The first day of the PGA Championship yielded several interesting data that help better understand what happened in Valhalla, on a sunny day and in which Jon Rahm returned from hell to finish at one under par (70 strokes).
1. Xander Schauffele equaled the lowest round in a Major with 62 strokes. Schauffele himself had signed that card at the 2023 US Open like Rickie Fowler on the opening day and Branden Grace did it at the 2017 British Open (third round). But these courses were par 70. Nine under par had already been achieved by the greats Rory McIlroy (63 strokes in the 2010 British) and Greg Norman (63 also in the 1996 Masters). None of them won the tournament. Schauffele, in addition, is the golfer in history with the best average on the first day among players who have played at least 25 majors with an average of 69.81 strokes.
2. Sixty-four players finished under par on the first day. It is the highest figure for a PGA start, surpassing the 60 of Medinah 2006, and the second in its history since it became a stroke play format (1958) after the second round of 2018 when it was 80.
3. There were hardly any differences in the average score between those who played in the morning shift and those who did it in the afternoon, something unusual. The morning ones threw an average of 71,333 strokes; those in the afternoon 71, 268.
4. Tom Kim became the second sub 21 in history to shoot 66 shots on the first day of the PGA Championship. Until now that privilege belonged solely to Sergio García who did it when he was 19 in Medinah in 1999.
5. Scottie Scheffler started the PGA with an eagle on a par 4 by holing out from 150 meters. As surprising as it may seem, it is the third edition in which a golfer starts like this. Scott Stallings (2023) and Jesse Muller (2022) did it before. And they both missed the cut.
