Rory McIlroy struggles with Aronimink’s early wet conditions in PGA’s first round

Seven golfers led a packed leaderboard at 3-under par at Aronimink on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the PGA Championship, including four who had finished their rounds.

While there was talk that a softened Aronimink could prove too easy for a field of the world’s best golfers, the nearly century-old course had some bite. Rory McIlroy (+4), Wyndham Clark (+5), and Bryson DeChambeau (+6) were among top players who struggled.

More than 50 players were within three shots of the lead late in the afternoon.

McIlroy started with a bogey on 10 and bogeyed five out of his last six holes. McIlroy, the world No. 2 and back-to-back Masters champion, switched to a wider shoe after being bothered by a blister on his toe during Wednesday’s practice rounds, but he said his toe was not an issue after his round.

“I’m just not driving the ball well enough,” McIlroy said. “It’s been a problem all year for the most part. I miss it right, and then I want to try to correct it. And then I’ll overdo it, and I’ll miss it left. It’s a little bit of back and forth that way. That’s pretty frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball well.”

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McIlroy said the elements helped keep scores low. Rain clouds were still hanging over the course when the first group teed off at 6:45 a.m., and though the sun came out by the late morning, the field of golfers battled gusty winds.

“I think it’s the breezy conditions that are sort of making the scoring what it is,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard to get the ball close. Some of the pins are tucked away.”

Other notable first-round finishing scores included Xander Schauffele at 2-under; and Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, and Brooks Koepka at 1-under. Scottie Scheffler was among players still on the course.

Among the early 3-under finishers was Ryo Hisatsune, who had seven birdies. After his round, Hisatsune said the course was a little softer thanks to rain that came through Newtown Square in the early morning.

“It’s a really nice start,” Hisatsune said. “A little wet, little soft conditions today, so it’s a little help for me.”

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After shooting a 1-under-par 69, Garrick Higgo spent nearly a half-hour in the scorer’s tent behind the clubhouse talking with PGA officials.

Higgo, a South African golfer ranked No. 85 in the world, was issued a standard penalty before he touched a club on Thursday morning. He was less than a minute late for his 7:18 a.m. tee time, but it cost him two strokes.

Higgo could have been part of the group leading the tournament if not for the penalty and said after his round that he was “too casual” in his approach to his starting point at the first tee box.

“If you know me, then you know I am very casual and laid-back,” Higgo said. “I don’t know. I don’t want to be there 10 minutes early. I know that five minutes is fine. I thought I had time. I was obviously too casual.”

Higgo said his extended conversation with PGA officials in the scorers tent was an attempt to “get evidence” of his lateness. The PGA’s rules treat tee times as exact, meaning that Higgo needed to be at the tee box at the moment the clock turned to 7:18 a.m.

“I was there on time, but the rule is, if you’re one second late, you’re late,” Higgo said. “So if you think about it, I was there on time, if you know what I mean.”

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Higgo parred the par-4 first hole, but it went into his scorecard as a double-bogey 6.

“Obviously, it wasn’t great,” Higgo said. “I just focused on what I need to do. I mean, I wasn’t going to give up and shoot 80. There was only one thing that I could do, and that was make birdies and pars and hit it where I wanted to hit it.”

Like Higgo, Braden Shattuck started his round with a double-bogey on 1. Shattuck, a Delco native who earned one of 20 PGA Championship spots reserved for club professionals, finished his round at 11-over.

“It doesn’t put me in a very good mood,” Shattuck said of his double-bogey. “It makes it hard to get into a rhythm. But it definitely takes the edge off quick, if you know what I mean.”

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Shattuck would need a miraculous round to put himself back in contention to make the cut Friday. The field will narrow to the top 70, plus ties. The cut was at 2-over with golfers still on the course.

“Golf’s a weird game,” Shattuck said. “You can go out and shoot 80, and then the next round, you shoot 65. That could happen. I keep that in the back of my mind, knowing that I can turn it around, shoot a really good one tomorrow.”

Regardless of the outcome, Shattuck is relishing the opportunity to play in a major in his home region. He played in the first grouping alongside PGA Tour cardholders Alex Fitzpatrick and Ben Griffin.

“Everybody’s been super supportive, even though they’re watching me make double [bogeys] on every hole,” Shattuck said. “That just goes to show how great those people are, and it could be worse.”