If you checked in on the PGA Championship leaderboard for the first time this afternoon, you may have wondered if this was the Houston Open instead of a major championship.
Before the premiere players teed off in the late wave, co-leaders included Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee and Ryo Hisatsune. Most of the top players from the early wave struggled, including a 76 from Bryson DeChambeau, 74 from Rory McIlroy and 72 from Ludvig Aberg. Xander Schauffele started quickly and looked like he might be the favorite to take the first-round lead as he searches for a second PGA title, but he cooled off to post a 68. Jon Rahm, on the other hand, looked like he was on his way to more major championship struggles before holing out for eagle on his 11th hole of the day to get back to even before posting a 69.
But the story of the day was Scottie Scheffler playing a steady round of 3-under 67 that tied him for the lead, putting him in prime position heading into the second round.
Scheffler finally gets over his slow starts
The only thing that has held back Scottie Scheffler this year has been poor first rounds. For much of the year, the world No. 1 has gotten off to slow starts and had to claw his way back into contention. That can be credited for why he hasn’t won since the American Express despite plenty of finishes near the top of the leaderboard at the end of the week. He’s coming into the PGA Championship with three consecutive finishes of solo second.
You may remember that Scheffler was 12 shots back of McIlroy at the halfway point of the Masters. He eventually lost by just one shot. It’s very unlikely that he’ll be 12 shots back after Friday’s round.
Of the other six players tied for the lead, only Lee (No. 31) is ranked in the top 50 in the world. That should be a scary sight for the rest of the field.
He could take over the tournament
Scheffler played in the toughest conditions on Thursday and still managed to grab a share of the lead. The wind forecast looks to be fairly steady on Friday, which means that scoring should be a bit easier in the morning with softer conditions, especially since the gusts may be stronger in the afternoon.
If Scheffler can continue his steady play we’ve grown accustomed to, it may have a strong effect on the field. Aronimink has shown its teeth so far, and it doesn’t appear to be a course you can press too much. It tempts you in with shorter clubs into many greens, but missing the correct tier or short-siding yourself can prove very costly. Those in the afternoon teeing off and seeing Scheffler at 6 or 7 under will be in for a tough mental test of not pressing to catch up to the best player in the world, while also knowing that he’s unlikely to give shots back to the field.
Aronimink sets up well for Scheffler
While Scheffler looks like he may be hard to beat this week, he didn’t even have his best stuff. He played very conservatively with his irons and gained only .62 shots on approach. Like we’ve seen him do fairly often in majors, Scheffler aimed for the center of most greens and really only seemed to attack flags when he had a wedge in his hands. He only hit 13 greens despite hitting 13 of 14 fairways. The putter looked dangerous. Scheffler gained 3.36 strokes on the greens, which was 6th best in the field.
If he continues to hit fairways like he did today, you have to imagine Scheffler could get a little more aggressive with his irons and start to separate from the field like he did last year when winning the PGA Championship.
Currently sitting at around +175 odds, Scheffler looks to have a decent chance to capture his fifth major championship at 29 years old.
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