Piercy gets up and down at 9 from 60 yards, a wonderful way to end the day. He signs for a 68, a couple behind the leader Dustin Johnson. So here’s how the story ends after the opening round. See you tomorrow!
-6: D Johnson
-5: Lingmerth
-4: Henley, Kuchar, English, Holmes, Day, Lee, Jones, Piercy
-3: Steele, Bjorn, Morrison, Rose
Over five hours for a round of golf. It’s long been the norm now, but even so. Dearie me. Piercy reaches 8 in regulation, then strokes a 45-footer to a couple of feet. Par. A solid four down 9, and he’ll be signing for a 68. The 35-year-old American has no major-championship pedigree to speak off - with the glorious exception of a fifth-placed finish two years ago in this very tournament. He finished five shots behind Jason Dufner then. He’s currently on course to finish three ahead of him today, the 2013 champ having signed for a one-under 71.
Birdie for Piercy at 7! He sends his tee shot to 12 feet, and rattles in the putt! He moves to -4. Marcel Siem is finishing strongly, too: birdies at 11, 13 and now 16, and he’s -2.
Still a few players out there on the course. Scott Piercy is at -3 through 15 holes; John Senden -2 with one to play. The world of television has given up on them, though, the buggers. What a business. Mickelson, having bogeyed 17 after sending his tee shot down a huge ridge to the left, has parred the difficult last to sign for a 72.
Bogey for Zach Johnson, too, and the Open champion is signing for a three-over 75. Spieth meanwhile faced two putts from 35 feet for his par, but left the first one four feet short. No matter: the world number two matches the world number one’s 71, and they’ll both be out in better conditions tomorrow morning. Five off the lead, but you wouldn’t rule either of them out.
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Word of the 2013 champion, Jason ‘The Somnambulist’ Dufner. He ambled round the front nine, taking 38 shots, but he’s woken up along the closing stretch. Birdies at 10, 11 and lately 16, and he’s -1, nicely poised. Meanwhile on 18, McIlroy’s second into the green is pushed into rough to the right, and he hits a hot chip 20 feet past the flag. He can’t make the one coming back, and that’s a one-under round of 71. Given this is his comeback from injury, and he was out in the worst of the weather, ending the day five behind Dustin Johnson isn’t a bad return. And perhaps most importantly, he doesn’t appear bothered by the ankle.
David Lingmerth is an inch or so away from draining a 30-foot birdie effort across 9. He settles for par, and that’s a stunning round of 67, not least because he went out in 31 while the winds were raging. He ends the first round a shot off Dustin Johnson’s lead, but that’s the performance of the day, unquestionably so.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lingmerth (F)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
Koepka bogeys the 18th, and finishes with one of the most eventful one-over 73s in PGA history: out in 40, five birdies in a row coming back, bogeys at 15 and 18. He’d have taken that on the 10th tee; on the 15th, perhaps not so much. Back up on the tee, Spieth and McIlroy split the fairway. Zach Johnson, pootling along at +2, seems something of an irrelevance right now. And a birdie for Mickelson on 16, who despite having been all over the course this afternoon, finds himself at -1.
Bogey for McDowell on 18, a 30-foot three-putt after finding the heart of the green in two. That’s a bogey-bogey-bogey finish, and he’s signing for a one-over 73. Another par for Lingmerth, this time at 8. He’s one par away from a glorious opening round of 67. Spieth leaves his tee shot at 17 well short of the green, but he clips a delicate chip to three feet, and will escape with a par. McIlroy has guided his tee shot in from the right to 12 feet, a gentle downhill left-to-right breaker. But he doesn’t work out the line, and that’s a par too.
Spieth, fresh from his Batman and Robin style hootin’ and hollerin’, sends a wedge from 100 yards - POW!!! - to eight feet. Rory bumps from the rough to the right of the green to ten. He rolls in the birdie putt, and he’s up to -2. Then Spieth prods his birdie effort into the cup - DRIBBLE!!! - and he’s -1. Some street-fighting golf from the pre-tournament favourites. Neither have been exactly on top of their game today, but this is turning into a positive day for both of them. Especially as they had to play the tougher half of the course in the hardest conditions we’re supposed to see all week.
“Gosh! Dang! Holy snap hooks!” Spieth, speaking in fluent Apple Pie, sends his drive at 16 into trouble down the left. He’s bunkered. But he’s able to lash back out onto the fairway. Zach’s second is pulled into sand, near a bush down the left. Then finally Rory sets his second out to the right, and it doesn’t come back. All three in the marquee group in different shades of trouble. Meanwhile a fighting par for Lingmerth on 7, a putt rammed into the hole from six feet to avoid back-to-back bogeys. And just to round up the tale of Koepka, who made it from tee to green on 16 without once setting foot on the fairway. He parred. Of course he did.
