Former World No. 1 Turns Back The Clock For Stunning First Round Score At PGA Championship

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Luke Donald doesn't play much golf these days. As the 47-year-old is preparing to captain the European Ryder Cup team for his second consecutive go-around, he's made just five starts on the PGA Tour since July 2024, making exactly zero cuts along the way.

You have to actually go all the way back to last year's PGA Championship at Valhalla to find the last time Donald made a cut on North American soil.

The Englishman entered this week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow not even remotely close to being on anyone's radar, but he grabbed the golf world's full attention with his performance during Thursday's opening round.

The former World No. 1 looked like his younger self while firing a bogey-free 67, and held the co-lead at 4-under for the majority of the morning's wave of players. The 67 on a very long track is that much more impressive given that he only hit nine greens in regulation and averaged just 284 yards off the tee.

Given Donald's surprising score Thursday, there are a few unbelievable statistics to go along with it that paint an even wilder picture.

Donald began the week having played in eight events at Quail Hollow in his career dating back to 2003. In those eight starts, he had five missed cuts, one withdrawal, and one finish inside the Top 70.

Justin Ray, the knower of all golf stats, shared a couple of other mind-blowing facts about Donald's opening round masterclass.

Donald's 67 marked his lowest opening round score in a major since the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Current World No. 1, Scottie Scheffler, hadn't even turned 10 years old at that point in time.

The bogey-free round Thursday was his first at a major since 2015.

Golf truly makes no sense.

As for U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, he's not playing poorly either, and could catch Donald on the leaderboard by the end of the day on Thursday as he made the turn at 3-under par.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets, including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016, when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.