Rory McIlroy tied for Wells Fargo Championship lead with little-known Joel Dahmen

Nobody plays Quail Hollow Club like Rory McIlroy does. Except on Thursday, during the Wells Fargo Championship’s first round, Joel Dahmen did.

McIlroy, the Wells Fargo Championship’s only two-time winner, and Dahmen, a PGA Tour journeyman from Washington state, are on opposite ends of the golfing spectrum. But they’re tied for the first-round lead at Quail Hollow Club after shooting 5-under par 66s.

McIlroy did it by going on a shot-making binge on the back nine. He made birdies on 10 and 11, three more in a row on holes 14-16. He nearly made another on No. 18 but his 15-foot putt slid past the hole.

Dahmen, who doesn’t have a Tour victory and whose best finish this season is a tie for ninth at the Farmers Insurance Open, had a bogey-free round, capped by a birdie on the demanding closing hole.

As well as McIlroy and Dahmen played, they don’t have much separation from the field. Five players are a stroke back, including 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed. Nine more, including 2018 Wells Fargo champ Jason Day, are two strokes behind with 68s.

Another jumbo-sized group – including world No. 2 Justin Rose and Charlotte-resident Webb Simpson – are at 2-under.

Playing in the afternoon, when temperatures rose to the mid-80s and the Quail Hollow greens turned crispy and fast, McIlroy’s birdie tear included a 5-foot putt on the 10th, a 2-footer on 11, a 7-footer on 14, a 12-footer on 15 and a 9-footer on 16.

“I felt like I hit it like I should have short sort of 1 or 2 under par,” McIlroy said. “Not that I deserved to shoot 5 under, but I got the most out of it, which is nice.”

Dahmen made a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to tie McIlroy at the top.

“Is my best as good as Rory’s? Absolutely not,” Dahmen said. “Is my best good enough to compete week in and week out? Absolutely. But I need to do this all weekend.”

We’ll find out about that again, starting Friday.

Five who mattered

Rory McIlroy: Tournament leader had a so-so start, then blitzed the back nine with five birdies, finishing with a 5-under 66.

Joel Dahmen: Birdie on No. 18 tied him for the lead with McIlroy. Didn’t have a bogey all day.

Patrick Reed: Pretty much a mistake-free day for the 2018 Masters winner. Five birdies, no bogeys and he’s a shot behind the leaders.

Jason Day: Tournament’s 2018 champion had an up-and-down day, but managed a 68, good enough to tie for eighth. Day’s only bogeys came on the par-5 seventh hole and the tricky 18th.

Webb Simpson: A Charlotte resident and Quail Hollow member, Simpson started slowly, with three bogeys on front nine. He then reeled off birdies on five of the next eight holes. He’s three shots back.

Worth mentioning

▪ Gastonia’s Harold Varner III never got going, finishing with a 6-over 77. Playing early with Day and Mickelson, Varner started his round with bogey, double bogey, double bogey and bogey. That’s tough to recover from and Varner never did.

▪ Bill Haas, who also played at Wake Forest, tied for the lead after birdies on the seventh and eighth holes, but fell back after a bogey on No. 9.

▪ World No. 2 Justin Rose opened his round by making a 41-foot putt for birdie on the first hole. Rose had a few bad holes on the back nine (bogeys on 12, 13 and 17) and finished with a 1-under 70.

Observations

▪On No. 16, a fan shouted at Sergio Garcia during his shot and caused Garcia to leave it short. Garcia glared. Once Garcia made his putt and started walking to No. 17, he warned the fan to behave or he’d have to leave Quail Hollow early.

▪ Pat Perez, who is tied for 14th after shooting a 2-under 69, had quite the adventure on the par-5 7th. Perez, who tied for second at the Wells Fargo in 2017 when the tournament was played in Wilmington, hit his drive into the water right of the fairway. After taking a penalty and two shots later, Perez found himself 29 feet from the hole on the fringe of the green. He chipped in for bogey.

▪ One of the oddest rounds of the day belonged to Adam Schenk, who is tied for second with Reed, former Charlotte resident Martin Laird and Nick Taylor. Starting on the 10th hole, Schenk had five birdies and two bogeys on his front nine. His back nine consisted of eight consecutive pars before a birdie on the 10th (his final) hole.

▪ Don’t sleep on Ireland’s Seamus Power, who tied for fifth in New Orleans last week and tied for sixth at Hilton Head the week before. Power started his round Thursday with 12 consecutive pars and finished with a 2-under 69, three off the lead.

▪ McIlroy might have hit the shot of the day, although he didn’t really take advantage of it. McIlroy’s drive on the par-4 12th bounced into the left-side rough and behind two trees. He guided his second shot between the trees, and the ball eventually settled 8 feet from the hole. He missed the putt, however, settling for a par.

“I probably didn’t deserve to make the putt after the tee shot,” McIlroy said.

▪ Dahmen didn’t see Tiger Woods win the Masters because he was playing in a tournament called the “Hack Masters” in his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz.

“I’m the only idiot in the world that didn’t watch it,” Dahmen said.

They said it

“It gives you an idea.” – Phil Mickelson, on the similarities between the wide fairways at Quail Hollow and Bethpage Black in New York, site of the PGA Championship in two weeks.

“It was a boring day, really.” – Patrick Reed.

“You rarely have two nines in a row like that.” – Adam Schenk, on the odds that his back nine, which included eight consecutive pars, would mirror his front nine, which had five birdies and two bogeys.

“The ball went forever on 5; it went forever on 8.” -- Webb Simpson, on how he made bogeys on the fifth and eight holes.

Friday’s weather

Cloudy, high of 85. 20% chance of rain.

This story was originally published May 2, 2019 at 9:36 AM.