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Spieth gets up and down from 100 yards for his par. A chip to 12 feet, and a putt right in the middle of the cup. What a save! He’s still level par, despite having played very loosely today. McIlroy had been in a bit of trouble himself, down the right, but lashed his second into the heart of the green. He nearly curls in a 20-foot left-to-right birdie effort, but it stays high on the left. He remains at -1. YE Yang birdies 9, and signs for a two-under 70. On 17, Donald slices his tee shot into the crowd to the right of the green. Then he Mickelsons a lob down from on high to six feet, and tickles in the putt. He stays at level par. That’s one of the escapes of the day! But his playing partner G-Mac - having three-putted 16 to bogey - drops another stroke, unable to get up and down from a bunker. A good-looking round has suddenly turned very average: he’s level par again.
Lingmerth, having just joined Dustin in the lead, has a putt from the fringe at the back of 6 to move to -7 and take sole ownership of it. So naturally he leaves it five feet short, then pulls an appalling par effort wide left. He’s back to -5. What a nonsense.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lingmerth (15*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F)
Brooks Koepka’s manic round continues. He’s about 70 yards wide left of the 16th fairway, in thick rough. He takes a hybrid to the ball, going for the green. I suppose a what-the-hell attitude is understandable after five birdies in a row, but it’s never the wisest on a Pete Dye course. He’s still in thick nonsense, only another 150 yards up the hole. More on that soon. But trouble for Spieth down the left of 15. He’s in a bunker, with next to no stance, and can only punch out. He’s got to rush, too, as the marquee group has been put on the clock. They’re 11 minutes behind schedule.
Koepka’s birdie run comes to an end. He pulls his second into the bunker to the left of 15. The ball plugs, and he can only blast to 15 feet. Bogey, and he’s back to level par. Spieth’s second into 14 is bang average, but he nearly drains the 25-footer he leaves himself. When you putt like he can, everything’s a chance. Not this time, but so nearly. He taps in for par. As does McIlroy, who misses his birdie opportunity from a much shorter distance, having clipped a glorious wedge to eight feet. He stays at -1. A little rusty today, but that’s to be expected after his injury lay-off. Meanwhile birdie for Scott Piercy at 2, and he moves to -3.
Lingmerth sends a wedge screeching to a halt six feet from the flag at 5, then strokes in the putt. He’s barely missed one of those all day. That’s another birdie, and he’s now tied for the lead with Dustin Johnson!
-6: D Johnson (F), Lingmerth (14*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F)
McDowell steers his second at 15 to six feet, and rolls in the birdie putt. He had a good Bridgestone last week, even if he was operating on the fringes on the final day. But he’s obviously tapped into a vein of form, and he’s -2 now.
Emiliano Grillo bogeyed 8, but he’s finished his first-ever round in major-championship golf on a high. A 20-footer across 9, and that’s a two-under 70. Wonderful. Pars on 13 for McIlroy and Spieth, who remain at -1 and level par respectively. But it’s back-to-back bogeys for Johnson, who can’t get up and down from the back. Meanwhile a bit of a shocker for Cameron Tringale, who went out in 44 strokes. He’s +9.
It’s five birdies in a row for Brooks Koepka! This latest one raked in across 14. He’s -1, and from nowhere is now a factor in this tournament. A major winner in waiting, so I don’t suppose we should be too surprised at this sort of absurd carry-on. Meanwhile a fairly ugly double-bogey six for Sangmoon Bae at 4. He falls away from the upper echelons of the leaderboard, down to -1. A sixth par in a row for his partner Lingmerth, who remains in second spot on his lonesome. It’ll be the performance of the day, if he can keep it going.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lingmerth (13*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F)
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Fairly average wedges into 13 from McIlroy and Spieth. Both on the green but quite a way short of the flag. Mind you, the pin is back right of the green, and behind it there’s OB down a sheer cliff. So, y’know. Zach Johnson is the bravest of the three, but much good it does him, the ball fizzing over the back left and into thick rough.
Zach Johnson hadn’t found a bunker at 12. In fact, he was in deep rough down the bank. He might wish he was in the sand, because he fluffed his chip up onto the green. Bogey. He’s +1. Rory trundles his birdie putt six feet past the hole, leaving himself a little work. But in it goes. He remains at -1. What a momentum changer for Jordan Spieth, though. Nothing had dropped for him today. Well, it has now. “Are Rory, Jordan and Zach putting each other off?” wonders Andy Gordon. “They look like they are playing warily so that the others won’t suddenly break away, a bit like match sprint cycling.”
It’s all happening! Mickelson wedges into 11. He lands his ball crisply, 15 feet behind the flag, and spins it back to a dimple’s width from the hole. Half a roll from an eagle. As it is, he’s back to level par. Up on 12, Spieth rattles a birdie putt into the hole from the fringe at the back. Had the flag not got into the way there, that ball would still be moving. A huge stroke of luck, but then fortune favours the brave, and he gave that a brave clack all right. On 13, Brooks Koepka - who had gone out in 40 painful strokes - rolls in a monster from the back of the green. It’s notable because it’s his fourth birdie in a row - and he’s back to level par! This is astonishing!
