Bryson DeChambeau mixed six birdies with two bogeys to post a four under 66 to post the clubhouse target during the opening round of the PGA Championship, where the start was delayed by an hour and 50 minutes due to frost and left most of the afternoon wave unable to finish before darkness.
The 2020 U.S. Open champion cancelled out a three-putt bogey at the 12th by rolling in from 15 feet at the 14th and holing from a similar distance to save par from the fringe at the next, only to cancel out a tap-in birdie at the 16th by bogeying the next.
The American sunk back-to-back birdies around the turn and took advantage of the par-five fourth, with DeChambeau then picking up a shot at the sixth and finishing with three pars to set the clubhouse target.
“It’s a fantastic round of golf at Oak Hill,” said DeChambeau. “I was looking at it throughout the week and was like, ‘man, I don’t know how shooting under par is even possible out here on some of the golf holes’.
“Luckily, I was able to play some really good golf, hit a lot of fairways, did my job and made some putts.”
Eric Cole fired three consecutive birdies to move into the solo lead on five under par before play was suspended at 8.30pm local time due to darkness, with the 34-year-old PGA Tour rookie having four holes left of his round to complete on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy battled illness to finish on one over par, while Masters champion Jon Rahm left himself a battle to make the cut after equalling the second-highest opening round of his PGA Tour career with a six over par 76.
