First round PGA Championship leader Steve Stricker was a putt away from becoming the first player to card a 62 in a major championship but said he was unaware he had a chance of making history.

The American equalled the lowest round in a major as he charged into an early two-shot lead on Thursday with the world number five firing a bogey-free seven-under-par 63 on a sweltering day at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Consistency has brought Stricker to fifth in the world rankings and the 44-year-old birdied five of his first nine holes before picking up two more shots after the turn.

On his final hole, the ninth, he needed a 12-foot putt for his eighth birdie of the day which would have taken him to the magic 62 that no one has achieved in any of the four majors.

Stricker, regarded as one of the best putters on tour, pushed his approach putt past the right edge of the cup and had to settle for a par, becoming the 23rd player to tie the major championship record with a 63.

Not that the softly-spoken American had any clue that he was on the brink of a record-breaking achievement.

“I know 63 is that number that no one has gotten under, but I really never thought about it at all today,” Stricker told reporters.

“(Caddie) Jimmy (Johnson) told me after I missed the putt, ’You know, that was for the lowest competitive round in history of major championships’, and I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot, it was’. It really never registered.

“I was just trying to make a birdie and finish at eight under, and I really was concentrating on the putt but never thought about the history part of it.” 

    MAJOR STATISTIC

For Stricker, though, there is one statistic that he is determined to change — the zero next to the number of major wins in his career.

“Obviously we’d all love to win a major and I’m no different; I try extremely hard to play well at majors,” the 11-times PGA Tour champion said.

“I’ve probably tried a little less harder the last few years than I had earlier on in my career. I think that’s just my game and my nature in the last few years has been to take it easier on myself while I’m playing.

“So I come in here with expectations to play well, I guess, but not that added extra pressure that I have to play well. I just try to go out and do my best, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do each and every tournament throughout the year.” 

That is a trick that many players try, often in vain — attempting to convince themselves that there is nothing special about the four biggest tournaments of the year.

“I try to downplay it,” Stricker said. “I keep trying to tell myself it’s just like any other tournament, we’re playing against the same guys we play against on a weekly basis.

“Try tricking yourself into thinking that there’s really nothing extra or different about this event, but knowing deep down that there is. That’s the trick.”