The first round of the 105th PGA Championship started nearly two hours late because of a frost delay. It ended in fading light, with Byrson DeChambeau as the clubhouse leader and the surprise on-course leader walking off the course in a black hoodie with four holes still to complete.
Floridian Eric Cole, the winner of more than 50 mini-tour titles, started late in the day on the 10th tee and made a late surge with three straight birdies to get to five under par before play was suspended due to darkness at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.
Cole, 34, is appearing in only his second major and has made only 23 career starts on the PGA Tour. The son of former professional golfers Laura Baugh and Bobby Cole, Eric Cole made some noise on the tour earlier this season when he got into a playoff that he lost to Chris Kirk in the Honda Classic. In the only other major he’s played, Cole missed the cut in the 2021 US Open.
He is on a board littered with big names, including DeChambeau, the former US Open champion, now of LIV Golf, who played early and shot four-under 66 on the very difficult East Course. Another LIV golfer, Dustin Johnson, made his only bogey on the day in the fading light to shoot 67 and join World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler and Canadian Corey Conners at that number.
Adam Scott double-bogeyed the 18th hole late to score 68 and was joined by Keegan Bradley, Viktor Hovland and Ryan Fox. Justin Rose was one under with four holes left to play. There are 11 groups who have to finish the first round on Friday morning.
