Jhonattan Vegas played the best golf hardly anyone saw Thursday in the PGA Championship.
Brilliant sunshine after three days of rain brought out a full house of spectators expecting a great show in Charlotte, N.C. They just didn’t get it from who they came to see — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele — and most of them were long gone when Vegas worked his magic in the late afternoon.
Two good par saves. Two short birdies. Another par save. And then three birdies at the end for a 7-under 64, giving the 40-year-old Venezuela his best score in 45 rounds at the majors and a two-shot lead on an opening day of surprises.
“Incredible,” Vegas said when asked to summarize his round. “Any chance you get to shoot 64 at a major championship is always great.”
Equally incredible is that for the first time in at least 30 years, none of the top 10 players in the world ranking could be found in the top 10 of the leaderboard after 18 holes at a major.
The biggest crowds belonged to the top three in the world, and it wasn’t nearly as inspiring as four of the last five majors they have combined to win.
At his first major since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy didn’t make birdie over his last 12 holes and had nothing to say about that after a 3-over 74 sent him straight to the range.
Scheffler, the world No. 1, and defending PGA champion Schauffele had plenty to say about mud balls on tee shots, particularly on the 16th hole that sent both to double bogey. Scheffler at least holed two shots from off the green — one for birdie, one for eagle — and he finished with a 6-iron from 215 yards to 3 feet on No. 9 that sent him to a 69.
“I did a good job battling and keeping a level head out there during a day which there was definitely some challenging aspects to the course,” Scheffler said. “Did a good job posting a number on a day where I didn’t have my best stuff.”
Vegas tied for the lead by getting up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 seventh. He holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 eighth. And on the rugged ninth hole, his tee shot held up in the grass just short of the bunker. He hit that to 25 feet and ended his amazing day with a third straight birdie.
He has never finished in the top 20 in a major and hadn’t qualified for this one in three years.
Vegas had a two-shot lead over Ryan Gerard, the PGA Tour rookie who grew up in North Carolina and was the only other player to reach 7 under until bogeys on his last two holes. He was joined at 66 by Cam Davis of Australia.
They weren’t the only players who might an introduction to casual golf fans.
Alex Smalley, the first alternate who found out about 15 hours before he teed off that he had a spot in the field, rolled in a 70-foot eagle putt on his way to a 67. Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who qualified by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic, also was at 67.
They were joined by a large group that included Luke Donald, the 47-year-old Ryder Cup captain for Europe who was the only player without a bogey on his card. The U.S. captain, Keegan Bradley, was another shot behind.
“It’s always fun, bogey-free in a major championship on a course that you wouldn’t have thought would be ideal for me,” said Donald, who is only in the field because of a PGA of America tradition to invite active Ryder Cup captains.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was the low Canadian after a solid opening round of 69 to sit tied for 20th.
Pendrith, who started on the back nine, put himself in contention with an eagle on the par-4 third hole.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., both shot 2-over 73. Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, opened with a 76 while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., hit 78.
Considering the champions the majors have produced in recent years, this leaderboard more closely resembled the Myrtle Beach Classic. None of the top eight players have won a major, nor have they ever seriously contended.
Gerard looked comfortable playing before a home crowd. He made a tough par on the rugged ninth hole, then ran off four straight birdies on the back nine, and was 7 under for the round after holing a 60-footer for eagle on the par-5 15th.
Davis had seven birdies and narrowly missed a 10-foot par putt on his last hole for the lead. Not bad for someone who recently ended a stretch of five straight missed cuts and hasn’t had a top 10 since early February.
“It’s just constantly trying to go back to things that have worked, trying to keep the head in a place where you’re not feeling like you’re banging your head against the wall all the time,” Davis said. “It’s letting it organically come — good processes, good routines, all those little one percenters add up to good golf eventually.”
The others at 67 were Stephan Jaeger and Aaron Rai, who both became first-time PGA Tour winners last year.
Scheffler at 69 had the best score of anyone from the top 10 in the world.
McIlroy, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, came into this PGA Championship believing that thrill-a-hole Masters title last month that gave him the career Grand Slam would be the highlight of his career no matter what he does from here.
A sloppy round, particularly off the tee, wasn’t going to change that. It was no less surprising to see him struggle at Quail Hollow, posting his highest round since a 76 in the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship in 2018.
Schauffele wound up with a 72 in his bid to go back-to-back in the PGA Championship.
Jordan Spieth likely will have to wait until next year at Aronimink to try for the career Grand Slam. The three-time major champion, lacking only the Wanamaker Trophy for his major collection, ran off three straight bogeys early on the back nine and shot 76.
