LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Four times golfers have shot 62 in the history of major championship golf and two of them now belong to Xander Schauffele.
The 30-year-old Schauffele birdied half the holes at Valhalla Golf Club on Thursday to shoot 9-under 62, the lowest 18-hole score in PGA Championship history, a round that ties the men’s major championship record.
The last person to shoot 62 in a major? Schauffele, at the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, just minutes after Rickie Fowler did so in the first round. Branden Grace was the first to shoot 62 in a major at Royal Birkdale in the third round of the 2017 British Open.
When asked to compare his record-low rounds in majors, Schauffele said, “I can’t nit-pick. I’ll take a 62 in any major any day.”
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Schauffele, who started his round on the back nine, scrambled for par at the first hole and then said he pulled his 6-iron at the 211-yard par-3 11th a hair – pulled it to 4 feet and made his first of five straight birdies. Asked to name the shot he’d most remember from his record day, he singled out his birdie at No. 12 after tugging his 3-wood off the tee and leaving himself 225 yards to the green.
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A round for the record books.
Xander Schauffele just matched the Men’s Major Championship record.#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/QlVcTMBsDc
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 16, 2024
“I thought, this is going to be a pretty tough par,” Schauffele said.
But he knocked his second on the green to 15 feet and poured in the putt.
“Which was really big for me,” said Schauffele, who made the turn in 31.
Schauffele took advantage of near-perfect conditions for scoring – a warm, sunny day, barely a breath of wind, and receptive greens softened by recent rain – that enabled him to throw darts at the defenseless flags. Almost all of his birdie putts were from inside 15 feet.
Kentucky native Justin Thomas, who played alongside Schauffele, called it as easy of a 62 as he’s ever seen.
“He’s playing really, really great golf right now. So you feel like he’s one of those guys every time he tees it up right now, he’s going to be in contention,” Thomas said. “This year he’s hitting it even further. As good as he drove it, now he’s doing the same, just 15 yards further.”
Schauffele has been a terrific frontrunner at the majors. He already owned the lowest all-time career first-round scoring average – 69.81 in 27 rounds – in major championship play among those who have appeared in at least 25 majors, nearly a stroke better than Brooks Koepka in second (70.74). But he is still seeking that elusive first major. His 12 top-10 finishes rank second for most career top-10s in majors without a major championship title behind only Fowler with 13.
Xander Schauffele on the eighth hole after his ball landed on a drain cover during the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Schauffele was the pacesetter last week, too, at the Wells Fargo Championship, racing to an opening-round 64 and held the 54-hole lead before getting boat-raced by Rory McIlroy on Sunday. Asked after the round about being winless the last seven times he’s been in the final pairing, he smiled and said, “It will just make the next win sweeter.”
It’s been a pretty sweet season to date despite the lack of trophies. Schauffele has recorded eight top-10s this season but hasn’t tasted victory in nearly two years. Sunday’s latest shortcoming could have been deflating but Schauffele said it was not.
“When I go to sleep, I remind myself that I’m playing at a really high level. I’ve put myself in position,” he said on Wednesday. “Seven years ago, I won twice quickly, I had high expectations, then I didn’t win for a year or two, then I won two or three times in a year. It’s just kind of how it goes sometimes.”
Schauffele wasn’t the only player to take advantage of the dome-like conditions on Thursday. Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala both signed for bogey-free 65’s, one stroke better than Rory McIlroy, who won the 2014 PGA at Valhalla, and Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre. Defending champion Brooks Koepka played his final three holes in 3 under, including an eagle at No. 7, to shoot 4-under 67. Jordan Spieth, who needs to win the PGA to complete the career Grand Slam, opened with 69.
Tiger Woods was under par for the day until he took three putts at the final two holes and signed for 1-over 72. He’s already 10 strokes behind Schauffele, who said, “it’s just Thursday,” and he’s right – none of the four players who shot 62 in a major went on to victory.
But Schauffele, who finished T-2 at the 2018 British Open and 2019 Masters, keeps knocking at the door at majors. He is in the midst of one of the greatest streaks of consistency in recent major championship history. Dating back to the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills, he has finished among the top-20 in each of the last eight majors, including an eighth-place showing at the Masters in April.
“He does everything well,” said ESPN’s Andy North. “It is more of a shock to me that he hasn’t won. He’s been in position a lot of times, and it just hasn’t happened for him.”
Whatever may happen from here, Schauffele’s first-round performance put him in the record books again. Half of the 62s in major-championship history is nothing to sneeze at.
“For the rest of our sakes,” Thomas said, “I hope he doesn’t shoot any more 9-unders.”