CHARLOTTE, N.C. – No, this isn’t the Quail Hollow of old, the bomber’s paradise that served up 20-under winning scores and back-nine shootouts.
Only 24 of the 156 players broke par Thursday on a day that should have been ideal for scoring, with temperatures in the mid-80s and little wind. The best score in the first round of the PGA Championship was 4-under 67, the first time since 2008 that no player in this event opened with a round of 5 under or better.
An ambitious 90-day renovation last spring has turned Quail Hollow into a decidedly more exacting test.