Xander Schauffele set the early target at the PGA Championship, firing a record equalling opening round nine-under 62 at Valhalla Golf Club on Thursday as the Olympic champion looked to atone for a shock loss at the Wells Fargo.

Schauffele, who held a final round two stroke lead at Quail Hollow on Sunday before losing by five shots to Rory McIlroy, was a man on a mission in Louisville and he matched the men's major championship low score – for the second time.

Despite an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo and an proven ability to go low, the 30-year-old American has yet to win a major and is without a win since the 2022 Scottish Open.

While there is a lot of golf to be played, the world number three signalled he plans to end both droughts with a brilliant error-free opening round that matched his first round effort at last year's U.S. Open.

"I'll take a 62 in any major any day," said Schauffele. "Not winning makes you want to win more, as weird as that is.

"The top feels far away, and I feel like I have a lot of work to do."

Perhaps, but Schauffele's 62 will be tough to beat on a sunny day at Valhalla. He is sitting in the clubhouse a comfortable three shots clear of Tony Finau and Sahith Theegala on six-under 65.

Lurking four off the pace on five-under are red hot world number two McIlroy and Scotsman Robert MacIntyre.

McIlroy, coming off back-to-back PGA Tour wins, carried that momentum into the first round. He rolled in a six-footer for a birdie on his opening hole, the par five 10th, then picked up a second at the 13th to briefly join a crowd at the top of the leaderboard.

But the Northern Irishman, who announced on Monday that he had filed for divorce, stalled after the early burst. He took a bogey at the 17th before hitting his stride again after the turn by carding four birdies, including three straight from the fifth coming home.

Defending champion and LIV Golf standard bearer Brooks Koepka, bidding to become the tournament's first repeat winner since he retained the title in 2019, looked a threat to add a fourth Wanamaker trophy to his collection after returning a four-under 67 highlighted by an eagle, birdie, par finish.

Tiger Woods, who collected one of his 15 major titles at Valhalla in 2000 with a playoff win over Bob May, opened with a one-over 72 but lamented a sloppy bogey, bogey finish to his day. (Reuters)