After one round of the 2025 PGA Championship, it seems like Rory McIlroy’s chances for the calendar Grand Slam may be over, due to a combination of course conditions, a few bad shots, and the comparatively better play of the field.
While Rory is just 3-over par after 18 holes, he's well down what turned out to be a surprising leaderboard in a tie for 98th. So, he may have to shoot 5- or 6-under on Friday to get himself back in contention (or maybe even just to make the cut), but he’s done that kind of thing quite often.
However, he was so upset that he didn’t talk after his round, which rarely happens.
Scottie Scheffler is nearly 80 places better than McIlroy in a tie for 20th, grinding his way to a 2-under round of 69 despite carding a double bogey at the long par-4 16th, which was his seventh hole of the day.
“It's going to be a challenge,” the world No. 1 said afterward. “I'm satisfied with my finish. It's always nice coming off the course finishing with a birdie.”
So, there was the positive. He said he battled well despite what he called “challenging aspects” regarding the course. He also said he didn’t have his best stuff.
Then he got down to the problem, as he clearly wasn't thrilled about the PGA opting not to give the players preferred lies despite all the rain that fell on Charlotte this week.
“It's frustrating to hit the ball in the middle of the fairway and get mud on it and have no idea where it's going to go. I understand it's part of the game, but there's nothing more frustrating for a player,” he said. “You spend your whole life trying to learn how to control a golf ball, and due to a rules decision all of a sudden you have absolutely no control over where that golf ball goes.”
Scheffler noted that it would be very difficult for the fairways to dry out enough to resolve the water and mud issues.
“In golf, there's enough luck throughout a 72-hole tournament that I don't think the story should be whether or not the ball is played up or down,” he added. “In my opinion, maybe the ball today should have been played up.”
Defending champion Xander Schauffele, who's currently tied for 60th at 1-over and last year’s PGA Champion, was of a similar opinion.
“Had a ridiculous mud ball there on 16 with Scottie. We were in the middle of the fairway, and I don't know, we had to aim right of the grandstands probably,” Schauffele said. “I aimed right of the bunker, and it whipped in the water.”
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley said he had a great round, and compared to many, he did, as he's tied for ninth at 3-under.
“It was great. I played as solid of a round of golf today as I've played all year,” he said. “Just a few wacky little mud balls that affected some of the shots.”
Jon Rahm had four bogeys, but he also had five birdies, finishing in a tie for 29th at 1-under. He had no comments after play, which is usually a sign that smoke was coming out of his ears. Not a guarantee, but a player like Rahm would likely be asked to talk about his round, no matter where he finished.
Collin Morikawa was just two shots out of the lead for a time but finished farther back, joining Rahm at 1-under. He had six birdies on the day but finished with a double, which typically equals no speaking on most occasions.
Ludvig Aberg was in the identical leaderboard spot, but other names were farther down.
Bryson DeChambeau is tied for 46th at even par. Wyndham Clark joined Schauffele in a tie for 60th at 1-over. Last week’s winner, Sepp Straka, is in a tie for 73rd at 2-over, tied with Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas, and a gaggle of others. Patrick Cantlay sits with McIlroy in a tie for 98th at 3-over.
Now, while it seems like a lot of these players have ruined their chances after the first round, it’s important to put scoring in perspective. In the first round of the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods shot 40 on the front nine and still came back to win the tournament. Of course, there is no other Tiger Woods.
The margin between leader Jhonattan Vegas and Rory McIlroy at T98 is 10 shots, which isn’t much for a quality player like Rory over three days. It would be for me or you, perhaps, but not for him.
In addition, that rarefied air at or near the top of the leaderboard in a major will likely scare the pants off a lot of the players who are currently there. Most of these guys are going to have a tendency to slide down the list and finish somewhere beyond 30th on Sunday.
We all saw how hard it was for McIlroy to win The Masters. But it’s going to be even harder for someone not named McIlroy or Scheffler or any of the other high-profile players mentioned above.
So, as long as these big names make it to the weekend, many should be in the mix come Sunday.