Luke Donald has been among the top 10 on the leaderboard at the conclusion of a major championship round 24 times in his career.

However, the last time it happened was a decade ago at the Open at St Andrews when he was 10th after the second round and finished the championship in a share of 12th place.

The marquee groups are heading out in the late wave and Justin Thomas rips his opening drive down the middle of the fairway. Thomas is a two-time winner of this championship, including right here at Quail Hollow in 2017.

Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson finds the right side of the fairway, while 2020 US PGA champion Collin Morikawa follows him and finishes a couple of yards further down.

Image source, Getty Images

Now if you've been watching anything of Justin Thomas on the practice greens this week you'll have seen him with tees in the green at five, 10 and 15 feet and a stick just behind the hole.

The goal is to knock in the putts and if you miss go no further than the bit of wood just beyond the cup.

The two-time US PGA champion's putting has been an Achilles heel in recent times but this year he has turned back the clock.

He won five PGA Tour events plus the US PGA in 2017 and so far in 11 events on the main tour in North America in 2025 he has racked up six top-10 finishes, three second-place finishes and a victory at the RBC Heritage.

He’s also currently ranked 20th in strokes gained with the putter (on the PGA Tour) this year, his best performance in the category since the 2016-2017 season (43rd) and the 2017-2018 season (47th).

Last season Thomas had plummeted all the way down to 174th in strokes gained on the green.

Jon Rahm plays a lovely approach into the ninth, with a high towering fade that gives him a look at birdie from 20 feet. The Spaniard's knees are going as his ball looks destined to drop before slipping left at the last moment.

Matt Fitzpatrick is on the putting surface in two but will also settle for a par after leaving his birdie putt a couple of feet short.

A good opening round that for the Englishman, who is chasing a second major title.

Rory McIlroy goes full power with his driver trying to whack it 342 yards up the hill to the eighth green. It's a tremendous effort that almost creeps up the big false front to the green, but he's in a nice spot to try and get a birdie from there.

A round that promised so much sort of fizzled out for Tommy Fleetwood but an under par start to a major is not to be sniffed at.

Three birdies in three holes, followed by three bogeys in five around the turn, left the Englishman back at level par.

But a birdie on the seventh got him back into the red and he finished par-par.

It's all gone downhill for Rory McIlroy after that superb drive, as he makes a bit of a hash of his chip out of the rough, so he then has to get up and down just for a par.

That's as good as a dropped shot for McIlroy who usually gobbles up the par fives at Quail Hollow - and especially after that drive he'll be bitterly disappointed not to pick up a shot.

Ryan Gerard is absolutely flying here.

The 25-year-old, who is making his debut at the US PGA, finished second at the Texas Open last month and is brimming with confidence as he taps in a fourth consecutive birdie after landing his iron into two feet on the 205-yard par-three 13th.

Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick both make birdies on the eighth after zipping into 10 feet and five feet respectively.

And now Patrick Cantlay joins them, with his first birdie for 12 holes. It's been one of those sort of days for this trio.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

The absolute measure of the best in the world is how good their bad is.

To turn this round into an under par round will be a fantastic feat and Scottie Scheffler would be delighted with it.

Scottie Scheffler has a decent eagle chance on the seventh as he's just off the front of the green only 17 feet away, but he can't quite find his second eagle of the day and instead settles for a birdie.

From a brilliant drive it's a pretty awful second shot from Rory McIlroy who pulls a six iron badly to the left of the green and ends up in some lush rough on a big slope.

He needs to get up and down from there for a much-needed birdie.

Image source, Getty Images

"I guarantee I'd be going fishing at least once."

However, Ryan Fox's plans for this weekend changed dramatically last Sunday when he chipped in from 50 yards to win in a play-off at the Myrtle Beach Classic and clinch a place at this tournament.

The best rank he has had in a major is a tie for third after round one at the 2019 Open where he went on to finish 16th. He is currently in third again, after a four-under 67.

That is only one shot off his best ever major championship round, which was a five-under 66 in the 2017 US PGA Championship - also at Quail Hollow.

Alex Smalley signs for an opening-round 67 in just his fourth major championship start.

He started the week as an alternate and only started after Sahith Theegala withdrew on Wednesday.

The North Carolina resident also knocked in a 71-foot putt for eagle, earlier. It has been quite a day for the 28-year-old.

Rory McIlroy tees it down a bit on the par-five seventh to smack a low, almost stinger and it does the trick as he finds the fairway with a little ripper!

That's just his third fairway of the day....

Alex Noren is back in the hutch with a three-under 68 in the books. The Swede will rue successive bogeys on 16 and 17 and a poor birdie attempt on the last from eight feet, but given he's on the way back from injury, that's a solid start.

Don't go anywhere as we've got plenty of quality on the way.

• 18:03 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Adam Scott (Aus), Will Zalatoris (US)
• 18:14 Dustin Johnson (US), Collin Morikawa (US), Justin Thomas (US)
• 18:25 Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Patrick Reed (US), Jordan Spieth (US)
• 18:47 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Gary Woodland (US)
• 18:58 Daniel Berger (US), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Russell Henley (US)
• 19:09 Brian Harman (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Cameron Smith (Aus)

Our leader is following Bob MacIntyre on the par-four 16th, which is the hardest hole on the course so far today.

Bob's birdie putt, about 25 feet up the hill, is slow and he can't get his ball to the hole. Par.

What has Stephan Jaeger learned? Next to nothing. His ball also pulls up a couple of feet short. Par.

Oliver Wilson
Former Ryder Cup player on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

This is the hole where he needs to do something Rory McIlroy-like.

Just to try and get some momentum into his week.

Pretty ordinary stuff from this star-studded grouping, with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler missing the green and having to produce a chip and a putt for par.

Xander Schauffele finds the short stuff but he's a mile away and it's a two-putt par for him.