Eric Cole leads the PGA Championship as Round 1 suspended due to darkness

Eric Cole is the leader at the PGA Championship as Round 1 is suspended due to darkness. Here’s what you need to know:

Cole is 5 under for the tournament through 14 holes. This is Cole’s second major championship.
Bryson DeChambeau is in solo second. He was the lowest score of the morning wave, shooting a 4-under 66.
Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and Corey Conners each shot a 3-under 67. It is the first bogey-free round for Scheffler at a major championship.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

How Cole finished atop leaderboard

Following the morning frost warning, which pushed tee times back by nearly two hours, the afternoon wave faced a race against the sun. Cole pushed into the lead on the scoreboard, but lost the race against the light. The 34-year-old played his first 14 holes at 5 under before dwindling daylight ended first-round play.

Cole’s play debunked the theory that scoring requires hitting fairways. He only hit half his fairways, but nearly 80 percent of greens in regulation, and posted six birdies, including three straight on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 before play was called.

Now Cole will try to keep that momentum going at 7 a.m. Good news is, Friday morning will be in the mid-50s, instead of Thursday’s low-30s temps. — Quinn

Johnson, Scott among notable afternoon performances

Cole wasn’t the only one making an afternoon move. Johnson posted a 3-under 67, thanks to some tidy par saves, to sit in a third-place tie. He’d be locked with LIV brethren DeChambeau in second if not for a bogey on 18. Like DeChambeau, Johnson’s game is a good fit for Oak Hill.

Adam Scott would’ve been the story in the afternoon, if not for a double-bogey on 18 knocking him back from 5-under to 3-under before play ended. Scott played as well as anyone on Thursday before leaving a ball in the greenside bunker on 18 and derailing an otherwise great afternoon.

Conners also moved into a third-place tie at 3-under.

While the morning flight had to deal with colder temperatures, the afternoon groups had to play through changing winds.

“The front nine it seemed like the wind was blowing every direction but the direction it was supposed to be blowing into, which made it even more difficult trying to figure out because it wasn’t like it was a light breeze,” Johnson said. “It was enough to affect the ball quite a bit.”

Play was suspended due to darkness at 8:30 p.m. Round two will start on time as originally scheduled. DeChambeau, sitting in solo second, will tee off at 2:31 p.m. Scheffler, headlining the group tied at 3-under, goes off at 1:25 p.m.— Quinn

DeChambeau driving the ball, recovering well

Give DeChambeau credit where it’s due. He’s driving the ball pretty well for a course leaving most in trouble off the tee. He hit 64 percent of fairways, second best of all golfers in the first wave.

When he got in trouble, he recovered, like on No. 17 when he left himself an uphill lie in thick rough on the pin side of the green. He hit a high-flying flop and sunk a difficult 12-foot putt for par. Then on No. 8, he couldn’t get his approach close but put his 72-foot putt near the pin for an easy par. We’ll see if DeChambeau’s overall game can withstand four days at Oak Hill, but he’s not crumbling or getting emotional as DeChambeau tends to do. — Miller

Scheffler pounces on a difficult course

They call Jon Rahm the “buoy,” but one of the greatest skills of Scheffler is that similar ability to stay afloat on a brutal course and pounce. Oak Hill played tough Thursday, yet Scheffler played a bogey-free round. He saved pars when he put balls into the trees and bunkers. He landed approach shots in the middle of greens for two putts, and then he finished strong to birdie two of the final five holes for a share of the (very) early clubhouse lead. Scottie starting like that is scary for the field. — Miller

Hovland starts strong

Viktor Hovland has yet another major in which he starts strong (2-under 68), his third straight following the 2022 Open Championship and the 2023 Masters. But that’s common with him. The key is what he does Saturday and Sunday. He’s one of the best golfers in the world but it’s unclear when he will take that next step. — Miller

Highlights of the round

Name something better than when a pure putt meets a "get in the hole" call?

We'll wait. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/zsO6zm5mKU

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2023

Have a day, Eric Cole 👏

He is currently the solo leader @PGAChampionship.pic.twitter.com/n5zqHZUzbW

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 19, 2023

Key stat

Cole’s previous win was last month at the Palm Beach County Open on the Minor League Golf Tour. The winner’s check was $8,000.

Required reading

(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)