Luke Donald brought a peashooter to a gun show and proved quite brilliantly that there’s more than one way to slay a quail. How delightfully unexpected.
Chances are he will soon recede to the norm, but at four under par he has already dropped plenty of putts and jaws at the PGA Championship.
Remember, this is a 7,626-yard beast of a course. A bomber’s track. And let’s not forget either that Donald is 47, has failed to make a cut in 2025, and even at his best, many years ago now, he was a short hitter.
But he inverted our sense of logic by reaching world No 1 across 2011 and 2012, and he did so again here. As ever, short-game guile and a white-hot putter were at the heart of it, with a bogey-free round of 67 his lowest on the opening day of a major for 21 years.
To think, the old boy was only handed a place in this field on the basis of his European Ryder Cup captaincy, and will start his second loop seven shots clear of Rory McIlroy, on three over, and three ahead of Scottie Scheffler. Only Ryan Gerard of the early wave was better placed after a 66.
With Bryson DeChambeau among the later starters, there was still plenty of scope for muscle and brute force to win the day at Quail Hollow. But Donald’s position was every bit as heartening and well-earned as McIlroy’s first major post-masterpiece was underwhelming.
Luke Donald shone in the first round of the US PGA Championship on Thursday and shot -4
Europe Ryder Cup captain Donald shot his lowest score on the first day of a major for 21 years
However, Rory McIlroy endured a dismal day and was way off the pace after ending on +3
For an illustration of how Donald’s day looked, consider this: he reached only nine greens in regulation, and did not drop a single stroke. His touch around those putting surfaces was golden and his play with the blade even sharper.
That meant holing par putts from a combined 30 feet on the first three holes, and he made another save from 10 feet at the last, having visited a greenside bunker. In between, there were four birdies and only a single drive beyond 300 yards.
Those Europeans he came to monitor, McIlroy included, would do well to reverse the dynamic and appreciate an alternative approach to a sport in thrall to length off the tee. Where many of the big names, Xander Schauffele and Scheffler among them, would rage against the decision to not allow preferred lies after recent storms, Donald got on with the business of compiling a superior score.
Naturally, he was as shocked as anyone, especially having missed cuts in 12 of his past 20 tournaments and in all five that he has contested this year.
‘Someone just told me it was the lowest first round in a major I’ve had since 2004 or something,’ he said. ‘So you know, obviously I’ve been trending with all the missed cuts coming into this week…
‘But no, it was a pleasant surprise. I’m very pleased.’
As a quirk, his US Ryder Cup counterpart Keegan Bradley finished in close proximity on three under par, though he is the world No 19, so 852 rungs higher than Donald. Joining Donald on four under was Alex Smalley of the US, who only made it in as first alternate on Wednesday evening, and Ryan Fox, whose qualification was secured at the weekend. It was that kind of leaderboard halfway through the day.
For the early starters, the challenge came from navigating a course that had been soaked under five inches of rain in the past week. Those storms made way for a beautiful sunshine, but left some juicy rough in its wake and muddy balls in the fairway. The ruling against preferred lies would come under fire.
McIlroy’s round was full of errors and he was unable to back up his form from the Masters
Ryan Gerard, who is playing at the tournament for the first time, is the early leader on -6
For McIlroy, any blame for his 74 ought to go closer to home. Having commenced his round on the par-five 10th hole with an 11-footer for birdie, he made a royal mess of his round. Across his first nine holes, he hit only one fairway, with misses to the left both frequent and costly.
One low point was a missed birdie putt from four feet at the driveable 14th and another eyesore followed at the monstrously long 16th, where he slipped on his second shot from deep rough and advanced the ball just 30 yards. He carded a double-bogey six there, which was the same number recorded by the other components of a gilded group featuring Scheffler and defending champion Schauffele.
The problems encountered by the latter pair at that hole sat at the root of the ‘mud-ball’ row. Both men had yanked left into water from the middle of the fairway and went on to gripe that it would have avoided had they been permitted to clean-and-place.
Scheffler, who recovered to a two-under-par 69 after reaching as high as two over, said: ‘I understand how a golf purist would be, “Oh, play it as it lies”. But I don’t think they understand what it’s like literally working your entire life to learn how to hit a golf ball and control it and hit shots and control distance, and all of a sudden due to a rules decision that is completely taken away from us by chance.
‘I want the purest, fairest test of golf, and in my opinion maybe the ball today should have been played up. It cost me possibly two shots on one hole.’
Schauffele, who carded a 72, said: ‘I wouldn’t want to go in the locker room because I’m sure a lot of guys aren’t super happy with sort of the conditions there. I feel like the grass is so good, there is no real advantage to cleaning your ball in the fairway. It sucks that you’re kind of 50/50 once you hit the fairway.’
That was fiery. For his part, McIlroy, who shot only two birdies all day, opted against speaking to the written media.
As ever, we await the day when he and Scheffler have a proper duel in each other’s company. Maybe round two will offer better.
Donald would no doubt settle for more of the same.
