Following a 7-under 64 at the PGA Championship, Jhonattan Vegas becomes the first Venezuelan to hold the lead/co-lead in a Major championship.
Related: Remembering KJ Choi’s 25 years on the PGA Tour
Marks best score in 45 Major championship rounds (previous: 67/R4/2016 PGA Championship).
Best finish in 16 prior Major championship starts: T22 (2016 PGA Championship).
Seventh first-round lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour; 0-for-6 to date (most recent; 2022 Valspar Championship/T27).
Four PGA Tour wins in 318 starts: 2011 American Express, 2016 RBC Canadian Open, 2017 RBC Canadian Open, 2024 3M Open.
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Has one top-10 finish in 11 starts on TOUR this season: 4th (The Sentry).
In his most recent start, opened THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson with a season-best 8-under 63 and followed with rounds of 69-67-69 to finish T13.
International players have won 14 of the first 22 events this season.
Ryan Gerard (T2/-5) posts his 13th par-or-better opening round in 14 individual stroke-play events this season; only over-par opening round – a 73 at the Valero Texas Open – led to a career-best runner-up finish.
Cam Davis (T2/-5) equals his best position following any round in a major championship (T2/2021 PGA Championship/R1); his best finish in 10 previous Major championships is T4 at the 2023 PGA Championship.
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Luke Donald (T4/-4) manages the only bogey-free round of the day; marks his first bogey-free round in a Major championship since the 2015 Open Championship (R1).
Alex Smalley (T4/-4) became the last player in the field following Sahith Theegala’s WD on Wednesday.
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Ryan Fox (T4/-4) and Sepp Straka (T73/+2) open 67 and 73, respectively; the last player to win a Major the week after winning on TOUR: Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, 2014 PGA Championship).
Adam Scott (T20/-2) opens with a 69 in his 95th consecutive major championship start, the longest active streak; only Jack Nicklaus (146) has played in more than 100 straight Majors.
Eric Cole (T29/-1) aces No. 4 from 186 yards for his first ace in an individual stroke-play TOUR event; also had an ace on No. 14 during R1 of the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans (alongside teammate Russ Cochran).
