PGA Championship Round 1 Leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler shares early lead at Aronimink

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler moved into a share of the lead on day one of the PGA Championship at Aronimink.

Scheffler, 29, carded a steady three-under 67 containing five birdies and two bogeys as he looks to become the first player since Brooks Koepka in 2019 to successfully defend the famous Wanamaker Trophy.

It marks the first time in Scheffler's career that he has either held the lead or a share of the lead after the first round of a major. 

Scheffler was out in the afternoon wave of groups and played some exceptional stuff from tee to green. 

He missed just one fairway all round, ranking him tied first for driving accuracy, and he excelled on the greens too by gaining more than three shots on the field. 

Scheffler opened with three pars before falling over par with a bogey on the par-4 fourth. 

But the four-time major champion ranks first in the bounce back statistic on the PGA Tour and proved exactly why when making consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to move into the red for the first time. 

Scheffler then added two more consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th to move to the top of the leaderboard. 

He would bogey the par-3 14th when three-putting for the only time during the round, but he got that shot back quickly when firing a wedge to four feet on the par-5 16th. 

The world number one now shares the first-round lead at the PGA Championship alongside six other players including Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune, Martin Kaymer and Alex Smalley. 

Scheffler is looking to capture the fifth major title of his career. 

Other notable players in early contention for the PGA Championship include 2024 winner Xander Schauffele at two-under par and LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm at one-under par.

Both Schauffele and Rahm have two major titles to their names. 

Rahm drew controversy in the first round when he unintentionally smashed a clump of grass in the face of a volunteer. 

Elsewhere, it was a day to forget for two of the tournament favourites in Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau.

McIlroy bogeyed the last four holes to open with a four-over 74, while DeChambeau fared two shots worse with a six-over 76. 

Arguably the two biggest superstars on the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will need to bring their A-game to Aronimink on Friday in order to get back in contention for the tournament. 

With both players looking on from outside the top 100 as it stands, McIlroy and DeChambeau will also both just want to do enough to be around for the weekend. 

McIlroy could also be in hot water along with Rahm after he was seen thumping his driver into the turf on the fourth tee box.

A new code of conduct policy has been issued at the majors to cut down on tantrums and bad etiquette. 

McIlroy admitted his round was "s***" when casting his verdict to the media. 

The Northern Irishman also told reporters he is not driving the ball well enough to contend this week.

After speaking to the media, McIlroy was seen spending close to an hour on the practice range working on his driving. 

The grand slam champion found just five of 14 fairways in the first round, in stark contrast to Scheffler who missed only one.