McIlroy 10 behind at US PGA as Ryder Cup captains impress

Rory McIlroy won the US PGA Championship in 2012 and 2014

2025 US PGA Championship first round

Leaders: -7 Vegas (Ven); -5 Davis (Aus), Gerard (US); -4 Donald (Eng), Fox (NZ), Jaeger (Ger), Rai (Eng), Smalley (US)

Selected others: -3 Bradley (US), Fitzpatrick (Eng), Hatton (Eng), MacIntyre (Sco); -2 Hovland (Nor), Scheffler (US), Scott (Aus); -1 Aberg (Swe), Fleetwood (Eng), Morikawa (US), Rahm (Spa); E DeChambeau; +1 Schauffele (US); +2 Lowry (Ire), Thomas (US); +3 McIlroy (NI); +5 Rose (Eng), Spieth (US)

Full leaderboard

Masters champion Rory McIlroy ended 10 shots behind leader Jhonattan Vegas after round one of the US PGA Championship.

Venezuela's Vegas, 40, birdied five of his final six holes to set the pace at seven under and move two clear of American Ryan Gerard and Australian Cam Davis.

Ryder Cup captains Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley both impressed at Quail Hollow in North Carolina.

Englishman Donald shot a bogey-free 67 to sit in a group of five players three off the lead, while Bradley, who will skipper the United States team against Europe in September's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, dropped his only shot at his final hole to finish at three under par.

McIlroy, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning at Augusta National in April, managed just two birdies in his three-over-par round of 74.

The 36-year-old was playing in the same group as world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele, who finished at two under and one over respectively.

All three struggled at times, but Scheffler birdied two of his final three holes to keep himself in touch.

Donald and fellow Englishman Aaron Rai, who also posted a four-under-par 67, lead a healthy contingent of European players near the top of the leaderboard.

Germany's Stephan Jaeger equalled Rai and Donald, while Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, plus English duo Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, are among those in the group at three under.

Gerard has only a missed cut and a tie for 56th at US Opens on his major resume, but the 25-year-old raced into the lead with four birdies and an eagle between hole 10 and 15 to move three shots clear on seven under.

However, bogeys at the 17th and 18th robbed him of his commanding position.

Davis, 30, finished tied for fourth at this event in 2023 and dropped a shot on the ninth, his final hole of the day, to end five under.

But both were overtaken late in the day by the charging Vegas.

Elsewhere, reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau fought back well after a slow start to card a level-par 71.

Two-time champion Justin Thomas finished two over, but fellow American Jordan Spieth's hopes of completing a career Grand Slam were severely dented by a five-over-par 76.

What went wrong for McIlroy?

McIlroy's driving accuracy was among the worst in the field at just 28.6%

Thirty-two days after his dramatic play-off victory at the Masters, which saw him become only the sixth player to win all four majors, most eyes were on McIlroy as he headed out as part of a three-ball containing the world's top three-ranked players.

McIlroy - the US PGA champion in 2012 and 2014 - has an excellent record at Quail Hollow, winning four PGA Tour events there during his career.

The world number two started with a birdie at the par-five 10th - his first hole of the day - but gave that shot straight back by three-putting for bogey on the 11th green.

Another birdie followed on 15, but the marquee trio faltered at the entrance to Quail Hollow's difficult closing three-hole stretch, known as the 'Green Mile'.

All three left the 16th hole with double bogeys after McIlroy put his tee shot into the thick rough and Scheffler and Schauffele dumped their second shots into the water.

Later, both Scheffler and Schauffele voiced their frustrations at the decision not to allow 'preferred lies' on Thursday, following heavy rain in the build-up to the event.

The pair were particularly irked by their misfortune on the 16th hole when their balls picked up mud, which they claimed affected their next shots to the green. If preffered lies had been in place, they would have been allowed to lift, clean and replace their balls.

After a series of pars towards the end of his first round, five-time major winner McIlroy ended with another dropped shot on his final hole.

He hit just four of 14 fairways from the tee, a statistic he must improve if he is to move back into contention.

However, McIlroy has shown already this year that he can recover from a big first-round deficit to win one of the sport's biggest prizes - he was seven shots behind Justin Rose after round one at the Masters before coming back to win the Green Jacket.

McIlroy's second round set to begin at 18:47 BST on Friday.

'I'm here only because I'm captain of the European Ryder Cup team'

Luke Donald captained Europe to Ryder Cup victory in 2023 and will lead the side again at Bethpage Black in September

Donald, who hit the first shot of the tournament at 07:00 local time, is one of several surprising names to be found near the top of the leaderboard.

The 47-year-old is ranked 871st in the world and told BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter before the event that success would simply be making the weekend.

Birdies on the fourth, eighth, 10th and 14th holes made light of his pre-tournament expectations.

Donald, whose best US PGA finish was a tie for third spot in 2006, said afterwards: "I'm here only because I'm captain of the European Ryder Cup team. I wouldn't be in this field otherwise.

"Bogey-free in a major championship on a course that you wouldn't have thought would be ideal for me is always fun."

New Zealand's Ryan Fox, who only secured his place by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic on Sunday, finished alongside Donald on four under.

Also posting a first-round 67 was American Alex Smalley, who was a late addition to the field after world number 31 Sahith Theegala pulled out because of injury on the eve of the tournament.

And there was a special moment for American Eric Cole, who holed his tee shot on the par-three fourth hole on his way to a one-under round of 70.