Australia’s Ryan Ruffels made a hot start to his first PGA Tour event in four years, while Rory McIlroy made his first start since his Masters triumph at the Truist Championship.
The PGA Tour has two events running concurrently this weekend with many of the biggest names tackling Quail Hollow in a US$20 million signature event as other professionals play the Myrtle Beach Classic.
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Ruffels falls into the latter category, playing a world rankings event for the first since 2023 as a result of winning a YouTube tournament to gain a spot in the field in South Carolina.
The 28-year-old has used content creation as a means to reignite his career and so far it seems to be working as he shot a four-under par opening round 67.
The one-time junior prodigy is only three shots behind leader Martin Laird of Scotland after carding six birdies to sit tied for seventh place.
“Such a cool opportunity. I was out there smiling all day,” Ruffels said.
“Kenzie, my girlfriend, just told me after the round — she was like, I’ve never seen you smile so much out there on the golf course.
“It’s true. I was having a great time.”
It was not all smooth sailing for Ruffels, however, as a roughly half an hour weather delay came at an unfortunate time – he had just made back-to-back birdies.
But his ability to bounce back was a key feature of his round, including making a “pretty crazy” birdie on the par 5 15th by launching a 218-yard 9-iron downwind from the trees to 15 feet.
“If it was YouTube, we wouldn’t have played,” he said.
“So, no, we’ve got to be a little tougher when we play on the PGA Tour.
“Yeah, no, you don’t have a choice. I’m hitting the ball good. The wind was a little tough to pick on the back nine. We had a few that we thought were going to be good, and
the wind went the other direction. I mean, you’ve just got to roll with the punches.
“I feel all parts of my game are pretty good. I’m a good putter. I’ve switched to cross-handed chipping about a year ago, and that’s made my a great chipper. My bunker play has
come a long way. I’ve always been a great iron player, and I’m really driving the ball good.
“I feel like I can hit a lot of good shots, create a lot of opportunities, and when the bounces or the breaks don’t quite go my way, I can have a decent chance for recovering.”
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Fellow Australian Karl Vilips is only one shot behind Ruffels after opening with a 68, while countryman Cam Davis shot 70.
In North Carolina, Matt McCarty birdied five of his first eight holes, three on spectacular putts from beyond 50 feet, and grabbed the lead in the storm-halted opening round of the Truist Championship.
On a day when Masters winner Rory McIlroy made 17 pars before a closing birdie, McCarty stole the show with long-distance putting accuracy he called surreal.
The 28-year-old American also birdied four of his last five holes to fire an eight-under par 63 and sit atop the leaderboard at Quail Hollow – which last year hosted the PGA Championship as well as the 2022 Presidents Cup.
Bad weather delayed the start by 90 minutes after more than two inches of overnight rain, and play was halted by storms with 20 of 72 players needing to finish the first round on Friday morning local time.
South Korean back-nine starter Im Sung-jae birdied six of his first eight holes and sank a 12-foot eagle putt at the par-five seventh to stand second on seven-under with one hole to play.
McCarty, who sank just over 220 feet in putts, was the first player since distance measuring was introduced by the PGA Tour to make three putts from beyond 50 feet in one round.
“You never really expect to make one of them, let alone three in the span of like five or six holes,” McCarty said.
“I’ve been focused on doing a lot of lag putting the last couple of days out here, just hitting a lot of shots and knowing how long in and I guess that paid off a little bit.” McCarty, who won his first PGA title at the 2024 Black Desert Championship in only his third tour start, was a runner-up to world number one Scottie Scheffler in January in the California desert and ninth last week at Doral.
“Being in the mix all week was really good for me,” McCarty said. “Game feels solid. Feel like I’m moving in the right direction.” McCarty started on the back nine and opened with a birdie putt from just inside five feet.
He added a birdie putt from just beyond 52 feet at the par-three 13th hole then birdied the 14th from just inside five feet.
At 16, McCarty rolled in another birdie putt stunner from just inside 60 feet and followed at the par-three 17th with a 52-foot birdie putt.
McCarty sank a birdie putt from just inside four feet at the fifth, missed the green and made bogey at the par-three sixth and answered with a tap-in birdie at the par-three seventh after reaching the green in two.
He birdied the eighth from 12 feet and closed with a third consecutive birdie after landing an incredible approach from 245 yards with a 7-wood just inches from the hole — but before the group ahead had finished the hole.
“I had no idea they were on the green,” McCarty said. “My bad. I’m sorry. I’m glad I didn’t push it because I might have killed somebody.”
Four-time Quail Hollow winner Rory McIlroy, the world number two from Northern Ireland, shot 70 in his first competitive round since winning his sixth major crown at last month’s Masters.
McIlroy opened on the back nine and made 17 pars in a row before sinking a 15-foot birdie putt at nine, raising his hands into the air and looking to the heavens after making the putt.
“I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie,” McIlroy said. “I was like just try to make one… I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there at the last.”
It was a tough opening round for the Australian contingent with Min Woo Lee leading the way in a tie for 45th with a one-over par 72.
After shooting 14-under across the weekend to climb into the top five at last week’s Cadillac Championship, Adam Scott sits last after an opening 76.
Jason Day was only one shot better in a tough start for the former world No.1s.
