Scottie Scheffler’s best start of 2026 puts him in PGA lead logjam

NEWTOWN SQUARE – Through three consecutive PGA Tour runner-up finishes, Scottie Scheffler could only wonder what might have been without poor starts. Now he is hoping to find out.

Defending champion Scheffler ground to a three-under 67 on May 14 to grab a share of the first-round lead at the PGA Championship, alongside six rivals at the challenging Aronimink Golf Club.

“Definitely the best start I’ve gotten off to this year,” said the American, who could have suggested that his opening 63 in an American Express victory in January might have been up there too.

“I felt like, especially going into the weekend when you look at like the Masters and Hilton Head and Cadillac, finishing second was probably not all that bad from where I was starting the weekend.

“Definitely nice to get off to a better start this week.”

Scheffler fired his worst rounds at the recent tournaments at Hilton Head and Doral on the first day and started 70-74 at the Masters, before a bogey-free weekend left him one stroke behind winner Rory McIlroy.

No matter what happens in the next three rounds, he would be glad that things have changed for the better.

However, he was tied with former champion Martin Kaymer, Aldrich Potgieter, Stephan Jaeger, Min Woo Lee, Ryo Hisatsune and Alex Smalley at the top.

“It’s a really tight leaderboard,” Scheffler added. “At this moment, it’s anybody’s tournament.”

The world No. 1 missed only one of 14 fairways in taking an 18-hole Major lead for the first time.

“There are a lot of run-ups on the greens and they put the pins on some of the high points,” Scheffler said. “So your scores are definitely going to be lower if you hit the ball on the fairway, but it’s still really difficult to make birdies.

“You hit some really nice iron shots in there to 10 or 15 feet and you’ve got putts with a ton of break on them. This golf course, especially on the greens, is quite challenging.”

Jordan Spieth, taking his 10th crack at completing his collection of golf’s four Major titles, held a share of the lead late in his round before back-to-back bogeys dropped him to one under.

“Just didn’t quite finish the way I wanted to the last three holes, but under par was a good score,” he said.

“It was blowing really hard and it was cold this morning. The course played very, very difficult.”

McIlroy, in only his second start since retaining his Masters title in April, was unable to get anything going on a day when he struggled mightily off the tee and carded five bogeys on a six-hole closing stretch after missing a number of makeable putts.

“I just need to try to figure it out. I honestly thought I’d figured it out,” he said after using a four-letter expletive to describe his round.

“Just sort of, once I get under the gun, it just seems like it starts to go a little bit wayward on me.”

Bryson DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at the PGA Championship in the last two editions, endured a nightmare start to 2026’s second Major as he waited until his final hole to card a birdie for a 76. AFP, REUTERS