LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Jon Rahm spiked his 7-iron into the fairway after yet another shot that didn't go where he wanted on a day that never felt quite right.
About a half-hour after that, though, Rahm was smiling as he wrapped up Thursday's opening round at the PGA Championship. A day filled with dropped drivers, spiked irons and too many early bogeys ended with a red number on the board — a respectable 1-under 70 that brought a glimmer of hope to go with all the frustration.
“How many times have you seen someone start down by one, two or three and then do what he needs to do?” Rahm said. “I usually think every time someone wins a tournament, there is always a day when he is down. But the other rounds are good.”
The two-time major champion withstood four bogeys over his first six holes and a putting day that ranked 121st in a field of 156 to leave Valhalla with something to build on.
He actually saved par after the approach on No. 16 that landed short and left and sent his 7-iron windmilling into the turf.
He made birdies on 17 and 18 to finish the final six holes in 4 under.
He played the front nine in 3-over 38 but the back in 4-under 32.
He had as much to celebrate as to chew on as he geared up for Friday, when the forecast calls for rain.
“I need to think about what happened,” he said. “I’ve had mental errors."
Even with the comeback, Rahm finished Day 1 much closer to the cut line than to leader Xander Schauffele, who hours earlier had wrapped up a record-setting round of 9-under 62 that made it clear there were good scores to be had.
Rahm listed his tee shots on Nos. 5 and 12 as two that stood out as exceptionally bad.
He snapped the drive on 5 deep into the native rough to the left of the fairway. That led to his third bogey. On 12, he also yanked his tee shot left, and let his driver fall over his shoulder and onto the ground before the ball even landed.
He scrambled to save a par there, and that triggered a strong finish that turned what had looked like a ruined round into something better.
“Let’s see if tomorrow I do a different thing from the beginning," Rahm said. “I want to start well.”
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