LOUISVILLE — Tiger Woods entered the interview tent across from the 18th green at Valhalla Golf Club, expecting to talk about his first round at the PGA Championship, but suddenly stopped. Xander Schauffele continued to discuss the details of his record-setting round, but Woods stepped back to let him talk.
Tying the all-time records in the majors gives the GOAT some leeway to make a statement.
Schauffele said after the round: “It’s a great start to a big tournament. Of course I’m always going to participate.” “It’s just Thursday. That’s about it.”
Well, there was a little more to it than that. Schauffele finished Thursday with a 9-under 62, the fourth 62 in major championship history and the lowest score in PGA Championship history. What’s even more impressive is that Schauffele already owns one of his last three 62s, carded at last year’s U.S. Open. (The other two are Rickie Fowler, also at last year’s U.S. Open, and Branden Grace, at the 2017 British Open Championship. Perhaps ominously, the previous three will all win )
“Xander, he’s really a complete player,” said Thursday’s playing partner Justin Thomas. “He’s playing really, really good golf right now. So every time he tees up now, you feel like he’s one of those players and he’s going to be in contention. .”
All of Schauffele’s impressive stats, of which there are many, come with a neon-lit asterisk: “Yes, but…” Schauffele is an Olympic gold medalist. He is ranked No. 3 in the world and has eight top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments this season. He clearly has the ability to throw darts in the majors. Since 2017, he has finished in the top 10 in the majors 12 times, but missed just three.
Yeah, but…he hasn’t signed a contract with any of those majors yet. He finished runner-up at the Masters and British Open Championship, T3 at the US Open, and T10 at the PGA Championship…but even though he finished close at the major, his Wikipedia stats page shows a yellow block. It’s just displayed.
Schauffele took advantage of surprisingly good conditions on Thursday, teeing off early and almost instantly rushing to the front of the field. Starting at No. 10, he birdied the second and fourth holes to move into the lead, then added seven more birdies the rest of the round.
“When you’re playing with the easiest nine-under guy I’ve ever seen, it feels like you’re hitting a million shots,” Thomas said with a laugh.
Schauffele will tee off as early as Friday afternoon. Inclement weather arriving in Louisville could delay the second round. Either way, Schauffele knows there’s still a long way to go.
“The summit feels far away and I feel like there’s a lot to do,” Schauffele said. “But you just slowly chip away at it.”
A record-setting round is a surefire way to start.
