He hasn't contended at a major in a decade, but Luke Donald in the hunt at PGA

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Luke Donald is turning the Queen City into Redeem City.

Heading into the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow this week, even considering the 47-year-old Englishman a long shot to contend might have been generous. Once part of a back-and-forth battle with Rory McIlroy for the world No. 1 ranking, Donald has been absent from leaderboards for the better part of a decade. His attention of late has been on the Ryder Cup, where he captained the European Team to a 2023 win, and he will be in charge this fall at Bethpage Black.

Donald, the golfer, arrived in Charlotte this week ranked No. 871 in the Official World Golf Rankings. This was just his sixth major start since 2016. He hasn’t made a cut in a year. He hasn’t finished in the top 40 at a major in a decade, hasn’t placed in the top 10 in a dozen years — and hasn’t won since a 2013 Japan Golf Tour event.

Donald — who along with Lee Westwood are the only former world No. 1 golfers without a major victory — was only in the field this week because he was the European captain. That was clear in the lead-up.

During his news conference Wednesday, reporters asked Donald 17 questions. Fourteen were about the Ryder Cup. One was about Rory McIlroy. One was about Sepp Straka. One was about his college teammate. None were about Donald, the golfer.

A day later, Donald was back in the interview room — and finally, people cared once again about Donald, the golfer.

He earned it after firing a bogey-free, 4-under 67 during the opening round at Quail Hollow, walking off the 18th green with a major lead, though he was eventually passed by Ryan Gerard.

“You know, obviously I’ve been trending with all the missed cuts coming into this week,” he said jokingly. “But no, it was a pleasant surprise. I got off to a really nice, steady start. I hit a bunch of fairways on the front nine, which always makes me feel good about my game.”

It’s odd that the first thing he pointed to was his play off the tee, because at 47, Donald is not capable of playing Quail Hollow as a bomber would, just blasting driver and hopefully hitting a wedge or short iron into the green. No, Donald lost more than a stroke off the tee and then scrambled his way to the top of the leaderboard.

He was a wizard around the green. Ten times he missed the green in regulation — including five trips into the sand — and 10 times, he came away with par. On greens that gave the best players in the world fits Thursday, Donald was sinking everything.

In total, he made nearly 107 feet worth of putts — including five from beyond 9 feet.

“I just kept it sort of where the up-and-downs were very manageable,” Donald said. “I adjusted very well to (the greens), and I made a lot of good, solid putts out there.”

Donald’s sudden discovery of the magic youth elixir Thursday is not the result of some swing change or a course that perfectly suits him. It seems it is the result of a little oil on the gears. It’s easier to play better when you’re playing more.

“(This was) probably the first time this year I had two weeks in a row,” he said. “Playing a minimized schedule sounds nice, but it’s quite difficult to get in a competitive mode.”

Whether Donald can put together another great day Friday, or even into the weekend, remains to be seen. But, for now, Donald is back near the top of the leaderboard.

Friday’s PGA Championship tee times

Morning, from No. 1 tee

7 a.m.: Adam Hadwin, Keith Mitchell, Bob Sowards

7:11 a.m.: Eric Cole, Cam Davis, Eric Steger

7:22 a.m.: Brian Bergstol, Jacob Bridgeman, Austin Eckroat

7:33 a.m.: Brian Hun An, Niklas Norgaard, J.J. Spaun

7:44 a.m.: Dean Burmester, Patrick Rodgers, Nick Taylor

7:55 a.m.: Joe Highsmith, Aaron Rai, Cameron Young

8:06 a.m.: Tom Hoge, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith

8:17 a.m.: Patton Kizzire, Matt McCarty, Rasmus Neergaard-Peterson

8:28 a.m.: Richard Bland, Tyler Collet, Jimmy Walker

8:39 a.m.: Jason Dufner, Shaun Micheel, Michael Thorbjornsen

8:50 a.m.: Rafael Campos, Ryan Lenahan, Matt Wallace

9:01 a.m.: Brian Campbell, Elvis Smylie, Jhonattan Vegas

9:12 a.m.: Larkin Gross, Johnny Keefer, Kevin Yu

Morning, from No. 10 tee

7:05 a.m.: Michael Kartrude, Jake Knapp, Sami Valikami

7:16 a.m.: Michael Block, Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Van Rooyen

7:27 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Max Homa, Joaquin Niemann

7:38 a.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott, Will Zalatoris

7:49 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Colin Morikawa, Justin Thomas

8 a.m.: Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth

8:11 a.m.: Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama

8:22 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Gary Woodland

8:33 a.m.: Daniel Berger, Sergio Garcia, Russell Henley

8:44 a.m.: Brian Harman, Justin Rose, Cameron Smith

8:55 a.m.: Brandon Bingaman, Sungjae Im, Davis Riley

9:06 a.m.: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Takumi Kanaya, Tom McKibbin

9:17 a.m.: Beau Hossler, Keita Nakajima, Timothy Wiseman

Afternoon, from No. 1 tee

12:30 p.m.: Ryan Fox, Justin Hicks, John Parry

12:41 p.m.: Andre Chi, Patrick Fishburn, Seamus Power

12:52 p.m.: Mac McGreevy, Alex Smalley, Sepp Straka

1:03 p.m.: Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry

1:14 p.m.: Jason Day, Tommy Fleetwood, Phil Mickelson

1:25 p.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm

1:36 p.m.: Corey Conners, Rasmus Hojgaard, Min Woo Lee

1:47 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler

1:58 p.m.: Tony Finau, Max Greyserman, Nicolai Hojgaard

2:09 p.m.: Keegan Bradley, Maverick McNealy, Andrew Novak

2:20 p.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Sam Burns, Denny McCarthy

2:31 p.m.: John Catlin, Jesse Droemer, Garrick Higgo

2:42 p.m.: Eugenio Chacarra, Justin Lower, Rupe Taylor

Afternoon, from No. 10 tee

12:25 p.m.: Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer

12:36 p.m.: Taylor Moore, David Puig, John Somers

12:47 p.m.: Nic Ishee, Kurt Kitayama, Alex Noren

12:58 p.m.: Ryo Hisatune, Tom Johnson, J.T. Poston

1:09 p.m.: Bud Cauley, Nico Echavarria, Davis Thompson

1:20 p.m.: Thomas Detry, Harris English, Michael Kim

1:31 p.m.: Stephan Jaeger, Chris Kirk, Robert MacIntyre

1:42 p.m.: Laurie Canter, Thorbjorn Olesen, Karl Vilips

1:53 p.m.: Rico Hoey, Si Woo Kim, Sam Stevens

2:04 p.m.: Bobby Gates, Ben Griffin, Lee Hodges

2:15 p.m.: Nick Dunlap, Harry Hall, Thriston Lawrence

2:26 p.m.: Ryan Gerard, Greg Koch, Marco Penge

2:37 p.m.: Dylan Newman, Victor Perez, Daniel Van Tonder

How to watch: PGA Championship

Friday’s second round will be carried by the ESPN family of networks. Coverage from 7 a.m.-noon will be on ESPN+, with ESPN handling coverage from noon-7 p.m.

Saturday’s and Sunday’s rounds will be on ESPN and CBS. Coverage begins each day at 8 a.m. on ESPN+, moves to ESPN from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., and then to CBS from 1-7 p.m.