Everything you need to know for Round 2 at the 2023 PGA Championship

TULSA, Okla. — Rory McIlroy won’t have to worry about back-dooring a top-5 finish at a critical championship after he grabbed the first-round lead on the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Nation Membership on Friday.

With 9 one-putts in his first 12 holes and 10 drives longer than 320 yards, McIlroy posted a 5-under 65 to grab the lead after the first 18 holes. It was the fourth time in his occupation that he shot 65 or greater inside the opening spherical of a critical, basically probably the most by any participant inside the Masters interval (since 1934), in response to info from ESPN Stats & Data.

“I’ve been having fun with correctly coming in proper right here,” McIlroy talked about. “I’ve been carrying some good kind. Clearly, I took hundreds from that closing spherical at Augusta, carried out correctly up in D.C. on the Wells Fargo, and carried out good inside the comply with rounds earlier this week.”

It’s the major time McIlroy has led after the first spherical of a critical since his closing victory in a single, the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla. Since 2000, the first-round chief has gone on to win this match 4 situations: Tiger Woods (2000), Phil Mickelson (2005), Jimmy Walker (2016) and Brooks Koepka (2019).

There are numerous acquainted names inside placing distance of McIlroy, along with Will Zalatoris (4 beneath), Justin Thomas (3 beneath), Xander Schauffele (2 beneath) and Cameron Smith (2 beneath).

Smith, who obtained The Players in March and carried out inside the final pairing on Sunday on the Masters, had seven birdies in Thursday’s first spherical (as many as McIlroy) and led the sphere in strokes gained: technique. Schauffele drove the ball terribly correctly and was among the many greatest scramblers inside the topic.

Zalatoris, 25, is probably going one of many best ball strikers on the planet and, correctly, not loads among the many greatest putters — until Thursday. Zalatoris was ranked 185th in pictures gained: inserting coming into the week. Nonetheless he led the sphere in that class on Thursday, even with a 3-putt on No. 18. He made 150 toes of putts, his most in any PGA Tour spherical, and made 4 putts longer than 20 toes.

“Yeah, take these and run with them,” Zalatoris talked about.

Zalatoris missed the decrease in closing week’s AT&T Byron Nelson. Will in all probability be fascinating to see if his putter holds up over the final word 54 holes, or if he merely caught lightning in a bottle on Thursday. He already has 4 top-10 finishes in six fundamental begins.

“I assumed being the ball striker I am, clearly it’s confirmed inside the first six or so majors of my occupation, nonetheless on excessive of that, I imagine it’s the angle of that’s what I’ve wished to achieve principally since I was a bit of kid, and it’s kind of releasing in a fashion,” Zalatoris talked about. “Clearly, it’s Thursday. My ideas is nowhere near going to be meandering within the path of that, nonetheless that’s kind of my regular angle is you get 4 of these a 12 months, they’re explicit, and I don’t must go away one thing to chance.”

Scheffler struggles

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler had a rollercoaster of a spot spherical. The world No. 1 made an eagle on the 665-yard fifth hole, hitting his second shot to 10 toes from 307 yards away. Nonetheless on the once more 9, he hit merely three fairways and he made 4 bogeys. He moreover confirmed some audible frustration, shouting in anger at a putt on 17 when it didn’t break one of the simplest ways he thought it may.

On 18, Scheffler hit his drive into the creek that cuts all through the golf inexperienced, nonetheless made a formidable, unbelievable up-and-down from 189 yards away to save lots of plenty of par. He accomplished with a 1-over 71. He had 11 consecutive opening rounds beneath par on tour. The ultimate time he was over par after the first spherical was on the Houston Open on Nov. 14, 2021.

“I suggest, it’s early inside the week; nonetheless loads of golf left to play,” Scheffler talked about. “I suppose I’m 6 once more now, so 6 pictures over three days truly isn’t that large of a deal. I’m positively hundreds further once more than I had hoped to be, nonetheless on the end of the day I’m going to most definitely be in fortieth place. That may be a sort of golf applications the place you’d have a extraordinarily good spherical, and so for me merely kind of taking what the local weather goes to offer us tomorrow morning and sort of go from there.”

