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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Majendie

PGA Championship 2023: Bryson DeChambeau takes clubhouse lead as Jon Rahm falters

A slimmed-down Bryson DeChambeau took the clubhouse lead during the opening round of the PGA Championship on Thursday.

The LIV Golf rebel, who famously bulked up for his brand of big-hitting golf, has performed a U-turn in recent weeks with a completely transformed diet.

And the decision appeared to pay dividends following a four-under-par opening round at Oak Hill Country Club.

Afterwards, he said: “It’s a fantastic round of golf at Oak Hill. I was looking at it throughout the week and was like, ‘man, I don’t know how shooting under par is even possible here on some of the golf holes’.

“Luckily, I was able to play some really good golf, hit a lot of fairways, did my job and made some putts.”

New-look: Bryson DeChambeau is reaping the benefits of a transformed approach (Getty Images)

The start to the opening round had been delayed by frost and darkness curtailed the day’s action with a number of players - 11 groups in all - still to complete their first 18 holes.

Among them was another LIV convert in Dustin Johnson, who was a shot behind DeChambeau on three-under with one hole still to play alongside countryman Scottie Scheffler.

Relatively unknown American Eric Cole has the on-course lead at five-under after the opening 14 holes.

It proved a mix day for Europe’s stars. Rory McIlroy, who admitted he was dealing with some unspecified illness in the lead-up, battled his way around the course to stay in contention at one-under.

But Masters winner Jon Rahm, of Spain, had a horror round as he ended up six-over par alongside England’s Matt Fitzpatrick.

Day to forget: Masters champion Jon Rahm endured a nightmare start at Oak Hill (USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con)

"I'm fighting something," McIlroy said.

"I thought I got a great night's sleep last night and I looked at my Whoop (personal fitness monitor) and I was 22 per cent recovery, and my skin temperature was 3.5 degrees higher than what it's been.

"But I actually feel better today than I felt yesterday, so plenty of water and a bit of rest, I'll be fine."

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