NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Aldrich Potgieter put himself in a good position on the severe greens of Aronimink and an even better position when he finished his first round Thursday at the PGA Championship.
Potgieter had six birdies in his round of 3-under 67. His name was atop the leaderboard because he was in the first group to tee off. More than anything, it was an early indication that Aronimink could yield birdies — even a hole-out eagle from fairway
by Jon Rahm — but wasn't giving up much.
Among the early starters, Bryson DeChambeau already was 4 over as he headed toward the final five holes. Stephan Jaeger was the first player to reach 4 under, later joined by Min Woo Lee, as both were nearing the end of their rounds.
The damp air gave way to clearing skies by mid-morning. Some overnight rain didn't provide enough moisture to take some of the firmness out of severely contoured greens. Rory McIlroy hit one approach on the 15th that shot forward some 20 feet on its second hop.
“I think I hit it on the right spots on the golf course, especially on the greens,” Potgieter said. “I didn’t feel like I had to putt over some of these big slopes we had. So I definitely left myself in really good positions on the green.”
Ryan Gerard dropped only one shot in his round of 69.
Garrick Higgo had the worst start imaginable — a late one. The South African was late getting to the first tee, a two-shot penalty before he even hit his opening drive. His par became a double bogey on the first hole, and he finished with two big putts for a 69.
Braden Shattuck, one of 20 club pros in the field from nearby Rolling Green Golf Club who was given the honor of the first tee shot, wound up hitting two of them. He feared the first one went so far left it was out-of-bounds, so he had to hit a provisional.
The first one was next to a fence, he took a one-shot penalty to move it and made double bogey. Shattuck opened with an 81.
McIlroy was at even par playing in the same group with Jordan Spieth, who was at 1 under midway through their second nine.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, played in the afternoon.
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