After more than two inches of rain fell at Quail Hollow Club between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, players took to the golf course around noon ET to begin the 2026 Truist Championship with Matt McCarty ultimately setting the early pace. The PGA Tour sophomore soared to new heights in the first round, thanks to a red-hot putter, carding an 8-under 63, good for a one-stroke lead over Sungjae Im.
The first round was suspended at 7:10 p.m. due to inclement weather in the area with just a handful of groups left on the golf course.
“Been playing some good golf for the last few weeks,” McCarty said. “… I wasn’t hitting it that great early, but you make a bunch of 50-plus footers and it kind of gets your day going. Hit it a lot better on the back nine and nice to get a few coming home for sure.”
McCarty rolled in putts from everywhere in Round 1, tallying a total of 220 feet of makes. Those connections came in the form of birdies on No. 13 (52 feet), No. 16 (59 feet) and No. 17 (52 feet). With those makes alone, the left-hander became the first player in the ShotLink era to hole three putts longer than 50 feet in a single round. Six more birdies flew onto his scorecard as well and were offset by just a single bogey.
“I spent a lot of time the last couple [of] days lag putting on these greens because you know you’re going to have a lot of club in and not be as close as normal,” McCarty said. “I guess that kind of paid off. Honestly, I felt like they were a little too quick for me, so I think this rain slowed ’em down to a perfect amount.”
While McCarty made everything, four-time tournament champion Rory McIlroy could not buy a putt for most of his first round. The Masters champion remained patient, however, cruising to a relatively stress-free opening 70 to put him seven strokes off the early pace.
“I wasn’t frustrated; I was hitting good putts,” McIlroy said. “Some days they just don’t want to go in. … I over-read a couple on the front side. Then, I underread a couple as a reaction to the overreads. I was just sort of trying to — it was more of a read thing than — I was starting the ball on my line and hitting good putts. I just needed to figure out the reads a little bit better. But sort of felt like I got into it by the end of the round.”
Although McIlroy’s Northern Ireland flag was not among them, European flags littered the first page of the leaderboard. Reigning champion Sepp Straka stands at 5 under alongside his Ryder Cup teammate, Nicolai Højgaard, as well as PGA Tour rookie Kristoffer Reitan and Harry Hall.
Tommy Fleetwood was one worse with his 67, which was matched later in the evening by the newest PGA Tour member, Alex Fitzpatrick, who continues to ride the momentum from his Zurich Classic victory.
Leader
1. Matt McCarty (-8): When you make 220 feet of putts, that is going to be the headliner, but McCarty was more than just his putter in the first round. While three of his birdies came from outside 50 feet, five of his other six came from inside 5 feet, showing his ball-striking was in form. One approach shot of particular interest was McCarty’s second into his final hole, the par-4 9th. Standing in the middle of the fairway, he struck a pearl with a fairway wood only to find out the group in front of him was still around the green. Luckily for McCarty (and those in front), his ball settled inside 3 feet from the pin.
“I feel really bad about that,” McCarty said. “Like, just didn’t see those guys. … You never want to hit into anybody, but I’m glad I didn’t push it and actually hit somebody and that I hit it to a couple feet. It was a good finish, but yeah, maybe just moving a little fast with the storm coming in and didn’t take that extra second to look. But I guess it is what it is. I hope they aren’t too upset with me.”
Contenders
2. Sungjae Im (-7)
T3. Kristoffer Reitan, Nick Taylor, Harry Hall, Nicolai Højgaard, Sepp Straka (-5)
T8. Corey Conners, Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Fitzpatrick, David Lipsky, Tony Finau (-4)
Through the first three months of his rookie season, Reitan had just one top-20 finish (PGA National). With some experience under his belt and his feet underneath him, the Norwegian has seemingly turned the corner with three top-15 finishes in his last four tournaments, the outlier being a made cut in his Masters debut. Earning his PGA Tour status by finishing inside the top 10 in the Race to Dubai last season, Reitan is looking to buck a trend of Europeans struggling stateside. If his first round 66 was any indication of what is ahead, he will continue to improve his place in the season-long race (No. 54) and maybe even this leaderboard.
“A little bit more comfortable, yeah,” Reitan said. “Posting some good scores, yeah, some decent results as well is helpful, just to feel like you belong out here among the best players in the world. I saw Ryan Fox did an interview where he was talking about getting comfortable, and then it took him quite a while. That’s what I’m trying to do is just get to a place where I can feel a little bit more comfortable, so that I can try to showcase my skills. The last few weeks have definitely helped.”
Near-career first from McIlroy
In the first round since his electric Masters victory, McIlroy started his day with not one, not two, but 17 straight pars! On the cusp of completing his first round on the PGA Tour with 18 pars, the six-time major champion will leave the accomplishment unchecked as he wrapped a 9 iron around the bend on the par-4 9th to 15 feet and buried his lone birdie of the afternoon to sign for a 1-under 70.
“I didn’t [want to make all pars],” McIlroy said. “I was thinking more like I knew that I made so many pars, but I was thinking I can’t remember the last time I played a round of golf and didn’t have a birdie. I was, like, ‘Just try to make one.’ I knew, I felt like I didn’t make birdie at 7, didn’t make birdie at 8, so then I thought my chance had passed me by, but nice to see one putt go in there at the last.”
2026 Truist Championship updated odds, picks
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
- Cameron Young: 6-1
- Matt McCarty: 6-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 9-1
- Rory McIlroy: 10-1
- Nicolai Højgaard: 11-1
- Sepp Straka: 13-1
- Xander Schauffele: 13-1
- Ludvig Åberg: 16-1
- Kristoffer Reitan: 19-1
- Sungjae Im: 19-1
It is still a wide-open tournament through 18 holes, which gives us the ability to be a little creative. If one were to back both McIlroy and Ludvig Åberg (-2), they would likely have at least one horse in the race come Sunday. McIlroy drove the ball poorly on the par 5s and didn’t make much on the greens, while Åberg ranked third from tee to green and near the bottom of the field in putting. They both appear primed for a low round to put them back in this tournament.
