8 Interesting Facts from the First Round at Quail Hollow

The opening round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow set the tone for a tournament with historic milestones — without the top-ranked players in the game being involved. From Ryder Cup captains turning back the clock to underdogs making national history, the leaderboard tells a story beyond just scores. With decorated veterans, breakthrough performances, and a crammed top number of players outside the top 10 in the OWGR within striking distance of the lead, golf fans are witnessing a major unlike any other. Here are eight interesting facts compiled by Elias Sports Bureau from the first round of the 107^th PGA Championship.

• There are players from 12 countries among the top-10 and ties - a new major championship record! The previous mark was 11, at the Open Championship in 1997 (Round 4), 2002 (Round 2) and 2006 (Round 1); and the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club (Round 2)

• Jhonattan Vegas is the only player representing the country of Venezuela to win a tournament on the PGA TOUR, having won four. He becomes the first player from Venezuela to lead or co-lead at the end of any major championship round.  Vegas' only other top-10 rank at the end of a major championship round was T-9 at the end of the first round of 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol GC. He went on to finish T-22. No other player representing Venezuela has ever been among the top 10 on the leaderboard at the end of a major championship round.
• There are no players from the OWGR top 10 who are currently among the top 10 and ties on the leaderboard. Dating back to 1994, this is just the second such instance of there being zero such players among the top 10  on the leaderboard at the conclusion of a round at the PGA Championship. At the end of the second round of the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, the best-ranked golfer among the top 10 was Brooks Koepka (third place after R2, ranked #13 in OWGR at the time). The highest-ranked golfer on the OWGR among the top 10 on the leaderboard at this moment is Keegan Bradley (currently T-9, ranked #19 in OWGR).
  

  A hole-out at 15 was just one of the highlights for clubhouse leader Ryan Gerard. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/VExzZzKTvU

  — PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 15, 2025

• The lowest scores in relation to par in the first round of a player's PGA Championship debut are: Michael Bradley (-8, 1995 at Riviera CC), Sergio Garcia (-6, 1999 at Medinah CC), Graeme Storm (-5, 2007 at Southern Hills CC) and Ryan Gerard (-5, 2025 Quail Hollow Club)
  
• Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley are both currently several strokes under par. Looking slightly ahead, only five sitting Ryder Cup captains have opened with a round in the 60s at the PGA Championship during a Ryder Cup year (all of whom happen to be American):  
  1961 Jerry Barber      69 (-1)  at Olympia Fields CC
  1985 Lee Trevino        66 (-5)  at Cherry Hills CC
  1993 Tom Watson       69 (-2)  at Inverness Club
  1997 Tom Kite            68 (-2) at Winged Foot GC
  2018 Jim Furyk          69  (-1) at Bellerive CC
  
• Only one time in PGA Championship history did both sitting Ryder Cup captains make the cut during a Ryder Cup year.  At the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, both Padraig Harrington (finished T-4) and Steve Stricker (T-44) made it to the weekend.

READ MORE: 2025 Ryder Cup Captains Making Noise at Quail Hollow

• Both of the current Ryder Cup captains, Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley, are near the top of the leaderboard after shooting 67 (-4) and 68 (-3), respectively.  The only time that both sitting Ryder Cup captains were among the top 10 at the conclusion of a major championship round during a Ryder Cup year was at the 1937 Open Championship at Carnoustie.  At the end of the second round, Europe captain Charles Whitcombe and U.S. Captain Walter Hagen were T-2 and T-8 on the leaderboard, respectively.
  That instance comes with a caveat: the Ryder Cup was played one month prior to the Open Championship.

• In recent years, the eventual PGA Championship winner has ranked outside the top 30 at the end of the first round as often as he has ranked inside the top 10:

Year                                R1 Rank         ShotsBehind
2017  Justin Thomas       T-44                 6
2018  Brooks Koepka      T-33                   5
2019  Brooks Koepka         1                  -
2020  Collin Morikawa      T-33                  4
2021  Phil Mickelson          T-8                 3
2022  Justin Thomas         T-4                 2
2023  Brooks Koepka      T-38                  6
2024  Xander Schauffele        1                 -