2026 PGA Championship highlights: Scottie Scheffler’s statement, Jordan Spieth’s hopes

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Scottie Scheffler has clearly established himself as the world’s best golfer in recent months, and while his stature has been unquestioned in recent months, there are whispers as to whether the world No. 1 still plays like the world’s No. 1.

We’re only 18 holes into the 108th PGA Championship, but if the first round was any indication of how the next three holes would play out, the other 155 players in the field should be screaming. Scheffler had a sensational performance Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club as the sun set over the Philadelphia suburbs.

The Texan didn’t care as he trudged through the foothills, step by step, on a windy, cold day that seemed to only turn up as the round progressed. In the process, he earned a share of the first-round lead with a 3-under 67 with five birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars, putting him ahead of other players.

In his 27th major championship start, Scheffler was named the first-round leader for the first time in his career, sharing the honor with a diverse cast that included Minwoo Lee, Aldrich Potgieter, Martin Kaymer, Alex Smalley, Stefan Jaeger and Ryo Hisatsune.

“This is probably the best start to the year outside of American Express,” Scheffler said. “Especially heading into the weekend, if you look at it like the Masters and Hilton Head and Cadillac, finishing second probably wasn’t too bad considering where we started the weekend. It’s definitely nice to get off to a better start this week.”

In four of the past nine PGA Championships, the champion was outside the top 30 at the end of the first round. In fact, at the end of the first round, only three of the past 20 winners were in the lead (tied or outright). Scheffler himself tied for 20th at the 2025 PGA Championship, but ultimately won by five strokes.

The leader in those championships was not Scheffler. The defending Wanamaker Trophy holder on Thursday reinforced what was already known — this PGA Championship will run through him.

Scheffler has taken body punches from the likes of Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young and Matt Fitzpatrick in the past three tournaments, but will need a knockout swing to unleash an edge he hasn’t had in the early stages of a tournament since his first challenge of the 2026 season.

Scheffler, who was forced to sprint all weekend to recover from a 12-stroke deficit at the Masters and seven strokes at the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championships, was able to do his best from pole position and get the air out of the ball.

This tournament still has a long way to go, with a solid roster of past major winners like Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Fitzpatrick. Even Jordan Spieth is aiming for a career grand slam, coming just two strokes behind the leader. Some young players with interesting names could spice up the tournament.

But the long slugs at major championships tend to favor marathoners, with the best runners in front by 25% of the race.

So I’m saying there’s a chance…

For once, Spieth theoretically had a legitimate chance to complete a career Grand Slam, but he never got that chance. Brooks Koepka roared in front of everyone at the 2019 Bethpage Black, and Spieth finished a distant T3 on the back of one of the most ridiculous putting performances of his career. Even by his standards.

There are only 18 holes and the major championship doesn’t start until Sunday’s back nine, but it wouldn’t be a great week for the players without at least a good Thursday. That’s what Spieth had in the first round — he drove well, stuffed his approach shots a number of times, and (perhaps most importantly) showed confidence with his putter in hand to within 10 feet.

Did all those putts fall? No, but that’s rarely the case. But what they brought was both confidence and calmness. Nervous as he was, Spieth’s mind seemed to slow as his putt dripped off the edge as he walked toward the cup half a second early. That extends to the rest of his game as well. His decisions are made faster and his golf is more fluid.

It may have only been 18 holes, but Spieth shot a 69, two spots off the pace for a major tournament required for a career Grand Slam. If you’re a fan of golf, you’re allowed to get excited about it.

It’ll be worth waiting until Saturday for more on this, but if Spieth is there for a late tee time over the weekend, there’s a good chance the Philadelphia faithful will turn the Eagles chants that serenaded him Thursday into chants of support.

“It’s one of those rounds where I feel like I played better than I scored. It’s frustrating because you want to get the most out of the round,” Spieth said. “That’s a good thing, too. It means things are in a good spot. I’m going to tighten up on some things that didn’t go well at the end of the day and try to go out there (Friday) and make a few more putts.”

put your foot (or toe) in your mouth

After claiming that there is no teeing ground strategy for the tournament. McIlroy was eventually taken down with a big stick. in his opening game. Split three of the first four fairways and appeared to be on track, but the two-time PGA Championship winner hit the final two and got on the bogey train thanks to a wide right miss.

McIlroy finished the round with four consecutive bogeys, and made mistakes by hitting the right side of the fairway on holes 6 to 9, leaving him 4 over. It’s not a mistake or problem area that McIlroy isn’t aware of. He struggled with his driver at the Masters en route to victory, but unlike his successful defense at Augusta National, he paid the price on Thursday and hopes to make up for the loss Friday afternoon when he fights for a spot.

“We just haven’t been running the ball well, and that’s been an issue for most of the year,” McIlroy said. “If you miss it to the right, you want to correct it. Then you overdo it and miss it to the left. You’re going to go back and forth a little bit like that. So it gets pretty frustrating, especially when you pride yourself on being able to drive the ball well.”

