Patrick Rada, a former Gamecock and an ambassador for state of SC, makes PGA memories

The alarm went off at 4 a.m. to begin a day that Patrick Rada will cherish forever.

“Amazing,” he said in recounting his Thursday at the Ocean Course in the opening round of the 103rd PGA Championship that included a series of “firsts” in his golf career.

The tournament would not only be his first PGA Tour-caliber event but also his first major championship. Perhaps most significant, he received the honor of hitting the tournament’s first shot.

Not only that, Rada “got here in the dark and being the first person on the range ... that was a surreal moment for me,” he said after his 4-over-par 76. “The sun’s coming up and I’m there on the range by myself and with Daniel, my caddie. That’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Rada, 33, represents the beauty of the PGA Championship. Twenty spots are reserved for PGA of America members — club pros — and he earned his place in a playoff in the PGA Club Professional Championship.

After qualifying, he almost immediately heard reports that officials “might want me to lead off the tournament, being from South Carolina and spending so much time in the state.”

The rumors became fact on Tuesday and Rada couldn’t wait for the highlight of his golf career that began in Anderson, South Carolina.

He sparkled in high school and junior golf, played four years at the University of South Carolina and began his career path at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina.

“I pretty much started coming to South Florida in the winter in the Jupiter area at McArthur Golf Club (in Hobe Sound, Florida),” he said. “I’ve been at McArthur since June of 2012, first seasonally and full time in 2016.

“But all my family is in South Carolina, my wife’s family, too, and we’re tearing up I-95 a good bit to see family.”

His cheering section — “my wife, father, brother, aunt and uncle, a crew of 12 to 15 people,” he said — shared the moments and, he added, “I couldn’t be more blessed to have those individuals here.”

Rada, playing with Cameron Tringale and Adam Long, started the tournament just like he dreamed.

“I hit a great drive and that kind of got me into the round,” he said.

He bogeyed his first three holes, then played solid golf the remainder of the way.

“I hit some good shots” on the first three holes without receiving a reward, he said. “On 2, the par-5, I wedged it, landed it right by the cup and it spins off down the swale. Unfortunately, I made 6.

“I wasn’t playing poorly. ... I told myself to stick to what you’ve been doing, and I was able to make a few birdies there in the middle stretch of the golf course and kind of right the ship.”

He birdied the par-3 fifth and the par-4 ninth, the latter with his putter from off the green. He added another birdie at the par-4 No. 12, then — playing into the stiff wind — bogeyed two of his final five holes.

“Those final five holes, back into the wind, are such a good test,” he said. “Two par-3s and I’m hitting a strong 3-iron in. The par-4s, really good holes, I have a 3-iron or a 3-wood (on the par-5 16th). They’re long holes. They’re challenging for everybody.”

Rada, who received pre-tournament advice from friend and mentor Nick Price at McArthur, can look back and see a multitude of golf memories worth keeping.

He won the 4A state championship his senior year at T. L. Hanna High, placed second in the South Carolina junior rankings, made AJGA All-America and played in the 2006 U.S. Amateur. At Carolina, he racked up second- and third-place tournament finishes and posted a career-best 66 his senior year.

He added more forever-memories to his collection Thursday.

Leaderboard: PGA Championship scores

As of late Thursday:

• Multiple golfers were tied for the lead at 3-under-par, including Keegan Bradley, Viktor Howland, Brooks Koepka and Aaron Wise.
• Defending PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa shot a 2-under-par 70.
• RBC Heritage winner Stewart Cink shot a 1-under 71
• Bryson DeChambeau shot even par on the day.
• Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas each shot a 3-over 75. Dustin Johnson was 2-over par through 7 holes.
  
  

This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 3:13 PM.