Justin Thomas leaves PGA Championship viewers speechless after dodging disaster

Justin Thomas found himself taking his shoes and socks off to plant himself in a water hazard - avoiding a drop - as he produced a stunning recovery shot on the 18th in the opening round of the .

The two-time Major winner, who won this event when it was , showed how imaginative he could be as he avoided potential disaster on the final hole. His approach splashed into the water before bounding up off of a rock and settling just next to the creek.

Choosing not to just accept a drop he opted to step into the creek before hitting an open-stance chip shot to about 12 feet after several practice swings for what was a hugely unorthodox shot.

Thomas couldn't sink the par putt and finished his day with a bogey five, but the outcome could've been much worse were it not for him getting wet.

Two-time US Open winner Curtis Strange, working as an analyst for ESPN, said: "Don't do it" as he geared up. After seeing the end result he said "it's better than that" when his colleague labelled it as "incredible."

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Those watching were equally as stunned by Thomas' brilliance. One said: "Amazing recovery I wish he would’ve made The putt". Another added: "That's an incredible save. He was doing it all day long." The sentiment continued with: "How did he manage to do that. That's amazing."

Thomas did struggle in the opening round despite his magic effort, finishing with a two-over 73. That leaves him nine shots off the lead set by Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas, who birdied five of his final six holes to set the pace. He is two clear of American Ryan Gerard and Australian Cam Davis.

The course recently received a heavy dose of rain, which has created difficult conditions. That has rattled certain players, among them. When conditions are that soggy balls can embed into the turf and pick up globs of mud when they reemerge.

Scheffler said: "I don’t believe hitting it in the middle of the fairway should result in a penalty. This course is in great condition, and most lies are very good. So I get the ‘play it as it lies’ purist mindset. But I don’t think they understand what it’s like to work your whole life learning to hit and control a golf ball - only to have that taken away by a random rule decision."

Rory McIlroy endured a difficult first 18 holes - he sits one shot behind Thomas and ten off the lead as his hopes of back-to-back Majors looks bleak.