2025 PGA Championship First Round Leaderboard and Notes

R-E-L-A-X

By Will Knights

If you just got off a long day of work, saw this major championship leaderboard and thought you were hallucinating, you’re not the only one.

A whopping three of the top 30 players in the Data Golf Ranking — Keegan Bradley, Tyrrell Hatton, and Aaron Rai — are in the top 19 on the leaderboard. But please, don’t panic. Don’t run to Twitter/X and complain. If you’re a golf fan, don’t write off this tournament and wait until the back nine on Sunday to tune back in. We are just beginning the second quarter of the game. Big names are lurking after less-than-impressive first rounds, and some exciting young talent is in the mix. The best players will rise, the course will continue to firm up and eject those who don’t have control of their ball, and we will all be okay.*

*If the leaderboard doesn’t feature a clear separation between the good and the bad on Sunday you are welcome to panic and complain.

Thoughts from Quail Hollow

By Adam Woodard

Major or Elevated Signature Event?

When the PGA of America announced Wednesday night that preferred lies wouldn’t be used for the first round on Thursday, the news came as a pleasant surprise given the amount of rain that peppered Quail Hollow over the first few days on the property. Had this been a Wells Far…Truist Championship, the PGA Tour almost certainly would’ve played with lift, clean, and place in effect. Instead, mudballs impacted shots from the wet fairways – see Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele’s double bogeys on No. 16 – while the greens had balls bouncing as if they landed on springboards. It was an interesting test for the field on the first day of play, but the course setup wasn’t immune to critique.

The rough around some of the green runoffs is simply too damn high, especially on the closing stretch. The drivable par-4 14th hole features water left of the green, and the slope to the lake is lined by thick rough, catching shots that would otherwise find the hazard. The 16th green backs up to the same lake and similarly features a buffer of thick rough. In order to separate this week from the Tour’s annual stop, it would’ve been great if the PGA of America had shaved down the rough and put the risk back in risk/reward.

Super Group Sucks Up the Juice

World Nos. 1-3 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele were grouped together and went off early, which brought a big gallery of fans out to the course to start the day. Unfortunately for the fans, they didn’t have much to cheer for. Scheffler birdied two of his last three holes to sign for a 2-under 69 while Schauffele (T-60, 72) and McIlroy (T-98, 74) ho-hummed their way throughout the round.

Walking the grounds, it was clear there were significantly fewer fans out to watch in the afternoon as the heat and humidity rose, and the course fell quiet. It didn’t really feel like the first round of one of the four biggest championships of the year. Spreading the three best players in the world out throughout the day might’ve kept fans more engaged and on the property into the evening. It was a bit of a shame to see so few people following first-round leader Jhonattan Vegas, who fired a 7-under 64 to sit two clear of Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis.

Bryson De-Shh-ambeau

These days Bryson DeChambeau usually has one of the biggest galleries following his every shot, but Thursday afternoon was different. The crowd with Bryson, Viktor Hovland, and Gary Woodland was maybe half of what the bulked-up bomber is used to, which came as a surprise given his fan support. Hovland has a fair share of supporters as well, and Gary Woodland has been a fan-favorite story all year since his return from brain surgery. Maybe it was due to the fact that the PGA grouped the top-three players in the world together for an 8:22 a.m. ET tee time, or that fans were tired due to the 80-plus degree heat and humidity. Either way, it was an eerily quiet walk for one of the game’s loudest players.

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Playing Captains

Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald will square off in four months at Bethpage Black as Ryder Cup captains, but if the two keep up their solid play they could be en route to a weekend pairing. Donald shot a bogey-free 4-under 67 in the first round and sits T-3, while Bradley is just a shot back after a 3-under 68.  

“Keegan is top 20 in the world. He can have one good week out here, win, which he's very capable of, and he's absolutely in the conversation of being a playing captain,” said Donald. “I don't think that's quite in my future, but Keegan, we live very close together. I see where he practices, and he practices very hard. He's still one of the top players in the world.”

“I don't know. I want to help the team the best I can. If that means playing, then I'll do that,” Bradley said of being a playing captain come September. “We have a great team. But if it comes down to, 'Do I think that's what will help us win?' that's what I'll do. But yeah, that's the only thought in my head.”

Inside the Merch Tent

You might think the wildest thing in the PGA Championship merch tent would be the Nike DJ – yes, Nike has a DJ – front and center as you walk in, flown in from Portland, Oregon, who’s spinning the 1s and 2s for 12 hours a day. Not. Even. Close.

The ALL CAPS HAT epidemic is unfortunately thriving in the shop, as there are now options sized for young boys and girls. I will not sit here quietly while our future leaders are corrupted at such an early age. This has to stop. This year’s merch has the usual suspects of other hats, polos, quarter zips, hoodies, and T-shirts, but I personally love the NASCAR-themed apparel. When in Charlotte! Though I’m genuinely wondering who in the hell is buying a Quail Hollow club grip? Or a camouflage crown hat.

The worst merch item I saw, by far, is this. What are we doing?!

The Next JD?

Alex Smalley, all 6 feet and 160 pounds of him, is doing his best John Daly impersonation this week at Quail Hollow. No, he’s not wearing Loudmouth clothes or ripping heaters and downing Diet Cokes, but he is contending as an alternate. The 28-year-old was a last-minute addition to the field after Sahith Theegala withdrew on Wednesday night but hit the ground sprinting on Thursday with a 4-under 67 to sit three shots back. Daly famously won his first major championship as the ninth alternate at the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick.

‘Free’ Food

In 2022 the PGA of America debuted a Championship+ ticket, which included all-you-can-eat food and non-alcoholic beverages. This week, every ticket purchased is a Championship+ ticket. This is cool! The Masters is known for having the cheapest concessions options in golf, and it’s great to see the PGA experimenting to improve the on-site experience for fans.

A Lively Track

By Garrett Morrison

If Quail Hollow were a musical artist, it would be Ed Sheeran. Or late-period Coldplay. Or Maroon 5. You know what I mean. Quail Hollow is pleasant and inoffensive; professionally presented but not especially original; a target of criticism for those who want to signal their own superior taste, but not really bad enough to deserve vitriol. My Gen Z colleagues have the perfect word for Quail Hollow: “mid.”

The 14th hole, however, is an exception. It’s actually good, I think!

Drivable for most of the PGA Championship field, this short par 4 uses a tried-and-true strategic concept: the farther up the fairway you push, the more risk you take on. A 230-yard tee shot up the right side of the fairway will hardly ever find trouble. But if you try to get within 50 yards of the green, you’ll have to reckon with bunkers; and if you hit driver, the water pressed against the left side of the long, narrow green becomes a threat. For that reason, players with longer clubs in their hands tend to bail out to the rough on the right, leaving a tricky pitch to a shallow target with water lurking behind. Several players made bogey from that position on Thursday.

I do wish the hole had slightly sharper teeth. What if the green were more tilted toward the water, or the rough on the left side were shorter and less likely to keep misses dry? How about tightening the layup zone 30-50 yards short of the green? These changes would make an aggressive tee shot more nerve-wracking, and therefore more meaningful.

As it stands, though, the 14th at Quail Hollow works well enough — a lively track on an otherwise middling album.

‍This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.