US PGA Championship 2023: first round begins after frost delay – live | US PGA

The par-five 13th is playing at 617 yards today. It could be set up longer later in the week, but even today, big-hitting types such as Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka can’t reach in two. Both wedge their thirds in. Koepka pulls his onto the bank at the left, but gets a huge break as the ball hops out at a right angle and stops eight feet from the cup. Scheffler’s wedge in is a bit clumsy: he doesn’t get the spin he’s after and the ball rolls ten feet past. Neither can make their birdie effort, and remain at level par and +1 respectively.

Ryan Fox is unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the par-three 5th, and he slips back into the pack at -1. Meanwhile the leader Kazuki Higa is able to make a sandy save, whipping delightfully out of a trap at 16 to kick-in distance. Incidentally, that chasing pack includes Colin Inglis, one of the PGA Team of 20 club pros. Inglis missed the cut last year at Southern Hills, but whatever happens from here, he’ll always be able to say he was tied for second at one point in a PGA Championship.

-4: Higa (7*)
-1: Inglis (6*), Grillo (5*), Fox (5), Lee (5), Varner III (4*), Stallings (4*), Riley (3*), Z Johnson (3), Thomas (3*), Rahm (1*), Donald (1*)

Jordan Spieth is hoping to complete the full set of major championships this week. He’s not off to the best start, following up bogey at 10 by sending his tee shot at the long par-three 11th into the bunker guarding the front. He knocks his second to eight feet, from where par’s far from a certainty … but he rolls the putt into the centre of the cup to stem the bleeding. He’s +1 and a nightmare start has just been averted.

For the third hole in a row, Brooks Koepka gets sloppy hitting into the green. This time it costs him. Having sent his second up a hillock to the side of the putting surface at 12, he can’t bump down close enough, and upon missing the putt slips back to +1. One of his playing partners, Gary Woodland, also drops a stroke after pulling a relatively short par putt. Don’t let the fast starts of Higa and Fox fool you: Oak Hill is playing like a US Open course, long and with penal rough, accuracy with the big stick a necessity. Some confirmation of that from the Sky colour man Wayne Riley: “Oak Hill will eat you up, bite you, and spit you out.”

Pretty much a perfect start to the round for Jon Rahm. Having found the fairway with a long opening drive, he wedges to 12 feet, then calmly rolls in the birdie putt. Fair to say that’s a better start to the PGA than the one he made at Augusta last month – a four-putt double bogey – and look what happened there. The rest of the field have been put on notice.

Here’s Jonny! The world number one belts a monster down 10. Up on the green, disappointing bogey starts for Viktor Hovland and career-slam-chasing Jordan Spieth. Meanwhile Ryan Fox follows birdie at 2 with another at the 617-yard par-five 4th, joining Scott Stallings in second place, a couple of strokes behind the leader, whose birdie blitz comes to an end with par at 15.

-4: Higa (6*)
-2: Fox (4), Stallings (3*)

Some outrageous nonsense from Brooks Koepka on 11. Having sent his tee shot into the gallery, he whistles his wedge through the green and just over the other side. He’s left with a delicate little bump out from thick oomska near a bunker … and of course clips it out, sending it on an inevitable journey into the cup for par. One of those shots that looked in from the moment it left the face of the club. He remains level par.

Pars for Scheffler, Koepka and Woodland at 10. Koepka follows that up by pulling an awful long iron at the 245-yard par-three 11th into the gallery. Following behind, Justin Thomas starts the defence of his title by sending his second from rough safely into the heart of the green, then draining a 30-footer for birdie. Par for Rory. Meanwhile on the subject of fast starts, here’s Kazuki Higa with yet another birdie, this time at the short par-four 14th. For the record, Higa has missed the cut in his last five starts. Now look!

-4: Higa (4*)
-2: Stallings (3*)

Kazuki Higa snatches the lead for himself outright. A fuss-free perambulation down the 13th, one of the two par-fives at Oak Hill, and a textbook birdie. The 28-year-old hasn’t won in Europe or the USA yet, but has six victories in Japan to his name, four of those coming in the last 13 months. He looks totally in control of his game, and that’s three birdies in a row.

-3: Higa (4*)
-2: Stallings (2*)
-1: Fox (3), Lee (3), Holmes (1*), Riley (1*)

Back on the 10th tee, the 2012 and 2014 winner Rory McIlroy tees it up … to the biggest cheer of the morning, it has to be said. He’s not in the greatest form at the moment – missing the cut at Augusta hit hard – but he’s always box office and the gallery has his back. He doesn’t find the fairway. Neither does the 2016 and reigning champion Justin Thomas. The 2020 champ Collin Morikawa makes it three misses out of three, spraying his out to the right. “Slept good last night, did everything I was supposed to do,” Rory tells JT as the pair set off down the hole, hands in pockets, both smiling in the relaxed fashion.

Koepka, the only member of the group to have found the fairway, ends up furthest from the flag after an extremely average wedge in. Scheffler, the wildest from the tee, sets up the best birdie chance, gouging out from the thick, wet rough to 12 feet. Pin high. Golf, eh.

The world number two Scottie Scheffler tees it up … and finds the long rough down the left of 10. Then the 2018 and 2019 champion Brooks Koepka unsheathes the driver and launches one down the right-hand side of the fairway. The final member of the group, the 2019 US Open winner Gary Woodland, follows Scheffler into the long stuff. The course is going to fill up quickly with some very big names during the next 30 minutes or so.

Kazuki Higa responds by raking a straight 35-foot birdie putt in on 12! For a second, it looks like his effort is only going to roll 35 feet minus the width of one blade of grass, stopping momentarily on the edge of the cup, but after a crowd-teasing split second, the ball starts turning again and drops. A look of high amusement spreads across Higa’s face. Less than an hour in, and the 105th PGA Championship has already dished up some top-quality entertainment.

-2: Higa (3*), Stallings (1*)
-1: Grillo (2*), Lee (1)

First birdie, first eagle

Micheel is going round this morning with Braden Shattuck, one of the 20 PGA club professionals in this week’s field. Shattuck sliced his opening drive into bother down the left, but recovered well to scramble his par. An opening par four for Micheel as well. Most welcome on a hole regarded by the great Ben Hogan as the hardest opening hole in golf. Anyway, while we wait for the first of this morning’s big-name starters – Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka will be teeing it up at 2.50pm BST, soon to be followed by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cam Smith – allow our man at Oak Hill, Ewan Murray, to set the scene.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 105th PGA Championship. This is the 8.50am starting time. On the tee, from Tennessee, the 2003 PGA Champion, please welcome Shaun Micheel.” And so, one hour and 50 minutes after schedule, Micheel hits the first shot of this year’s Championship. A 3-wood creamed down the middle. Hey, any old excuse to revisit the 7-iron that won him the title 20 years ago, right?

Start delayed by frost

Niall McVeigh

Preamble