Jhonattan Vegas took a two-shot lead at the 2025 US PGA Championship after a stunning finish to his first round.
The Venezuelan birdied five of his last six holes to overhaul the five-under-par target set by Ryan Gerard and Cameron Smith and card a seven-under-par 64 at Quail Hollow.
European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox were the leading DP World Tour members in the group sharing fourth place on four under.
Vegas, starting on the tenth hole, cancelled out an opening bogey with three straight birdies from the 13th and was two under at the turn after a dropped shot at the 17th and a birdie at the next.
He began his inward nine with three straight pars but remarkably then birdied the fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth to hit the front.
He said: "Incredible, obviously. Any chance you get to shoot 64 at a major championship is always great, right?
"With the conditions yesterday, I didn't really see that score coming. But I think I got lucky that I was able to tee off very late and the course obviously is drying very quick."
On his flying finish, he added: "This course, those are some of the scorable holes here. Four, obviously you've got a shorter wedge on five, seven and eight are scorable holes. They're not easy but they're scorable.
"It was one of those rounds that kept building, and it came all together at the end."
Davis had held the outright lead as he headed down the ninth, his final hole, thanks in large part to a fine 22-foot left-to-right putt at the sixth for the last of his seven birdies.
The Australian's closing par putt shaved the hole and stayed up, though, leaving him alongside Gerard in second at the end of the day.
He said: "I rolled a lot of putts that went in and kept the momentum going. Very happy with my work today but it's still a four-round event."
Gerard, in his home state of North Carolina, had four straight birdies from the tenth and then produced a superb chip-in eagle at the 15th as he also finished five under despite a bogey-bogey finish.
Luke Donald is the ONLY player to be bogey-free during the opening round of the PGA Championship 👏#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/Q8uzj4rrnW
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 15, 2025
Donald's bogey-free round, the only one of the day, included birdies at the fourth, eighth, tenth and 14th holes as, having hit the first tee shot of the day, he put himself just a shot off the lead.
With preparations for this year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage his ongoing priority, Donald has made just five appearances so far this year, missing the cut on each occasion.
"It was a pleasant surprise," he said. "I hit a bunch of fairways on the front nine which always makes me feel good about my game. I didn't hit a ton of greens today but my putter was really good."
Compatriot Rai and New Zealander Fox were alongside Donald at four under, joined by Alex Smalley - another North Carolina native - and German Stephan Jaeger.
Fox won last week's ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, his first title as a dual member after playing his way onto the PGA TOUR via the 2023 Race to Dubai Rankings.
That came via a chip-in to win a three-man play-off but Fox said: "Obviously that was incredible but there's a fair bit of luck involved in that. The shot I hit into 17 to make birdie, I can almost take more out of that going into this week than maybe the chip-in."
The highlight of Rai's round was a 40-yard chip-in at the difficult 16th, his seventh hole, for the fourth of his five birdies.
"Got really fortunate there," he laughed. "Didn't hit the best of second shots but had a really great lie out of the right-hand rough. I think was just hoping to hit a good chip within 10 feet, and was very fortunate for it to go in. Definitely a bonus on that hole."
Japan's Ryo Hisatsune, Englishmen Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, Swede Alex Noren and Dane Rasmus Højgaard were the DP World Tour members in a large group at three under that also included Donald's rival captain Keegan Bradley.
World Number One Scottie Scheffler was two under par, with his playing partner and recent Masters Champion Rory McIlroy three over.
Eric Cole provided one of the highlights of the day with a hole in one at the fourth, the 13th hole of his one-under-par round of 70. Fellow American Bryson DeChambeau went within three inches of another with a remarkable shot into the 227-yard 17th.
