is two shots further back on level par.
DeChambeau -1 (17)
Bryson comes close to an ace on the par-3 17th.
It's a kick-in birdie to move the LIV Golf man to 1-under par for the round.
Hovland -3 (16)
Hovland might not have his best stuff out there at the moment but he's fighting hard.
He's just chipped in for birdie on the tough par-4 16th to move it to 3-under par.
Morikawa -1
Morikawa undoes some good work on the back nine with a disappointing double at 18.
He ends the day at 1-under par.
Hatton -3 (F)
It's a brilliant birdie for Hatton on the tough par-4 18th.
That all adds up for a 3-under 68 for the LIV Golf star.
Hatton is going in search of a first major title.
Morikawa -3 (17)
Morikawa chips in for a stunning birdie at the back of the par-3 17th.
The two-time major champion moves it to 3-under par for the tournament.
Kim -3 (15)
Tom Kim has struggled for form this season but he's putting it all together in the first round of the PGA.
Kim has just chipped in for eagle on the 15th to move it to 3-under par.
Thomas +1 (16)
Justin Thomas looked down and out a moment ago but he's fighting back.
The two-time PGA champion has just rattled in three birdies in a row to move back to 1-over par.
An -3 (17)
Ben An has just gone birdie-eagle on holes 7 and 8 to vault up to 3-under par.
An is seeking a first major title.
Johnson +5 (16)
Dustin Johnson was going along okay at level par for the round, but the wheels have now well and truly fallen off for the LIV Golf star.
The two-time major champion has just played holes 11 to 16 in 5-over par.
It looks like another tough week for the former World No.1, who really just doesn't look himself any more in the professional game.
Spieth +4 (13)
Jordan Spieth just needs the PGA for the career grand slam.
But it looks like the wait will go on for at least another year.
Spieth is having an opening round to forget at 4-over par thru 13 holes.
He's currently 10 shots off the pace.
Pendrith -2 (12)
Canada's Taylor Pendrith holes out his second shot into the par-4 3rd for eagle.
It moves Pendrith to 2-under par.
Davis -6 (15)
Davis makes another birdie on the par-3 6th.
The Australian moves into the outright lead.
DeChambeau Par (10)
It's a first birdie of the round for LIV Golf superstar DeChambeau.
After an errant tee shot up against the lip of a bunker, DeChambeau splashed out and then stuck a wedge to within 12 feet.
Bryson buried the putt to move to level par.
Davis -5 (13)
Cameron Davis moves into a tie for the lead with Ryan Gerard after making a birdie on the 4th, his 13th of the round.
Cole Par (4)
Eric Cole makes the first hole-in-one at the 2025 PGA Championship.
Cole sunk a 7-iron from just outside of 180 yards on the par-4 4th, his 13th hole of the round.
It marks the second ace for Cole in the space of a month as he also made one during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on the PGA Tour.
The ace moves Cole back to level par.
Scottie Scheffler is not happy the PGA of America decided not to let players in the PGA Championship play from preferred lies in the fairway on day one.
Read our article here
Morikawa -1 (10)
After two early bogeys out the gate to fall to 2-over par, Morikawa has made three birdies in the last hour to move into the red for the first time today.
Morikawa is a two-time major champion.
He won his first major at the 2020 PGA during the Covid lockdown.
Morikawa then added The Open in 2021.
The American is winless on the PGA Tour since the ZOZO Championship in October 2023.
Hovland -3 (8)
This is turning into a brilliant opening round for Hovland.
After driving just shy of the green at the par-4 8th, Hovland chips up beautifully to three feet for a third birdie of his day.
Hovland is now just two shots back of the lead.
Aberg -2 (9)
After a slow start to the round, Aberg has surged into contention with three birdies in the last four holes.
Aberg drilled home a 25-footer for birdie on the tough par-4 9th to make the turn in 2-under par.
The talented Swede is looking to win his first career major in just his sixth major appearance.
Hovland -2 (7)
For someone who admits he's not quite playing how he would like right now, at least off the tee, Viktor Hovland is off to a solid start in the early stages of the first round.
Hovland has just got up and down for birdie on the par-5 7th to move it to 2-under par.
Pleasingly for the Norwegian, he has also missed just one fairway so far on the front nine.
The European Ryder Cup star is considered by many as the best player in the game right now without a major to his name.
Could that change come Sunday?
Rai -4 (7)
England's Rai chips in for birdie on the brutally difficult par-4 16th to move to 4-under par.
He's just fired a brilliant iron to 20 feet on the equally tough par-3 17th.
Bright start for Rai, who is seeking a first major title.
Hatton -2 (8)
Hatton chips close on the short par-4 8th to move it to 2-under par in the early stages of his round.
The Englishman is the leading LIV player at the moment.
Could a first major be heading the way of Hatton this Sunday?
Scott -3 (8)
Former Masters champion Adam Scott is on a heater at the moment with three birdies in a row from the 6th.
Scott finds himself at 3-under par thru 8, which is one of the lowest rounds currently in process.
