CHARLOTTE, N.C. >> Jhonattan Vegas played the best golf hardly anyone saw Thursday in the PGA Championship.

Brilliant sunshine after three days of rain brought out a full house of spectators expecting a great show. They just didn’t get it from who they came to see — Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele — and most of them were long gone when Vegas worked his magic in the late afternoon.

Two good par saves. Two short birdies. Another par save. And then three birdies at the end for a 7-under 64, giving the 40-year-old Venezuela his best score in 45 rounds at the majors and a two-shot lead on an opening day of surprises.

“Incredible,” Vegas said when asked to summarize his round. “Any chance you get to shoot 64 at a major championship is always great.”

Equally incredible is that for the first time in at least 30 years, none of the top 10 players in the world ranking could be found in the top 10 of the leaderboard after 18 holes at a major.

The biggest crowds belonged to the top three in the world, and it wasn’t nearly as inspiring as four of the last five majors they have combined to win.At his first major since winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, McIlroy didn’t make birdie over his last 12 holes and had nothing to say about that after a 3-over 74 sent him straight to the range.

Scheffler, the world No. 1, and defending PGA champion Schauffele had plenty to say about mud balls on tee shots, particularly on the 16th hole that sent both to double bogey. Scheffler at least holed two shots from off the green — one for birdie, one for eagle — and he finished with a 6-iron from 215 yards to 3 feet on No. 9 that sent him to a 69.

“I did a good job battling and keeping a level head out there during a day which there was definitely some challenging aspects to the course,” Scheffler said. “Did a good job posting a number on a day where I didn’t have my best stuff.”

Vegas tied for the lead by getting up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 seventh. He holed an 18-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 eighth. And on the rugged ninth hole, his tee shot held up in the grass just short of the bunker. He hit that to 25 feet and ended his amazing day with a third straight birdie.

He has never finished in the top 20 in a major and hadn’t qualified for this one in three years.

Vegas had a two-shot lead over Ryan Gerard, the PGA Tour rookie who grew up in North Carolina and was the only other player to reach 7 under until bogeys on his last two holes. He was joined at 66 by Cam Davis of Australia.

They weren’t the only players who might need an introduction to casual golf fans.

Alex Smalley, the first alternate who found out about 15 hours before he teed off that he had a spot in the field, rolled in a 70-foot eagle putt on his way to a 67. Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who qualified by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic, also was at 67.

They were joined by a large group that included Luke Donald, the 47-year-old Ryder Cup captain for Europe who was the only player without a bogey on his card. The U.S. captain, Keegan Bradley, was another shot behind.

None of the top eight players have won a major, nor have they ever seriously contended.

Scheffler at 69 had the best score of anyone from the top 10 in the world.