Valhalla is on its knees at the PGA on Thursday. Here is the reason

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Two fans, just to the right of Valhalla’s beastly 256-yard, par-3 14th, were abused. They were discussing the leaderboard, although not who was leading, or who wasn’t. It was How it’s been They’re going to drive here from Milwaukee, after all, for the PGA Championship, the big tournament.

But instead they got a game of darts.

They saw more 3s from players on the course Thursday than were delivered by their beloved Green Bay Packers kicker, or shot by the Milwaukee Bucks’ beloved sharpshooter.

“Do you see that?” said another, discussing low, low scores.

“It’s crazy,” said another.

It was something, and something you don’t expect in golf’s major tournaments. On Tuesday, Scottie Scheffler, World No. 1 and Masters Champ, said the majors are “leaning in” trying to topple their participants. But when the golf balls hit the air during Thursday’s first round, the players took a step back.

The evidence, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:

– Xander Schauffele shot a nine-under 62 to take the lead. Contributed to the low score in the main tournament. Tied for lowest score against draw in first round of majors. It was the lowest score against par in the first round of the PGA Championship. It was the lowest green score in the first round of the PGA Championship.

– Sixty-four players were shot under the category. The PGA Championship record for the highest number of under-par rounds was 60, set in 2006 at Medinah Country Club.

Another 19 were under par, meaning more than half the field didn’t shoot higher than 71.

– Tom Kim, who will be 22 this year, shot a 66. He is only the second player to shoot 66 or better in the opening round of the PGA Championship before his 22nd birthday, joining Sergio Garcia.

– Jeremy Wells shot a 69. He is just the second golfer in the last 20 years to break 70 in the first round of the PGA Championship.

So what happened? What has changed?

There is no single reason, say the beneficiaries. There were several. Together, it was a perfect storm, and red numbers and circles ruled.

Was it the vegetables that were softened by the storms earlier in the week here?

Viktor Hovland thought so. Tony Finau thought so. So did Rory McIlroy, and it was especially true of the professionals who were hardened by the tough greens they played on last week in the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club.

“You get to the green like this, the second shot is easy. Chip shots are easy when you miss the greens,” said McIlroy, who shot an under 66.

“I think the difference between last week in Charlotte and this week, it’s a big difference.”

Or maybe the low score is because the fairways are also smoothed. Finau thought so.

“Yes, the greens are soft, so it didn’t matter what clubs you were hitting on the green; they were going to quit,” said Finau, who carded a six-under 65. “I thought it was a 5-iron, a wedge, a 9-iron. So whenever that’s the case, we don’t have to play jumping too much, [and] I think you’re going to see a lot of guys hitting the ball in places where you can make putts. …

“The golf course, the fairways don’t blow up a lot, so you’re going to — guys are going to hit a lot of fairways, and the greens aren’t going to blow up, so guys are going to hit a lot of greens. Whenever that’s the case, I think you’ve got some serious situations, and I think you’ve seen that Xander , the under nine is amazing no matter what.

“But you can see something like that on a day like today.”

Or maybe the low score was a result of the zoysia grass that was recently installed next to the Valhalla greens. Hovland, who shot a three-under 68, thought so. “It’s easy to spin it in green areas,” he said. “Combining that with the soft greens, it’s like you can miss the greens and be able to get up and down.”

He also thought that torture was not “that punishment.” Some also noted that some of the balls would support the grass made of tall fescue and bluegrass; However, to be fair, some could only move to the side.

Or maybe the low score was due to the zoysia on the fairway as well. Brooks Koepka, the defending champion who shot a 4-under 67, thought so. “The mild conditions, especially with the change of grass, instead of having a gont, that the zoysia makes it a little easier, I think,” he said.

Yes, these guys are pretty cool too.

At least that’s what Robert MacIntyre thought.

“I mean there’s been some really bad storms the last two nights,” the 66-year-old said after shooting. “I saw last night before I went to bed, I saw – I looked outside, and it was raining, and the golf course was soft.

“But I’m still hitting 4-, 5-, 6-irons on a lot of par-4s. These are beautiful. Stretch the golf course as long as possible. It is one of the longest golf courses I have ever played. Hopefully it’s one of the longest I’ll ever play. It’s a solid golf course.

“These guys are great.”

But not all were like that. Tiger Woods shot one-over. As did Ludwig Aberg. As did Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood. Dustin Johnson, Joaquin Niemann and Sam Burns shot two over. Phil Mickelson shot three over. Michael Block, one of the stars of last year’s PGA Championship, shot five over.

They may become more fit every year. But not here. Not now.

And it can be done.

“Yeah, the greens can be a little harder,” McIlroy said, “so that can make it more difficult.” But even if the fairway is dry, zoysia, the ball doesn’t go anywhere where it lands.

“I could see it getting more solid, but I still think it’s going to be very low scoring.”

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for planning, writing and promoting news on the golf course. And when he’s not writing about how to hit the golf ball forward and straight, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash down his scores. You can contact him about any of these topics – his news, his game or his beer – at nick.piastowski@golf.com.