Leaderboard
-3 Jaeger (8), C Smith (7), Cauley (7)
-2 Schauffele (5), Potgieter (11)
Irish:
Even: McIlroy (4)
+1 McKibben (7), Harrington (5)
Shane Lowry begins his round at 6.32pm (Irish time)
Multiple PGA Tour winner Garrick Higgo has been stroked 2 shots for being late to the tee for his opening round of the PGA Championship.
He was on the practice putting green but was not within the area defined as the starting point at his starting time.
Rule 5.3a has been… pic.twitter.com/Kmtb7u6BTD
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) May 14, 2026
If you thought you were having a bad day, spare a thought for Garrick.
Promise, that’s the last time we’ll ever suggest that McIlroy has brushed away the cobwebs – he’s just pulled a wedge left on 13, landing just short of the bunker. Another shake of the head. And in a rotten few minutes for Ulster, Tom McKibbin has dropped back to +1 after suffering his second bogey of the day.
See, we tempted fate? After a nigh on perfect drive, McIlroy left his approach to the green in or around a mile from the hole. His effort drifted well past, but he made par. A missed opportunity, though, as his shake of the head confirms. Those greens look decidedly tricky.
Not to be tempting fate, or anything, but McIlroy appears to have dusted off the cobwebs – he fires what resembles an Exocet missile down the centre of the 12th fairway (ie his third hole).
As Butch Harmon might put it, ‘atta boy Rory’ – a birdie at his second, so he’s back to even. Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, meanwhile, is having the kind of start that is the stuff of dreams – he’s -4 after six holes.
Ah now, that’s much more like it from McIlroy – he’s given himself a very decent birdie chance at the 11th (his second), his approach landing within five feet of the hole.
Not the smoothest of starts for McIlroy – that’s a bogey at the first. He had a horrible lie after that wayward drive and ended up with a 12 foot putt for par. Which he missed. Meanwhile, there’s a bogey too for Tom McKibbin at the fifth that sends him back to level par.
A little bit of Masters deja vu there from Rory McIlroy – his opening drive veered right and has landed in an ugly enough looking bit of rough.
Tom McKibbin is one of seven players on -1 after he birdied the first and had a par on the second. Padraig Harrington is about to start his opening round, while Rory McIlroy gets going at 1.40. He’s in a major-laden group too, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm his companions. It’s nine years since Spieth won the last of his three majors, but if he can rediscover that class of form he could yet join golf’s Grand Slam club. Should Rahm prevail come Sunday, he would become the first Spaniard to win the tournament.
[ Jon Rahm determined to complete Spanish SlamOpens in new window ]
A dream start for Tom McKibbin, the first of the Irish in action today – the LIV man has birdied the first.
Writer and broadcaster Eamon Lynch is keeping mum….
Earlier this week, our Philip Reid picked out ‘Five to watch at this week’s US PGA Championship’ – including Shane Lowry.
“The Offaly man had a terrific start to the season and could have had a couple of titles in the bag only for untypical late-round lapses that seemed to work into the psyche with missed cuts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players.”
“A final round of 80 in the Masters then saw him slip from being in contention to a disappointing 30th-place finish… Time heals, though. And Lowry’s last round ahead of the PGA was a bogey-free 65 to close out the Cadillac, so hopefully he has put the demons to bed. The course should suit him too, with a strong requirement on approach play.”
[ Five to watch at this week’s US PGA ChampionshipOpens in new window ]
Some start for Alex Fitzpatrick, the Englishman helping himself to birdies in the first two holes.
You have to go all the way back to 2015 for the last time a non-American won this tournament – Australia’s Jason Day. Since then, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka (three times), Justin Thomas (twice), Phil Mickelson, Colin Morikawa and Jimmy Walker have all conspired to keep the Wanamaker Trophy wrapped in the stars and stripes.
Scheffler is aiming to become just the third man to win back-to-back PGA Championships in stroke play, Tiger Woods and Koepka the others to have achieved the feat. By his own lofty standards, though, he’s having a frustrating time of it – he finished runner-up in his last three tournaments, the Masters, the RBC Heritage and the Cadillac Championship. Granted, he collected close to $7 million for those near misses, but you’d imagine Scheffler is more interested in titles than loot this weather.
Good morning golf devotees, we’ll take it that you’re in fine fettle seeing as the second major of the season, the US PGA Championship at Aronimink, is about to get under way? And we can all but hope that Rory McIlroy’s troublesome toe (minus its nail) is in similar condition.
Philip Reid was in attendance when McIlroy insisted that “toe-gate” had been resolved and that he’s all set to carry on his quest to “achieve what no other man has ever managed: that of winning all of four Majors in the same season”.
[ Rory McIlroy’s toe is ‘fine’ as he seeks to further bolster his legacy at PGA ChampionshipOpens in new window ]
Safe to say, the local youngsters were a bit on the excited side when they spotted McIlroy during his practice round on Wednesday.
Philip also heard from Pádraig Harrington, one of four Irish players in the field – along with McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Tom McKibbin. It will, remarkably enough, be Harrington’s 27th appearance in the tournament and “true to form, he still believes”.
[ Pádraig Harrington aiming to summon his A-game for unlikely tilt at PGA ChampionshipOpens in new window ]