Aaron Rai sends a wedge to the heart of the eighth green and it spins nicely towards the pin.

Probably a 10-footer for birdie to tie the lead...

But it slips by the left edge.

Sights we love to see. A professional golfer taking off a shoe and sock to get a foot into the water. Here's Justin Thomas...

...left foot in the water, ball in the rough, perched on the edge of the stream. A huge boulder behind him. He's in deep conversation with his caddie. The sensible option is take a penalty drop for an unplayable.

The left foot is suddenly out of the water, shoe remains off. Several practice swings. A swish and the ball pops up and on to the green. Terrific execution. Now he needs to hole the 15-footer for par...

Wow. Some amateur golf coming down the 18th from Justin Thomas and, in particular, Collin Morikawa.

Thomas is up first and he screws his second into the green left and his ball splashes in the stream but bounces out and then hits a boulder and disappears into the thickest clump of rough. This could be an interesting third, with water in front, a boulder hampering the backswing...... but then Morikawa tries to cut one from the rough down the right but only succeeds in squirting his ball across the fairway and into the water...

No eagles but a welcome pair of birdies for BDC and Viktor Hovland on the 15th.

There's also a first birdie of the day for Gary Woodland, who barring that triple-bogey eight on the seventh has played fairly consistently.

A shake of the head from Tyrrell Hatton as his ball disappears into the hole on the 18th for a final birdie of the round. He looks quite stern as he shakes the hands of his playing partners and their caddies. Chill Tyrrell. A 68 is an excellent start.

A par finish for Adam Scott.

The 2023 Open champion Brian Harman nudges under par on the 14th. The American is currently in a posse of 19 players at one under.

Cameron Davis was playing his 33rd major championship round today.

Prior to his first round at Quail Hollow, he had broken 70 three times (2021 PGA, round one, 69), (2023 PGA, round four, 65) and (2024 Masters, round one, 69).

He has been among the top five on the leaderboard at the conclusion of a major championship round three times (2021 PGA, round one, tied for second), (2023 PGA, round four, tied for fourth) and (2024 Masters, round two, tied for fifth)

A perfect demonstration of how to take on a long par-five with water running down the left from Bryson DeChambeau, who booms his tee shot 343 yards to the heart of the fairway and then zips a seven iron on to the green from 219 yards.

Long eagle putt incoming.

Viktor Hovland could well at least pick up a shot here as well after a fine approach to the front edge.

Justin Thomas' birdie run comes to a finish on the par-three 17th. He ends up in Tyrrell Hatton territory off the tee, right and up on the hill. His chip down leaves him a six-footer for par.

Collin Morikawa also fails to find the green, his ball scuttling off the back edge and into the thick collar of rough. The 2020 US PGA champ is out with his wedge and hits a low chip and run which is tracking nicely... in fact in it pops...

Thomas to tidy up... solid.

Disappointment for Ludvig Aberg as a par putt on 16 slides right and a shot is dropped.

Many of the game's stars have failed to find their best form today, but the world number six is still only four off the lead despite that bogey.

A fine birdie on the par-five seventh for Aaron Rai, who finds himself alongside Luke Donald as the highest-placed Englishman on the leaderboard and just one shot off the lead jointly held by Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard.

Both Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott miss their par putts on 17. Shots gone. Nothing more to say. Although I suspect Tyrrell might have.

Viktor Hovland is spending that much time in the sand he might as well have a bucket and spade with him.

The Norwegian heads right off the tee but splashes out of the bunker to eight feet. His birdie putt slides past the cup mind and it'll just be a par.

Bryson, who has picked up a knack of shuffling his ball left also finds the sand and can only make a four for par.

...it slides by. A shame for the Aussie but he's joint top. Give me a thumbs up if you had Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard as leaders after round one...

Our leader is thrashing his way down the ninth hole. Wayward off the tee. Wayward with his second shot. His third, from 40 yards, is also out of the rough and he can only muscle it in to about nine feet.

This to save par and take the first-round lead...

Adam Scott is putting up the length of the 17th green. It's got to be 50 feet. And his ball isn't threatening the hole, drifting left and pulling up six feet short. Tricky par putt coming up.

Tyrrell Hatton in a similar boat after his chip from above and off the green.

A couple of expletives from Tyrrell Hatton follows his ball down the 17th. He's not in any danger of going in the water though as his ball comes to rest off the opposite side of the green. A tricky chip coming up though.

This is a bonkers few minutes for Justin Thomas. In fact a bit of a bonkers last hour. He was four over par on the 13th.

Birdies on the 14th and 15th lifted his mood. But a wayward drive down the right of 16 left him in trouble. His hack out of the rough headed left, one hop on the green and bounding towards the lake off the back. The rough was gnarly enough to stop it getting wet though.

And then, with a wedge in hand, he floated a high flop shot that bounced once, twice and rolled in for a birdie. Sensational scenes.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Viktor Hovland take a bow. Talk about classy, the Norwegian flips his ball out of the sandtrap to within three feet.

Bryson DeChambeau comes up well short with his chip that lands on the edge of the green but stops fast. That'll be a shot handed back from the American, whose compatriot Gary Woodland is also shaking his head.

The 2019 US Open winner lands his tee shot on the right side of the green but then watches as it rolls back and then further right to give him an awkward chip from the a gully to the side of the green.

He gets that to 13 feet ends up with a bogey. Ouch.

Adam Scott is over his broom-handled putter on the 16th green. He's making a bit of a mess of this, overshooting the green with his second and then knocking the birdie chip 10 feet past the hole. Will he salvage a par? No. Shot gone.

He's back alongside Tyrrell Hatton, who cuts his usual frustrated figure after failing to threaten the hole with his second shot. It's hardly poor though, pin-high and perhaps 25 feet from the hole. Two putts and par.