Vegas stormed up the leaderboard on Thursday with five birdies over his final six holes for a seven-under-par 64 at North Carolina’s Quail Hollow Club that left him two shots clear of Australian Cam Davis and little-known American Ryan Gerard.
The 40-year-old Vegas felt the course, saturated by heavy rain this week, dried up as the day went on and allowed him to take advantage of better scoring conditions.
“I got lucky that I was able to tee off very late and the course obviously is drying very quick,” Vegas said after becoming the first Venezuelan to hold the lead or co-lead in a major.
“So I was able to take advantage a little bit of those conditions at the end of the day today.
“But obviously a solid round from beginning to end. Good way to start.”
Vegas, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, snatched the outright lead with an 18-foot birdie putt at his penultimate hole, the par-four eighth, and then padded his lead when he drained a 26-footer at his final hole.
Much had been made about McIlroy’s chances this week given his past success at Quail Hollow and because he ended a near 11-year drought at majors with a Masters win last month that freed him from the burden of chasing the career Grand Slam.
But the Northern Irishman struggled mightily off the tee and did not address the media after posting a disappointing three-over-par 74 that left him well off the pace.
Davis, who earlier this year missed five consecutive cuts, started his round before Vegas and was the outright leader before a bogey at his final hole left him level with Gerard.
“I haven’t been having the best results on courses lately over the last few months and been working really hard to turn that around,” said Davis.
“And to see the first real sign that it’s turning around happen in the first round of a major, it’s very encouraging.”
Sitting three shots back of Vegas in a share of fourth place is a group of five players that included 47-year-old European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.
While some familiar players are in contention, there were no top-10 golfers in the world among the top 10 on the leaderboard which, according to Elias Sports Bureau, is only the second time that has happened dating back to 1994. (Reuters)
