Scottie Scheffler Was the Only Player to Do This in Round 1 of the PGA

Scheffler round was completely unique from the rest the PGA Championship field for one impressive reason.

It comes as no surprise that Scottie Scheffler, a Masters champion and winner of the 2023 Players championship, found his name near the top of the leaderboard on Thursday at the PGA Championship. 

What did come as a shock, however, was that his 3-under 67 was unique for one unbelievable reason: Scheffler didn’t make a single bogey on Thursday. 

The Texan was the only player in the 156-man PGA Championship field without a square on his scorecard. 

But perhaps a lone bogey-free round was exactly what we should have seen coming. All week players have been vocal about describing the tough and major-ready test that Oak Hill will present, and there were right. The iconic Donald Ross venue played 3.64 strokes over par for Round 1. According to golf statistics expert Justin Ray, that number makes Oak Hill the hardest opening round at a PGA Championship in 15 years. 

The field at Oak Hill averaged 3.64 strokes above par on day 1.

That's on pace for the toughest opening round at the PGA Championship in 15 years. In 2008 at Oakland Hills, the field averaged +4.85.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 19, 2023

On Thursday there were only 16 rounds recorded under par, 10 rounds at even par, and there were 7 unfortunate rounds of 80 or over. 

“It's definitely a really hard course, but there's a few holes where there's some opportunities and then there's a few holes where you've kind of got to strap in and try and make pars,” Scheffler said during his pre-tournament press conference.  

Scheffler’s clean card was also a career first: It marked his first bogey-free round in any major championship. 

According to the the world No. 2 himself (and No. 2 in the SI World Golf Rankings), however, a round like that might be even harder to put together over the next three days of the championship. 

“Today was probably the easiest conditions we'll see all week with the golf course. So getting around with no bogeys was really good. I mean, that's pretty much how I shot 3 under,” Scheffler said after Round 1. “There's not really many birdie opportunities out there. So if you can limit the mistakes, good things will happen, I guess.”

Scheffler will begin his second round at 1:25 p.m. Friday alongside Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland.