Shane Lowry battles back from bogey-bogey start to finish seven off ...

“Yeah, God I got off to a bad start. Four of the first six holes I hit one green and made a birdie at that hole. I kinda stuck with it and fought really hard and holed some nice putts on the back nine.” 

Lowry poured in three putts of 20, 22 and 23 feet coming in, the last to save par on 15. A nice up-and-down for birdie on the last wrapped up a tidy 3-under 33 on the back to put him within four shots of second place on a gettable opening day.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen like them go in and it was nice. And it was nice to birdie the last and shoot 2-under – 2-under’s a decent knock out there especially when you’re 2-over after two. I’m not overly happy with how I played but I’m happy with the score.” 

The key to Lowry’s game is hitting fairways and greens, and that strength eluded him off the jump.

“Things weren’t going my way; I had a big pull with my driver and my irons and I seemed to figure it out on the back nine,” he said.

“I’m kind of proud of how I battled because it’s easy to get down on yourself.” 

After his tee shot on the par-5 10th leaked into a fairway bunker, he ironed his driver out and only missed one fairway and green the rest of the way.

He rolled in a 20-footer at 11 and a 22-footer at 12 for birdies that put him in the red at 1-under and hung on with a 23-footer to save par on 15 after getting a little bit of luck off the tee when his drive hit a tree and kept him from going in the water. He chopped it back into the fairway and got up and down from 70 yards for a crucial save to maintain his momentum.

“I hopefully take that momentum into tomorrow and feed off that a get off to a good start,” he said.

With the exception of Xander Schauffele’s course-record 62, the PGA Championship record 64 additional players who shot under par in the opening round are all within reach of podium position to chase Schauffele with a decent second round. Lowry played the first two rounds with Schauffele last week at Quail Hollow when he shot 11-under and looked poised to run away with it before Rory McIlroy ran him down on the weekend.

“God, he was very impressive,” Lowry said of the show Schauffele put on Thursday and Friday at the Wells Fargo Championship. “But, you know, as he showed last week it’s a four-round thing.” 

The afternoon was not quite as generous as the morning with a soft course a little chewed up as the day wore on. Mark Hubbard birdied six of his last 13 holes to join morning finishers Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala in a share second with 6-under 65s – three shots behind the leader. Schauffele joins a short list of players to hold a record three-shot lead after one round of a PGA Championship: Dick Hart (1963, finished T17); Bobby Nichols (1964, won); and Raymond Floyd (1982, won).

Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, Maverick McNealy as well as three Toms – Hoge, Kim and Detry – all managed to get in the house late with 5-under 66s to join Rory McIlroy and Bob MacIntyre in a tie for fifth.

Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 and reigning Masters and Players champion, quickly shook off the any rust from three weeks off to welcome his newborn son by holing out “a stock 9-iron” from 165 yards for eagle on the first hole. Only two bogeys on 5 and 14 marred his card as he pushed his way into contention again with a 4-under 67 to join a crowd that includes defending PGA champion Brooks Koepka.

“Xander went out and played a great round this morning and I’m not really going to worry about trying to shoot 9-under,” Scheffler said. “I’m just going to go out and try to hit good shots and play my own game.” 

Three-time major winner Pádraig Harrington, the 2008 PGA champ, struggled on Thursday to a 6-over 77. Harrington was 5-over through the first seven holes after making double on the par-5 seventh but played the rest of the way in 1-over.