The Aronimink course has proven to be very difficult for the best golfers in the world.
Frustrations have boiled over, proven by Jon Rahm accidently hitting a volunteer with a divot, and Justin Thomas’ group arguing with officials after being held up.
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Golfers have been frustrated by multiple factors at the PGA ChampionshipCredit: Getty
One of the key sources of frustration has been from the pace of play and it wasn’t helped by a bizarre moment on the 10th hole for Sahith Theegala.
Theegala, lost his ball after hitting out of a bunker on hole 10.
The American swung a big hook out of the sand, which hit a tree and vanished.
Course officials and Theegala tried to find where his shot landed but couldn’t locate it within three minutes, and under rule 18.2, it officially became a lost ball.
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McIlroy was pictured slumped against an advertising boardCredit: X
The delay caused a backlog, and cameras captured Rory McIlroy slumped up against the advertising board waiting to be able to proceed with his round.
It’s a rare occurrence that professionals lose their balls on the course.
They hit their shots so straight and that there are many spotters spread around the hole they’re playing.
“How the f*** does a golf ball go completely missing at a major championship with 20,000 people and cameras around?” one spectator posted on X.
The PGA Tour winner had to go back to the bunker he played from.
Eventually, after hitting out the sand with his fourth shot, Theegala found the green with his fifth, before two-putting for a double bogey seven.
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Theegala hit a wayward bunker shot that vanished in a bizarre momentCredit: Alamy
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Theegala spent three minutes searching for his ball before PGA rule 18.2 came into playCredit: Getty
The three-over score on the 10th dropped him from three-under to level-par, as the 28-year-old fell down the leaderboard.
Vanishing golf ball is not the first time rules have come into play at Aronimink
On the opening round, Garrick Higgo received a two-stroke penalty for being late for his morning tee-time.
“I never want to get to the tee 10 minutes before and be cold when I have to hit a driver, far and straight, hopefully,” he later told Sky Sports.
“I usually hit five putts before I go to the tee. My caddie dropped my Trackman in the locker. I went to the putting green thinking: ‘I still have about five minutes’, and I obviously did not.
“I hit one putt. I heard my name. My caddie was yelling at me. I headed down, and I got a two-shot penalty.”
Justin Thomas, meanwhile, found his group put on the clock on Friday.
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Thomas, Bradley and Young were put on the clock on Friday
Although they weren’t holding up the group behind, Thomas, Keegan Bradley and Cameron Young found themselves getting a warning.
Thomas and Bradley were seeing waving their arms in protest at the PGA official, and the two-time winner would later vent his frustrations after his round.
“We just didn’t really agree with it,” said Thomas after his round.
“The hard part to me with the whole pace of play thing is that you, there’s so much that goes into golf and there’s so much that goes into hole to hole in terms of, are you hitting it close, are you able to tap it in, or you have to mark it, stuff like that, to where, are you holding the group up or are you not, to where it’s very hard to make that call. And we just didn’t agree with it, to be honest.
Rory fighting back
McIlroy had just one word to describe his opening round.
He was never able to find his footing, managing just two birdies and six bogeys total.
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Rory McIlroy have an honest assessment of his first round at the PGA ChampionshipCredit: Getty
McIlroy unravelled with five bogeys on his back nine, including four in a row to finish his round at four-over par.
“I started missing fairways and from there it’s hard. I didn’t have great angles – and then I got on that bogey train at the end.
“I’m not driving the ball well enough to give myself scoring opportunities and that’s pretty frustrating, especially when I pride myself on driving the ball.”
Rory would make his way to the driving range after the round, and it appears the extra work has paid off.
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As it stands, McIlroy is three-under par for the round bringing himself back into contention.
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