Skip to main content
SI

Good, Bad and Ugly PGA Round 1: Scottie Scheffler Is Inevitable, Garrick Higgo Has Finally Arrived

The opening round of the 2026 PGA Championship had its share of greatness ... and strangeness. Here are the moments we’ll remember.
Jeff Ritter, John Schwarb|
Garrick Higgo was hit with a two-shot penalty on Thursday before he even hit his opening drive.
Garrick Higgo was hit with a two-shot penalty on Thursday before he even hit his opening drive. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. —Welcome to Good, Bad and Ugly, where like Garrick Higgo, we’ve been late to work … but, you know, not that late.

The opening round of the 108th PGA Championship is in the books and there's a seven-man logjam at the top of the leaderboard at 3 under par. Higgo gets the award for strangest headline of the day (see below) and there were plenty of of  good, bad and ugly moments across Aronimink Golf Club all day long. Here’s what caught our eye:

GOOD: Scottie Scheffler’s start

It’s hard to fathom that Scheffler has never led or co-led after the opening round of a major, but that stat is kaput after Scheffler shot a 3-under 67 on Thursday that could’ve been much lower. He was one of seven players to post that number on Thursday, and he’ll be right back on the course Friday morning with a chance to grab momentum heading into the weekend. — Jeff Ritter

BAD: Garrick Higgo’s first-tee tardiness

If major championships aren’t hard enough, imagine walking onto the first tee on the first day and told you have a two-shot penalty. That’s what befell Garrick Higgo on Thursday morning after he was late arriving from the putting green. But to his credit, the South African shook it off, went back to work and shot an opening 69. — John Schwarb

UGLY: Bryson DeChambeau opens with 76

There’s plenty of merch on sale at this PGA celebrating Philadelphia freedom and America, but 76 is no good inside the ropes. Bryson DeChambeau’s only birdie was on his last hole Thursday (after reaching a 609-yard par-5 in two, ho-hum) after a sloppy 17 holes that included a double bogey at the par-3 8th when he played hockey back-and-forth over the green. The LIV star missed the cut at the Masters and barring a huge Friday he’ll be home for another major weekend. — John Schwarb 

GOOD: Aldrich Potgieter makes a statement

In just his sixth major-championship start, the big-hitting 21-year-old from South Africa grabbed the early clubhouse lead with a three-under 67. He missed the cut in four of his previous five majors, but looks ready to make some noise this week, and not just with a driver in his hand. — Jeff Ritter

BAD: Rory McIlroy sputters

It was a surprise to see the World No. 2 finish third in his group on Thursday, as he trailed both Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm after a plodding 4-over 74. Afterward, McIlroy began his post-round comments with a brief but memorable summation.

Moderator: “How would you describe your opening round?”
McIlroy: “S---.” 

The reigning Masters champion eventually expanded on that answer, but he will need to be much better on Friday just to make the weekend, much less contend. — Jeff Ritter

UGLY: Wyndham Clark’s double-double

The PGA Championship has historically been the 2023 U.S. Open champ’s worst major, with three missed cuts in five starts and a best finish of T50. He may not have a chance to better that after a Thursday 75 that included back-to-back double bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4. — John Schwarb

GOOD: Martin Kaymer (!) tied for early lead

Who knows whether LIV Golf will survive to next year, but if it does, Martin Kaymer might not be on it—he has played so poorly this season that he’s in the league’s relegation zone. So of course he’s in the logjam of early leaders at the PGA Championship. The 2010 PGA champ was 118th in driving distance Thursday but hit plenty of fairways, was T11 in greens hit and 13th in strokes-gained putting. It’s not rocket science, even when you’re 1,160th in the world. But still … Martin Kaymer? — John Schwarb

BAD: Brooks Koepka’s putter

Don’t look now, but Koepka, a three-time winner of this event, shot a one-under 69 and looked great … except for on the greens, where he ranked 138th in putting in the opening round. If he figures out his flatstick over the next three days, watch out. — Jeff Ritter

UGLY: Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas’s temper tantrums

The PGA has rules in place for player conduct, where two violations could lead to penalty strokes and three could bring a DQ. So we’re curious where Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas might stand after separate blow-ups during their respective first rounds. — Jeff Ritter

More Golf from Sports Illustrated

Add us as a preferred source on Google
Published | Modified
Jeff Ritter
JEFF RITTER

Jeff Ritter is the managing director of SI Golf. He has more than 20 years of sports media experience, and previously was the general manager at the Morning Read, where he led that business’s growth and joined SI as part of an acquisition in 2022. Earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at SI and Golf Magazine, and his journalism awards include a MIN Magazine Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

John Schwarb
JOHN SCHWARB

John Schwarb is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated covering golf. Prior to joining SI in March 2022, he worked for ESPN.com, PGATour.com, Tampa Bay Times and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is the author of The Little 500: The Story of the World’s Greatest College Weekend. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Schwarb has a bachelor’s in journalism from Indiana University.

Home/Golf