Five LIV Golf players suffer embarrassment on first day at the PGA Championship as big questions need to be asked

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A total of 15 full-time LIV Golf players earned their spot at the 2025 PGA Championship, which is now underway at Quail Hollow.

PGA Tour star Xander Schauffele is out to defend his title this week, having triumphed at last year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

He was one of three players that the tournament was clearly looking to capitalise on, with Schauffele paired with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy for rounds one and two.

But only world number one Scheffler ended his Thursday on a high note out of the trio, finishing on two-over.

He sits T20 in the leaderboard, with Schauffele and McIlroy in T60 and T98 respectively heading into Friday.

Joaquin Niemann and Phil Mickelson among LIV Golf players struggling at PGA Championship

But suffering real embarrassment at Quail Hollow were five LIV Golf players, who really need to step up their games to make the weekend.

Joaquin Niemann (+3)

Patrick Reed thinks Niemann is playing the best golf outside Scheffler at this moment in time, but that is certainly up for debate.

Phil Mickelson has also talked up the Chilean, but after finishing T29 at The Masters, Niemann sits T98 after round one of the PGA Championship.

Brooks Koepka (+4)

With five major championship wins, including three at this event, Brooks Koepka has been there and done it all many times before.

READ MORE: Quail Hollow Club: A deep dive into the 2025 PGA Championship venue where Rory McIlroy holds the course record

But the former world number one no longer seems to be in contention at majors, missing the cut at The Masters and now sitting T112 at Quail Hollow.

Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith (+7)

Other LIV Golf icons Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith can be paired in the same bracket after disastrous starts this week, where they both carded opening rounds of seven-over.

Both are major champions, but both look a long way off repeating that success at the PGA Championship and indeed elsewhere.

Phil Mickelson (+8)

And perhaps rock bottom of the pile is Mickelson, with the six-time major champion one shot behind his fellow LIV Golf icons Johnson and Smith.

He opened with an eight-over 79, with only six players in the entire field having made a worse start than the American.

Similar LIV Golf storyline plays out early at the PGA Championship

To further pile on their misery, none of the five players are ahead of the PGA Tour superstar group of Scheffler, Schauffele and McIlroy, with Niemann level with the Northern Irishman at this stage.

And another intriguing yet perhaps predictable LIV Golf story is also seemingly playing out at the PGA Championship, with the usual suspects saving the league some face yet again.

READ MORE: One LIV Golf player could be under more pressure than Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship as criticism continues

Tyrrell Hatton enters day two in the top 10 after his three-under 68, with Jon Rahm two shots behind his Legion XIII teammate and Bryson DeChambeau a shot behind the Spaniard.

Once again, it looks like LIV Golf is reliant on the trio at major championships at this stage, while Legion XIII are currently playing out their own mini-battle.

Recent recruit Tom McKibbin joins Rahm on one-under, with the pair joined by teammate Hatton and Richard Bland of Cleeks GC as the four LIV Golf players to break par.

A big day now awaits all of the players on the Saudi-backed tour, and indeed many of their high-profile PGA Tour counterparts who have also struggled.