Billy Horschel taunts 18-handicappers with PGA Championship difficulty

The East Course at Oak Hill took no prisoners on Thursday, as 130 players found themselves over par after the first round of the PGA Championship.

While there were a few very respectable scores posted, the difficulty of the major test didn’t discriminate by name or stature.

• PGA Championship: Fans fume over beer prices

• Rory McIlroy “fighting something” at PGA Championship

The Masters champion Jon Rahm was perhaps the most surprising of those to struggle, carding a six-over-par 76.

But Horschel, who went round in 71, laughed at the thought of an 18-handicapper taking to the Donald Ross design and gave a bold prediction for how they would score.

He said: “At least 125. [I don’t think] it would be unrealistic for an 18-handicapper to score 150 or higher. I’m saying somewhere between 130 and 150.

What would an 18 handicap golfer shoot around Oak Hill country Club? 🤔

Find out what @BillyHo_Golf, @JordanSpieth and @tomdetry think 🫣#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/UjtGPi4L9D

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 18, 2023

Jordan Spieth took 73 strokes on day one and said the difficulty of hitting fairways means for anyone who is even single digits, ‘breaking 100 would be really impressive’.

Thomas Detry signed for 74, the highest score of the three golfers questioned, and reckoned the weekend golfers would ‘not even be close to breaking 120’.

The Belgian added: “I don’t think they’d finish holes, to be honest!”

• Scottie Scheffler takes five minutes to hit shot

• Koepka admits he “choked” Masters victory

Thursday’s field average was just under Detry’s first-round score, making it the most difficult round of a major championship since the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

The high score of round one belonged to PGA Professional Gabe Reynolds, who shot a 15-over-par 85, but the course was just as tough for the tour regulars.

With just 26 rounds of even par and below, there was plenty of space down the leaderboard for big names.

Last week’s PGA Tour winner Jason Day, and current US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick matched Rahm’s score of six-over-par.

LIV Golf’s Bryson Dechambeau took the early lead on four-under-par, while Scottie Scheffler had a share for second thanks to a bogey-free 67.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.