Min Woo Lee and defending champion Scottie Scheffler were part of a seven-strong leading group after day one of the 2026 US PGA Championship.
On a day of tough scoring at Aronimink Golf Club, former champion Martin Kaymer, fellow German Stephan Jaeger, South African Aldrich Potgieter, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and American Alex Smalley joined the duo in posting rounds of 67.
Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World leader Patrick Reed and fellow DP World Tour members Dan Brown and Shane Lowry were then part of another group of seven players one off the lead.
There were a further 19 players under par with a remarkable 92 within five shots of the lead.
Australian Lee started with a bogey on the tenth but had the solo lead after gains on the 11th, 16th, first, fifth and seventh before bogeying the eighth.
His 67 was his lowest start worldwide since February’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and has only been bettered in his 2026 season by a stunning 62 at The American Express.
The 27-year-old admitted it was an area upon which he wanted to improve and was delighted to see his processes bear fruit in Pennsylvania.
“I think we're all trying to get off to a good start,” he said. “I think over the last few months I haven't done that.
“I think just a little bit of a mindset change, go out there and be aggressive.
“You know that saying of you can shoot yourself out of a Thursday? I think I've nearly taken that too far and played a little bit conservative. I'm hitting the ball really good, so why not go at some pins and make some putts?”
Scheffler bogeyed the fourth but then made threes on six of his next seven holes – adding four birdies in the process – to join the lead.
The American dropped a shot on the 14th but picked it back up on the 16th in an ominous start to his defence.
Jaeger got off to a flying start with a birdie on the first and a hat-trick from the fourth to catapult himself to four under.
He finished the front nine bogey-birdie and then dropped a shot on the 12th to join Potgieter, who had gone out in the first group of the day from the tenth, at three under.
The 21-year-old birdied the 11th and then made two bogeys followed by two gains from the 14th.
A gain on the second was quickly cancelled out but birdies on the sixth and ninth saw him sign for a 67.
Hisatsune was level after ten holes with three birdies and three bogeys but then birdied four of his next six with a single bogey to join the leaders.
2010 champion Kaymer is without a win worldwide for almost 12 years but showed glimpses of the form that made him World Number One with birdies on the 11th, 12th, second and ninth and a single bogey on the seventh.
Reed was the only player to get round bogey-free in the first round of a week that could see him take a big step towards winning the Race to Dubai.
There are 1,665 points on offer to the winner if they are a DP World Tour member and with Reed – already a two-time winner this season – set for a busy summer schedule, every point could be vital.
The American picked up his shots with a brilliant approach to the 11th and a long putt at the third.
“Playing that back nine and hitting quality iron shot after quality iron shot and putting yourself on the putting surface, it made it a little easier to kind of go around there bogey-free,” he said.
“The two opportunities I had where I got myself in a little bit of trouble, I hit a great wedge shot from 53 yards to three inches, and the one I was kind of fringe putting and I was able to lag it up there and two-putt.
“As a competitor and a player, you're frustrated when you hit that many greens and only make two birdies, but when you're playing in a Major Championship, especially on a golf course like this, going out there and playing bogey-free gives you confidence going into the rest of the week.”
Reed’s fellow Americans Sahith Theegala, Max Greyserman and Xander Schauffele and Canadian Corey Conners were also at two under alongside Englishman Brown and Irish Major champion Lowry.
