NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pennsylvania, May 15 (Reuters) – Overnight PGA Championship co-leader Alex Smalley weathered gusty crosswinds at chilly Aronimink Golf Club to grab a one-shot clubhouse lead over Hideki Matsuyama and Chris Gotterup, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler fell slightly off the pace.
Smalley carded a one-under par 69 that brought him to four under on the week at the year’s second major that left him one shot clear of former Masters champion Matsuyama (67) and Chris Gotterup (65), a two-times winner on the PGA Tour this year who roared into the clubhouse having made three consecutive birdies.
Smalley, who started on the more difficult back nine, held the outright lead by two shots at one point before falling back with three consecutive bogeys after the turn. He stopped the bleeding with a birdie at the par-four fourth and added another at the par-five ninth where his eagle attempt stopped 14 inches from the hole.
“A lot of really good moments, some not so great moments, and then a lot of just trying to keep moving forward in between,” said Smalley. “It was difficult, it was chilly this morning, the wind was up.”
The day’s action began with a staggering 48 players within three shots of co-leaders Smalley, Scheffler, Martin Kaymer, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee and Ryo Hisatsune, who opened with matching three-under 67s.
Matsuyama, who also started on the back nine, carded his only bogey of the day at Aronimink’s par-four sixth hole when he failed to get up and down after his approach from the fairway zipped back off the front of the green.
“It was really tough. It was really windy yesterday, and this morning was windy. Plus it was freezing cold, and it made it very difficult,” Matsuyama said after mixing four birdies with a bogey.
World number one Scheffler (71), who also went off the back nine, dropped out of the lead with bogeys on three of his first four holes as he struggled to find the fairways in windy conditions while also dealing with tricky pin positions.
He mixed a bogey with three birdies the rest of the way, including at the ninth where his eagle attempt settled three feet from the cup.
Through it all, Scheffler was able to keep perspective.
“I feel like if it’s hard for me out there, then it’s going to be hard for other players,” said Scheffler. “It was pretty obvious to tell this morning the conditions were pretty tough, and so I just kept trying to remind myself of that.
Kaymer, who won the 2010 PGA Championship and joined LIV Golf in 2022, quickly fell back after five bogeys over his first seven holes en route to a 75. The other four overnight co-leaders were still on the course.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy, whose 74 was the second time in his PGA Championship career that he was four-over par or worse in the opening round, is one of the big names in danger of missing the cut. He was two under through four holes.
Twice major winner Bryson DeChambeau, runner-up at the PGA Championship in the last two years, also has plenty of work to reach the weekend after opening with a nightmare 76. DeChambeau was one over through five holes.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
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