What can we anticipate from Tiger?

Woods regarded pretty good initially of the opening spherical, with birdies on two of his first 5 holes. Nonetheless Woods was 6 over after that and accomplished with a 4-over 74. He’ll have work to do on Friday in attempting to make the decrease.

Worse, Woods seemed to be in pretty slightly little bit of ache. His limp from his surgically repaired correct leg was further noticeable on the doorway 9, his second 9 of the day.

“It has felt greater sooner than,” Woods talked about. “It’s a little bit of sore correct now, and we’ll return and start the tactic of making ready for [Friday].”

Like Woods did on the Masters in April, he talked about his restoration would include quite a few ice baths to aim to get the irritation out of his correct leg. The bigger question going forward is how loads Woods’ mobility will improve over the following few weeks and months. He has a myriad of screws, plates and pins in his correct leg and foot. His ankle will not ever flip want it used to. Neither will his fused lower spine.

On Thursday, as McIlroy and Jordan Spieth ripped drives earlier him, it was pretty clear that Woods will not ever play golf like he as quickly as did. When his having fun with companions pulled drivers out of their baggage, he usually settled for an prolonged iron. Woods ranked 139th in driving distance (293.4 yards) out of a 156-player topic that included 20 PGA membership execs and former champion Shaun Micheel.

“These guys clearly have a singular recreation plan,” Woods talked about. “It’s merely fully totally different. The game is carried out very in any other case now, and it is extraordinarily aggressive. We now have been talking about it as we converse, [caddy] Joey [LaCava] and I, the instances of the Lee Janzens and the Scott Simpsons and the [Nick] Faldos of the world, having fun with that kind of golf is gone. You go available on the market and hit driver hundreds, and when you will have a scorching week, you could possibly have a scorching week and likewise you are up there.”

Who else has work to do?

There have been two acquainted sights on the PGA Championship over the last few years: John Daly utilizing in a cart consuming Weight reduction program Cokes and Brooks Koepka’s title someplace inside the excessive 5 on the leaderboard.

Koepka, who obtained the event in 2018 and 2019, was inside the excessive 5 on the end of 14 of the earlier 16 rounds on the PGA Championship. That wasn’t the case on Thursday, nonetheless, as Koepka shot 5-over 75 at Southern Hills. The four-time fundamental champion bogeyed three of his first 4 holes (his score of three over after 5 holes was his worst on the PGA Championship) and shot 5-over 40 on the doorway.

Koepka, 32, has been bothered by knee and hip accidents over the earlier quite a few months. He hadn’t carried out since missing the decrease on the Masters in April.

Completely different large names who’ve work to do to remain spherical for the weekend embody: Jordan Spieth (2 over), Collin Morikawa (2 over), Hideki Matsuyama (2 over), Dustin Johnson (3 over), Jon Rahm (3 over), Daniel Berger (3 over), Patrick Cantlay (6 over) and Adam Scott (7 over).

Harmful local weather looming?

Players in Thursday’s afternoon wave, which included Scheffler, Rahm, Thomas and Cantlay, might face even stiffer gusts on Friday morning.

The local weather forecast requires scattered showers and thunderstorms on Friday afternoon, with winds at 15 to 25 mph. Temperatures are anticipated to drop from highs near 90 ranges on Friday to the mid-60s on the weekend.

Max Homa, who shot even par inside the first spherical, is one participant who is maybe hoping for rain in Tulsa.

I’m presently shedding to Rory by 5 and to allergy signs by 1000. I profit from the issue

— max homa (@maxhoma23) May 19, 2022

On Thursday, the wind lay down early, sooner than selecting up later inside the day.

“I do know regarding the wind,” talked about Abraham Ancer, who carried out at Oklahoma. “It could blow, it might be gusty. With the tall bushes it might be a little bit of deceiving the place it’s coming from. There’s a couple situations you feel it coming from one side and also you then see the pin blowing the other method. You merely have to remain to it and perception the place the forecast says it is and easily protect that ball low.

“Hopefully the greens don’t get too company, that method we wouldn’t have to hit the ball that prime.”