PGA Championship 2017 scores: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy stay in the hunt at Quail Hollow

We’re just 18 holes into the PGA Championship, but we’ve got a solid leaderboard and only a couple of the top players in the game have already played their way out of it. Here are three things to know after Thursday’s action in Charlotte:

My favorite joke to make in some two-day invitational or multi-round friends game is “You can’t win on the first day of the [such-and-such low stakes event], but you can lose it.” It’s a stupid joke for that occasion, and a horrible cliche for pro golf we hear too often. But it’s a cliche now because there is some truth to it. Phil Mickelson was ejected from the tournament on Thursday. Thorbjorn Olesen and Kevin Kisner are leading, but far from locks to win it just based on opening-round 67s.

Jordan Spieth lived this cliche on Thursday, scraping out a 1-over 72. At one point, it looked like he was booting his Slam chance away on his second nine (the front at Quail Hollow). Following back-to-back bogeys, Spieth was 3 over and looked flustered up on the greens, showing exasperation after burning edges on birdie opportunities and par saves. He’d look at his caddy, Michael Greller, incredulously multiple times on his second nine as he just tried to get in the house without throwing away shots.

But after those two straight bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes, Spieth responded with back-to-back birdies to mitigate the damage. It was a miniature, far less consequential response than the one that won him The Open, but it was still so Spiethian. You don’t want to overdo it on the praise — Spieth didn’t exactly light it up, but getting in the clubhouse at 1 over and well within reach of the top 10 was an accomplishment. He’s T33 after a day in which he said he “couldn’t putt any worse.” So, yeah, the Slam is still alive because he lived the cliche of not losing it on the first day.

Rory McIlroy shot the same score as Spieth, but his 72 felt like more like a missed opportunity, the opposite of that escape feeling with Spieth.

McIlroy just threw them away on his back nine, most notably at the drivable par-4 14th. There is no governor on the pedal with Rors at this course. He pulls driver on almost every hole. This happened repeatedly on Thursday as playing partners Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler took less than the big stick.

But on the 14th, which was set up at just 354 yards on Thursday, Rory went for it with a 3-wood got burned. The pin was back, which the stats geniuses at 15th club revealed is actually not the best birdie flag on what should not be too difficult a hole.

Rory was carrying balls 365 yards on the damn range on Wednesday, so that distance is obviously within reach — he didn’t even need to driver here. McIlroy, however, overcooked it and pulled one into the water. A bad mistake, but not the worst on a drivable par-4 where you’re already up by the green and can get up and down and still save par.

So the drive in the drink wasn’t the biggest mistake, but he was no longer working with any margin for error and what he did after that compounded it. He duffed a chip shot from this tricky Bermuda after taking his drop on the bank above the lake, then missed a bunny bogey putt to three-jack for a double 6.

McIlroy had worked too hard to that point to stay above water. The double put him over par for the round, where he’d stay but not for lack of opportunity. McIlroy hit a near-perfect shot at the challenging par-3 17th, getting it about as close you could. Again, he burned the edge to settle for par.

The 72, like Spieth, keeps Rory within reach of the lead. After the round, he seemed pleased enough and thought he played well — just threw some away on an easier three-hole stretch. He’s set the course record here twice and while it will likely play much more difficult than that throughout the next three days, he’s still capable of posting a mid-60s number real fast. The 72 just felt more frustrating than Spieth’s.

Aside from Rory and Jordan, the most scrutiny and eyeballs were on Tom Fazio’s work re-doing a chunk of the front nine at Quail Hollow. The man himself, The Faz, was out roaming the grounds on Thursday, blue blazer slung over his shoulder, watching the best in the world navigate his work.

The work started before the final round of last year’s Wells Fargo Championship was even over, with bulldozers and other equipment rolling in with the leaders still playing the back nine.

Fazio’s work has not been ripped, but it hasn’t exactly been praised. Most players just seem fine with everything, with the exception of the par-3 fourth hole. That’s an entirely new hole and not some re-routed or renovated version of what the players had faced in years prior. It seems a bit out of place. Grayson Murray, who held the early lead after a 3-under 68, didn’t hold back when asked about it.

“I think it’s definitely not like the other 17,” Murray said. “I mean, that’s the only way to put it. I played with Peter Uihlein today, and he hit a shot. I think he hit a 7-iron, and he landed two feet left pin high and it goes over the green and he makes 4. That’s a little absurd.”

Brooks Koepka, who I watched bogey the hole, said, “I think if they had made the green a little bit flatter — it would have been a bit better.”

The birdies were few and far between but that didn’t stop Joost Luiten from picking up the first ace of the championship, one-hopping it in.

We’d heard some grumbling about the hole, which is the shortest on the course and played at 181 yards on Thursday. Expect more complaints over the next three days and watch for the potential for goofy golf here as the leaders play the front nine on the weekend. Architects learn to cope with critiques of their work and the regal Faz may have to deal with some there during this high-profile championship.

Kisner and Olesen are your leaders with 54 to play. Kisner may not be a well-known player in the wider sports world, but he’d be a great champion here and would be fun to root for on the weekend.

Here’s your leaderboard after 18 in Charlotte: