PGA Championship full of unlikely leaders and drama in first round

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Weird day.Where do we start when trying to describe the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday at Quail Hollow?With the list of unlikely and lesser-known players leading through the opening 18 holes.Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas — who has played 16 career majors, missed the cut in 10 of them and has never finished within the top-20 in any of them — leads the tournament after shooting a startling 7-under-par 64.It was the lowest round he’s ever played in a major and was made possible by birdies on five of his final six holes, capped off with one on his final hole of the day, No.

9, at 8 p.m.with almost no one remaining in the grandstands. “It’s what we dream of, playing well in a major championship,’’ Vegas said.

“I’ve been trying to prioritize playing well in major championships, letting it come to me and not putting too much pressure on myself.  “Obviously, it worked out today.The game’s there.

You can’t get ahead of yourself in this game.We’ve just got to go out tomorrow and repeat what we did today.’’Cam Davis and Ryan Gerard are one shot back after shooting 5-under-par 66s.“The only way you shoot a good score is by not trying to shoot a really good score,’’ Davis said.

“I had no inklings that a low [score] was out there when I teed off, but 5-under is a pretty low score in a major actually, so I’m pretty happy with it.’’Davis and Gerard are followed by 47-year-old European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, along with Alex Smalley, Ryan Fox, Aaron Rai and Stephan Jaeger, all of whom shot 4-under-par 67s.Where, you ask, is world No.2 Rory McIlroy, a month removed from completing the career Grand Slam with his Masters victory and a four-time PGA Tour winner at Quail Hollow?He is 3-over after shooting a sketchy 74 with just four fairways hit.

He’s 10 shots out of the lead.Considering that 34 of the past 35 PGA champions were within six shots of the lead after the opening round, that’...