PGA Championship full of unlikely leaders and drama in first round

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Weird day.

Where do we start when trying to describe the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday at Quail Hollow?

With the list of unlikely and lesser-known players leading through the opening 18 holes.

Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas — who has played 16 career majors, missed the cut in 10 of them and has never finished within the top-20 in any of them — leads the tournament after shooting a startling 7-under-par 64.

It was the lowest round he’s ever played in a major and was made possible by birdies on five of his final six holes, capped off with one on his final hole of the day, No. 9, at 8 p.m. with almost no one remaining in the grandstands.

 “It’s what we dream of, playing well in a major championship,’’ Vegas said. “I’ve been trying to prioritize playing well in major championships, letting it come to me and not putting too much pressure on myself. 

 “Obviously, it worked out today. The game’s there. You can’t get ahead of yourself in this game. We’ve just got to go out tomorrow and repeat what we did today.’’

Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard are one shot back after shooting 5-under-par 66s.

“The only way you shoot a good score is by not trying to shoot a really good score,’’ Davis said. “I had no inklings that a low [score] was out there when I teed off, but 5-under is a pretty low score in a major actually, so I’m pretty happy with it.’’

Davis and Gerard are followed by 47-year-old European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, along with Alex Smalley, Ryan Fox, Aaron Rai and Stephan Jaeger, all of whom shot 4-under-par 67s.

Where, you ask, is world No. 2 Rory McIlroy, a month removed from completing the career Grand Slam with his Masters victory and a four-time PGA Tour winner at Quail Hollow?

He is 3-over after shooting a sketchy 74 with just four fairways hit. He’s 10 shots out of the lead.

Considering that 34 of the past 35 PGA champions were within six shots of the lead after the opening round, that’s an ominous trend McIlroy faces as he’ll try to shoot his way into contention with a low one on Friday.

Xander Schauffele, the defending champion, is 1-over with a 72.

Bryson DeChambeau, LIV Golf’s best player and the reigning U.S. Open champion, is even par.

Justin Thomas, who won the 2017 PGA at Quail Hollow and entered the week as a trendy pick to win, shot a 2-over 73.

Jordan Spieth, who’s making his ninth attempt at completing the career Grand Slam with a PGA victory, shot a 5-over 76 and now faces a battle to merely make the cut to play the weekend.

So much for the pre-tournament hype surrounding these stars of the game.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler struggled some but fought his way back to finish with a 2-under 69 and is well in contention.

Donald, ranked 871st in the world, entered the week having missed his past five cuts and is one of the shortest hitters in the field on a long course.

He’s in the tournament his week thanks to a special invite as a sitting Ryder Cup captain.

For Gerard, this is only his third career start in a major and his first PGA Championship. He’s a native and resident of nearby Raleigh, N.C., and went to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

“It’s really cool. Obviously, it’s nice being where I came from,’’ he said. “I feel very comfortable here. There’s a lot of people here that I know, and I’ve been fortunate enough to play this golf course a few times. I love being here. North Carolina in general, they show out for their guys in light blue. I heard so many ‘Go Heels’ today.’’

Gerard recalled coming to Quail Hollow to watch the PGA Tour event in 2007 for the first time.

“I watched Tiger [Woods] and Vijay Singh battle down the stretch,’’ Gerard recalled. “For me as a young kid, that really was just starting to get into competitive golf and really loving the game, it was surreal to see those two guys.’’

Like Gerard, Smalley lives in North Carolina (Greensboro).

“I know Alex really well. … Unfortunately, he went to Duke, so I can’t be too nice to him,’’ Gerard said jokingly.

Smalley was the last player in the field, having gotten in as an alternate when Sahith Theegala withdrew Wednesday with a neck injury. Smalley was the fifth alternate when the field was announced last week.

“It’s interesting being first alternate,’’ Smalley said. “You hear about everybody’s ailments being first alternate. I was losing hope after every passing hour.’’

Now he’s contending in just his fourth career major championship.

The average world ranking of the 19 players at 3-under or better is 111th. Of those, just Keegan Bradley (No. 19) and Tyrrell Hatton (No. 20) are ranked in the top 20.

There are 30 players within four shots of the lead. Weird day.