Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. It must be a feeling Xander Schauffele is all too familiar with when it comes to golf’s majors but after Thursday, he may finally be walking down the aisle at Valhalla.
After so many agonizing near-misses on golf’s biggest stages, the World No. 3 opened his PGA Championship by sending a message – one that read: ‘I’m not letting another escape my clutches.’
A runner-up to Rory McIlroy at the Wells Fargo Championship, the 30-year-old shook himself off and continued his endless pursuit of a major by not only storming to the top of the leaderboard but by doing so in record fashion with an opening round of nine-under 62.
Teeing off early once the fog cleared over Louisville, Kentucky, Schauffele fired off a defiant warning shot to the rest of the field with a birdie at the second. From there, he never looked back.
Hole after hole, Schauffele continued his relentless chase as he reached the turn at five-under-par and only extended his lead on the back nine, heading into the clubhouse with a total of nine birdies in a blemish-free round over the 7,506 rolling yards of Valhalla Golf Club.
Xander Schauffele celebrates on the 18th green after sealing his remarkable feat at Valhalla
Schauffele was smiling – and for good reason – during his PGA Championship round one
The American shot an eight-under-par 62 to break the course record at Valhalla on Thursday
But it wasn’t just flawless, it was historic.
His round of 62 was one better than the course record set by Jose Maria Olazabal at the 2000 PGA Championship.
The lowest score relative to par in the first round of a PGA Championship is eight-under, by Michael Bradley (63) at Riviera CC in 1995.
Perhaps even more impressively, Schauffele also became the first player to shoot 62 in a major since last year. The player to card that 62? Himself.
Only three players have ever shot 62 at a major championship, with South African Branden Grace becoming the first to do it at the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Rickie Fowler became the second man to do it at last year’s US Open at LACC, before Schauffele matched him just minutes later, on June 15.
‘It’s a great start to a big tournament,’ said Schauffele. ‘One I’m obviously always going to take. It’s just Thursday.’
In the clubhouse with a two-shot lead over early chasers Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala – with an embattled Rory McIlroy and Scotland’s Robert McIntrye four behind – the only person who looked capable of stopping Schauffele was man of the moment, Scottie Scheffler. Or, himself.
The only player potentially as inevitable as Schauffele is World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler dunked his approach shot from 167 yards out for an eagle at the par-four first
Scheffler took to the course with that feeling of inevitability once again. He opened his round by dunking his approach shot from 167 yards out at the par-four first for an eagle two. A sure sign that even the sleepless nights of new parenthood aren’t going to put an end to the Scottie Show.
But it’s himself that Schauffele needs to be wary of. He may have opened well but he has a history of failing to close.
‘I think not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is,’ Schauffele said. ‘For me, at least, I react to it, and I want it more and more and more, and it makes me want to work harder and harder and harder.
‘The top feels far away, and I feel like I have a lot of work to do. But just slowly chipping away at it.’
Just last week, he opened with a 64 at the Wells Fargo Championship and took a one-shot lead over McIlroy into the final round but couldn’t cling on.
Schauffele became the first player to shoot 62 in a major championship since himself last year
He took a one-shot lead over McIlroy into the final round of Wells Fargo but couldn’t cling on
Schauffele has also failed to win since his back to back victories at the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open in 2022. In that time, he’s had four runner-up and 21 top-10 finishes.
Appearing in his 28th major championship this week, Schauffele has the lowest all-time career first-round major scoring average in at least 25 appearances.
The Olympic Gold medalist also has 12 top-10 finishes at major championships – second only to Fowler in the PGA Championship field this week.
Schauffele knows better than anyone that one good round does not a major winner make but after opening in spectacular fashion, he’ll be hoping he can finally be a closer.