Xander Schauffele suffers a quadruple bogey at the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship

Xander Schauffele, a double major champion, referred to himself as "an idiot" following a challenging opening round at the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship in Japan on Thursday, where he recorded a quadruple-bogey eight.

His score of three-over 73 placed him ten strokes behind the first-round leader, American Taylor Moore, who achieved an eagle on the 18th hole, finishing with a score of 63.

The 2024 US PGA and British Open champion encountered difficulties when his errant tee shot on the par-four ninth hole at Narashino Country Club became lodged among tree roots. Despite two attempts to strike the ball free, he was unsuccessful and contemplated a third attempt before ultimately deciding to take a penalty drop for an unplayable lie, laughing at the situation.

"I almost wanted to take a photo of it, it was that bad," he remarked.

"I thought I could manage it, but that led me into trouble," he admitted. "I should have simply declared it unplayable, but I was stubborn and tried to hit it again before finally opting for the unplayable drop."

The eight was the sole blemish on an otherwise steady scorecard, which included one birdie and 16 pars.

"Overall, it was relatively low stress for most of the day," he stated after finishing tied for 70th place. "About 85% of the day was not particularly stressful."

Schauffele was not alone in facing challenges on a difficult day in Chiba, near Tokyo. Defending champion Collin Morikawa began with a birdie but encountered setbacks with a bogey on the fourth hole and a double bogey on the par-five sixth. He managed to recover with three additional birdies, finishing at one-under par with a score of 69.

"I went through a bit of a lull, missed a few targets, and started hitting some wayward shots," Morikawa explained. "Out here, missing fairways makes the course significantly tougher, and it becomes difficult to approach the pins."

Hideki Matsuyama, Japan's Olympic bronze medalist and a favorite among the home crowd, experienced a fluctuating round, recording five bogeys and four birdies for a one-over 71.

Moore's score of 63 placed him in sole possession of the lead, one stroke ahead of Americans Max Greyserman and Eric Cole, as well as Colombia's Nico Echavarria, all of whom recorded scores of 64.

SportsLigue