Xander Schauffele Opens PGA Championship with Record-Breaking 62
The 106th PGA Championship began on Thursday with a bang, as world No. 3 Xander Schauffele set the PGA Championship all-time record with a round of 62. Xander is no stranger to this kind of accomplishment; just last year in the U.S. Open in Los Angeles, Xander and Rickie Fowler both shot record opening-round 62s to set the U.S. Open all-time record. There have now been four rounds of 62 in major championships, and Xander Schauffele is responsible for two of them. Here is a more in-depth breakdown of the round.
Consistency is the best word to describe Schauffele’s game today. He shot a 31 on both the front nine and the back nine. He recorded nine birdies, with four coming on the front nine and five on the back nine. He parred every other hole to complete a bogey-free opening round. He had a lengthy eagle putt on the 18th hole for a 61, which would have set the all-time major championship record, but the putt came up just short, and he tapped in for a 62. Schauffele took advantage of the three par 5s on the course, shooting a combined two under par on those three holes. He parred every par 3, but he went to work on the par 4s, birding over half of those holes.
Schauffele has had much success in his career, but he has never broken through and won a major championship. Just in the last few months he has been the leader on the final day in both the Players Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship, but he was unable to hold on to win either one of those. Schauffele will obviously be playing with the lead once again here in the PGA Championship, and he will enter Friday’s second round with a three-shot lead over both Sahith Theegala and Tony Finau, who sit at six under par. Xander will look to continue his exceptional play from both recent weeks as well as Thursday. He has put himself in a great position to capture his first major championship victory, but there is still lots of golf to be played, and this record will not mean much if Schauffele does not come out of Louisville a champion on Sunday.
