OXFORDSHIRE'S Eddie Pepperell struggled to recover from a poor opening to finish the first round of the US PGA Championship with a two-over-par 72.

The Frilford Heath member double bogeyed the par-five fifth and then dropped another shot at the sixth hole at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri.

Pepperell clawed one back with a birdie at nine, only to immediately drop a shot at the tenth.

He looked like getting back on track with birdies at the 11th and 14th, only for another bogey at 15 seeing him slip back to two over.