Mito Pereira, Cameron Smith and Americans Chris Kirk, Kevin Na, Davis Riley and Xander Schauffele completed the group at two under.
Rory McIlroy carded his lowest opening round in a Major Championship since the 2011 U.S. Open as he opened up a one-shot lead heading into round two of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.
The three-time DP World Tour Rankings champion made seven birdies and two bogeys in a 65 that moved him to five under ahead of Americans Tom Hoge and Will Zalatoris.
The Northern Irishman shot to the top of the leaderboard after sparking into red-hot form from the 12th, his third hole, with four successive birdies. included sinking a 26-foot right-to-lefter on the 14th.
Two bogeys in his final four holes dropped McIlroy into a share of the lead, but he sunk an impressive 19-footer on the last to complete a brilliant start and lead outright.
The total was McIlroy’s lowest ever opening round at the PGA Championship.
“It was a great start to the tournament,” he said. “I’ve been playing well coming in here. I’ve been carrying some good form.
“Obviously I took a lot from that last round at Augusta, played well up in DC at the Wells Fargo there, and played good in the practice rounds earlier this week.
“I think when your game is feeling like that, it’s just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world. I did that really well today.
“It was nice to get off to that good start and sort of keep it going.”
Abraham Ancer and Americans Matt Kuchar and Justin Thomas shot three under, a stroke clear of nine players including two-time DP World Tour Championship winner Matt Fitzpatrick and 2020 Dubai Desert Classic champion Lucas Herbert.
