2014 PGA Championship leaderboard: Valhalla yielding low scores, Justin Rose makes move

It’s pouring again at Valhalla, so we could see some more low scores late in the afternoon as the course continues to soften up. The PGA of America has refused to implement lift, clean, and place so there may be some unpredictable mudballs that prevent an all-out birdiefest. But by and large, the best players in the world are going to take aim at these pins and shoot some mid-60s rounds.

Theses conditions are just right for Rory McIlroy’s game, accentuating his length advantage off the tee and holding his high, accurate darts into the pins. If he plays anything like he has for a month now, he’ll stay in the lead and probably extend it. But the rounds are out there for one of the chasers to make a big move and go super low.

We’re still almost three hours from the final pairing’s tee time, but the early groups are demonstrating that scores are out there. Justin Rose is the first mover, going out in a downpour and playing his first eight holes in 4-under. Rose was the previous “hottest player on the planet” last month before McIlroy turned it on at Hoylake, so it’s not surprising to see him make a charge. He started at even-par, so he’s still five shots off the pace of number that’s surely to inch upwards by the end of the day. But if he can roll in an eagle on one of those back nine par-5s and keep posting red numbers, Rose can at least give himself some slight hope heading into Sunday. We know he has the game to come from behind and win a major championship, he’s just so dependent on the guys ahead of him, who are world-class and hot at the moment.

Another early mover after Rose is Hideki Matsuyama, who drained three birdies in his first four holes. He’s now 3-under through his first 11. Matsuyama is in the same class with Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, and Jordan Spieth, as a 26-and-under class trying to match contemporary McIlroy.

Here are some of the early scores out on the course, where 16 players are already in the red and just eight are over par. It should be a moving day that lives up to its name.

And here’s the group they’re chasing at the top of the leaderboard.