Xander Schauffele jumped into a three-shot lead after the opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship, with Rory McIlroy part of the chasing pack as he bids for a record fourth victory at the event.
Schauffele mixed an eagle and six birdies with a lone bogey in an opening-round 64 at the Quail Hollow Club, giving him a commanding advantage over McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Alex Noren.
The Olympic gold medallist started on the back nine after a weather-delayed start and birdied five of his opening eight holes, then cancelled out a bogey at the 18th by almost holing his second shot into the par-five seventh and converting the five-foot eagle putt.
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Schauffele scrambled a par at the eighth after a wayward drive towards the rocks, before a six-foot birdie on his final day moved him to seven under in the latest of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events.
McIlroy – winner of this event in 2010, 2015 and 2021 – had earlier jumped top of the leaderboard by following three consecutive birdies from the third by draining a 50-foot eagle at the par-five seventh.
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The Northern Irishman reached the turn in 31 despite dropping a shot at the ninth before an eventful back nine saw him card three birdies and as many bogeys, leaving him tied-second on four under.
“I’m hitting the ball really well again, with some of the shots that I hit out there today with the driver and some of the iron shots much better,” McIlroy said. “It was good to play a solid round of golf today. Left a couple out there, I feel, but at the same time I’ve got three more days to try to build on what I’ve done today.”
Morikawa was on five under until he failed to get up and down from the sand on his final hole, while Noren birdied the par-four last to make it three players on four under.
Two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and former world No 1 Jason Day are in the group of seven players sharing fifth, with Jordan Spieth a further shot behnd after an opening-round 69.
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