Xander Schauffele is your Round 1 leader at the Wells Fargo Championship after carding a 7-under 64 at Quail Hollow Club on Thursday — a score that was aided by a questionable relief ruling on the par-4 8th hole.

Schauffele, who played the back-nine first, came out firing with five birdies in his first seven holes (he bogeyed no. 18) for a front-nine 32. He parred every hole after the turn, except for a near-albatross on the par-5 7th.

Controversy came on the next hole, his last of the day. Schauffele blasted his tee shot into a wooded area full of thick greenery by a chain-linked fence. His playing partner, Wyndham Clark, ended up finding the ball just before the three-minute search period ended. His caddie, Austin Kaiser was able to move around a heavy rock, clearing space for Schauffele's backswing.

Schauffele called over a rules official to let him know the direction he intended to hit. The official politely informed Xander that, because of a protrusive ShotLink cable, he could have relief. Xander was allowed to drop the ball two club lengths over from his spot, setting a relatively easy pitch from the mulch to the green. He two-putted for par.

“Got really lucky multiple times,” Schauffele recounted post-round. “One with Wyndham finding it, two, being able to move the rocks, and three, the ShotLink tower being in, like, my only shot line possible. To walk out there with sort of a no-breeze 4, with what I thought was almost out, was a really good break.

“I brought the rules official in there with me because I was like, ‘You’ve got to be okay with this because this is literally the only shot I can hit. So Austin and I moved two massive rocks that weren’t embedded and then I got relief out of the junk and then hit a pretty good shot on the green from there.

“What was a very stressful moment turned into a pretty stressless par.”

You can watch the ordeal here:

McIlroy, meanwhile, shot a sterling 31 on the front-nine, but was a bit more up and down following the turn (at least he appears to compartmentalizing better than Patrick Cantlay, who shot 2-0ver). He finished with a 4-under 67.

Rory's impressive round was highlighted by a 50-foot eagle on the par-5 7th. The world no. 2 — coming off his 25th PGA tour win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans — is a three-time winner at Quail Hollow.

Elsewhere, Collin Morikawa (-4) continued his strong form since the Masters. Two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas shot an encouraging 3-under in his third event without Jim “Bones” Mackay. The lengthy Quail Hollow is considered an apt corollary for Valhalla, the site of next week's PGA Championship.

Schauffele, the no. 4 ranked player in the world, is yet to enter the winner's circle but he's probably been the second-most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour in 2024.  Schauffele is still seeking his first major victory.

World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler — winner of four of his last five PGA Tour starts, including the Masters — is sitting out the Wells Fargo.

The 69-person, no-cut Wells Fargo Championship is the sixth of eight Signature Events of the 2024 PGA Tour season. The winner will pocket $3.6 million of the $20 million purse.