Xander Schauffele. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Xander Schauffele makes history in first round of PGA Championship

By Jack Dougherty | Last updated 5/16/24

Xander Schauffele is off to a roaring start at the 2024 PGA Championship, as he carded a nine-under 62 in the first round at Valhalla Golf Club to tie the single-round major championship scoring record. There have now been four 62s in major championship history, and Schauffele owns two of them.

Schauffele, who began his round on the back 9, parred the gettable par-5 10th hole to get his day started. He then started to heat up with birdies on the par-3 11th and the par-4 13th. After a par at 14, he made back-to-back birdies on the 15th and 16th and closed out his opening nine with another birdie on the par-5 18th. He didn't slow down from there.

Schauffele kept it rolling with another birdie on the tough par-4 second hole, then went back-to-back again on No. 4 and No. 5. He made another easy birdie on the par-5 seventh to reach nine-under and parred his last two holes to close out a bogey-free 62.

6️⃣2️⃣

A round for the record books.

Xander Schauffele just matched the Men’s Major Championship record.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/QlVcTMBsDc
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2024

Everything was working for Schauffele on Thursday. The 30-year-old hit 12-of-14 fairways and 14-of-18 greens in the first round. When he walked off the ninth green, Schauffele ranked first in the field in strokes gained from tee to green and first in strokes gained from putting. Hard to beat that combo.

Despite the historic round, Schauffele is still far away from the finish line. He shot a 62 at the U.S. Open just last year to take the first-round lead, and he followed it up with rounds of 70, 73 and 72 to fall out of contention and finish in a tie for 10th place.

Earlier this year, he fired an opening 65 at The Players Championship. He played well on Friday and Saturday, but he a 70 in the final round and allowed Scottie Scheffler to make up a five-shot deficit and clip him by one. The World No. 3 also had a three-shot lead after the first round of last week's Wells Fargo Championship, but Rory McIlroy ended up catching him to win by five.

Strong starts and disappointing weekends have been a theme for Schauffele throughout his career, especially in major championships. This tournament is far from over.

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