“I’ve got to try and figure it out. Honestly, I thought I got it. I came here and hit some good shots at Quail Hollow on Sunday, and I hit some good shots at home on Monday. I had to shorten my practice round on Tuesday, but I hit some decent shots yesterday. I mean, I feel like once you get the gun up, you start to get a little selfish.”

smells like possibility

There are 31 players under par, and many of the players near the top (3 under par) are players with great potential. Potgieter, Lee and Hisatsune, who headline a young international squad tied for the top of the table alongside players desperate for a break, including Ryan Gerrard, Nikolaj Højgaard, Joaquin Niemann, Saheeth Seagala and Garrick Higo, are firmly in the conversation and well placed for Sunday’s main topic.

“We’re all trying to get off to a good start, and I haven’t been able to do that the last few months,” Lee said. “Just change your mindset a little bit and instead say, ‘Let’s go out there and be aggressive.’ You know that saying about Thursday you’re going to be able to hit it? I took it too far and was playing a little bit conservatively. I hit the ball really well, so why not try and putt for the pin?”

“It’s great to get off to a good start. That’s what we’re all aiming for. It’s tough, but it was the right time to put the pedal to the metal a little bit and make some shots where we had to be more aggressive.”

That can be a big problem…

Delays in golf usually occur due to course and conditions, but there was one Thursday morning. The young South African was about 30 minutes late for his morning tee time and received a two-stroke penalty as a result. If he had been more than five minutes late, the left-hander would have been disqualified and the first substitute would have taken his place.

I mean…that’s a positive! Negative? Two strokes tend to mean: many In major championships, both in terms of qualifying and in terms of winning. To Higgo’s credit, he knew from the start that he was going to get a penalty and fought like a champ, scratching the red number and scoring 69.

His post-round interview was a little dizzying, as he seemed to go back and forth between taking responsibility and not taking responsibility.

• “If I had known I would be late, I wouldn’t have been late.”
• “It wasn’t a surprise. I was late. I mean, my caddy was yelling at me to get on the tee.”
• “I was just trying to get proof. I think you all did the same thing. … I got there on time, but the rule is if you’re one second late, you’re late. So if you think about it, I was on time. You know what I mean.”

mink makes them think

Earlier in the week, a serious shadow was cast on Alonimink. Not near trees, of course. While some expected the PGA Championship and major scoring records to decline, the Donald Ross design stood tall Thursday despite 0.25 inches of rain falling from Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

The golf course averaged about 72.25 (+2.25) and the front nine played one stroke easier than the back. That was achieved despite seven of the holes being under par, demonstrating the severity of the difficult sections and how big numbers can pile up in an instant, even when there isn’t much trouble lurking.

The late run shows that. Four of the most difficult holes sandwich the par-5 16th, which was the second easiest of round one.

“Have you ever been there? Have you seen the golf course?” Rahm retorted. “Just by the numbers, it’s understandable because some of the fairways are wide and the greens aren’t as hard. But a lot of those fairways are sloped to play very narrow. And the rough doesn’t seem as long as a lot of other majors, but the blades are so thick that it’s very easy to get caught, even if the lies look okay.”

“So it might look easy on the outside, but it’s really not. You have to play really good golf to shoot under 3 under. Plus, the pin position today is good. I mean, the pin position is tight. It’s not easy. At the beginning of the week, 15 under or under. There was some chatter that seemed like 20-under was going to win.And I think that got to someone at the PGA and they did something.”Of course that wouldn’t happen if the golf course stayed the way it was and continued to get more solid. ”

beg to put it back in the bag

Koepka entered this week as the No. 1 iron player on the PGA Tour, and he looked exactly like that. Unfortunately, the five-time major champion looked like one of the worst putters on the PGA Tour.

By my count, Koepka had 12 birdie looks from inside 20 feet, hitting the required 15-par. This increased the number of strokes in the iron by over 3.50 strokes. I returned two with just the putter.

Koepka insists he has the putter he wants in his bag and is just trying to gain a little more confidence and comfort level with it. As a Blade Truther myself, I’m sure his old gamers are screaming at him in the closet like the Green Goblin mask.

“I feel good. I feel like every round I hit the worst,” Koepka said. “The putter is absolutely terrible. The ball hitting is absolutely phenomenal. That’s what this year is all about. Hopefully we can find a way to turn this around.”

Birdie looks from inside 20 feet

Fire up the grill!

The streets are roped off and coolers are filled with ice and drinks. Let the block party begin! Michael Brock is back, and he’s back in a big way. Brock, who was paired in the first round with two-time major champion Dustin Johnson and rising star Rasmus Hugaard, was the worst man of them all, but his even-par effort on Thursday kept them both by a few strokes.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Brock’s performance was that he did it after making some big mistakes earlier in the round. He missed one of the few fairways on the 12th and slowly worked his way down the fairway for a double bogey. Don’t worry, the bookies offset these mistakes (and a few others) with four birdies.

“Today I went to the bathroom on the 12th or 13th hole and there was no mirror so I didn’t look at myself,” Bullock said. “But I said, ‘You got this.’ I said, ‘You’re really good, buddy,’ and I just kept going.

“I’m with DJ, one of my idols, a guy I’ve looked up to my whole life. And Rasmus is an unbelievable player. He’s like 63 years old in the world. They both hit every shot 50 yards more than me. I’m just thinking, ‘You got this, Bud. You got that.’ It’s really cool. It’s kind of fun, to be honest. ”