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Andy Sullivan had been going well at -2, but he’s just become the latest player to double-bogey 18. He’s back to level par, out in 36. His playing partner Scott Piercy is in a better mood, having reached the turn in 34 strokes. Back at the short par-three 12th, Rory wedges to 20 feet. It seems a simple enough shot, but then Zach Johnson slam-dunks his ball into a bunker to the right, and Spieth wheechs his tee shot straight through the back. Spieth momentarily thinks about burying the hosel of his club into the verdant turf, but arrests his momentum just in time. Mature Jordan.
Lingmerth clips his tee shot at 3 pin high to 18 feet. But he can’t knock in the birdie effort. He stays at -5. Birdie for his playing partner Bae, though, a putt rolled in from 25 feet, and he moves to -3. Meanwhile the US journeyman George McNeill birdies 7 to move to -2. He’s playing alongside the debutant Emiliano Grillo, who having bogeyed 4 since we last heard of him, has just picked the shot back up at 7. He’s -2 too.
Johnson’s chip up onto 11 from the bank down the back only just reaches the putting surface. He’s 25 feet from the hole. As is Spieth, who overhits his chip in a most uncharacteristic fashion. McIlroy leaves his eagle effort out on the left, then taps in for his birdie. He moves to -1. Then Spieth pulls a fairly witless putt left of the cup, the ball rolling five feet past. He shakes his head in confusion. His short game has been slightly tatty today, by his own lofty standards anyway. Par will have to do. If he can make it, that is. Which he can’t, the ball lipping out on the left. That’s a dismal three putt, and four to get down from the front of the green. He’s +1. Johnson takes two putts for his own par, and stays at level.
Lingmerth’s third into the par-five 2nd bounds through the green and down a bank. He holds onto sole ownership of second spot with a stunning up and down. He remains -5 through 11 holes of his round. On the actual 11th, McIlroy booms his drive nearly 60 yards longer than Spieth and Johnson. That result informs the second shots. Johnson can’t control his ball as it careers through the green. Spieth’s takes an ugly bounce right as it lands hard at the front of the green, and nestles in the rough. Rory however can guide an 8-iron pin high. He’s not on the putting surface, but in the fringe to the right, and will have a good look at eagle from 15 feet or so.
Rory’s first putt rolls just inside Johnson’s. So he’ll get a read, if nothing else. First up, though, the birdie effort from Spieth. It dies to the left, and that’s a tenth par out of ten. He stays at level par. As does Johnson, who teases a little left-to-right par putt into the cup. And finally, making it three pars, it’s Rory, well schooled by Zach. Meanwhile ahead on 11, G-Mac birdies to move to -1. And up on 18, Kevin Na rakes in a birdie putt from the fringe at the back of this very difficult hole. He’s out in one-under 35.
Rory nearly drives the green at 10. Spieth isn’t far after him. But Zach Johnson’s much shorter tee shot is snaffled by a hungry pot bunker. Back-to-back majors? Not easy, even if the other two lads in the group would have you believe otherwise. His splash out of the sand stops short, Frank Costanza style. He bumps his third up to six feet, a delicate wedge. Meanwhile Spieth’s second scampers 12 feet past the hole, while Rory, in rough to the right of the green, decelerates as he stabs the ball greenwards. It only just makes the putting surface. He faces a long two-putt for par.
Mickelson flays a dreadful drive miles right at 8, then sends his second straight through the back of the green. He can’t get up and down, and that’s another shot gone; he’s back to +1. Going the other way after a sluggish start: the new Open champion Zach Johnson, who follows up his birdie at 6 by raking in a monster at 9. He’s out in a level-par 36. As is Spieth, who has parred every single hole. And making it three front-nine 36s out of three, McIlroy, who plays the 9th magnificently: a drive down the middle, an approach to six feet, and a birdie putt straight into the cup. If these lads can pick up a birdie or two on the easier back nine, in these conditions, they’ll be happy enough with their day’s work.
The worst round of the day, so far, has been shot by the 1996 champion Mark Brooks. A 12-over 84. But there’s a fair chance the veteran, 54, will have his blushes spared by Joost Luiten, 29, who reached the turn in 42 strokes, then dropped another at the relatively easy 10th. He’s +7.
Lingmerth’s playing partner Bae had been one of the few other players out there going well, but after a dropped shot at 18 he’s back to -2. He’s alongside YE Yang, who has added another birdie at 2. An eagle for Eddie Pepperell at 16; he’s -1. Brendon de Jonge of South Africa, out in 36, has birdied 11 and 13 to move to -2. Andy Sullivan of England birdied 11 and 12, and is going nicely at -2. And G-Mac bogeyed 9 to reach the turn in level-par 36.
Yep! In goes the par saver, and that’s a magnificent up and down from the front of 18 by the brilliant Swede. That’s him played the back nine in 31 strokes. Astonishing, when you consider he went out in 29 in his first round at the Open last month. He must wish majors were decided over nine holes and not 72.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lingmerth (9*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F), Bae (8*)
McIlroy’s third at 8, a wind-assisted wedge into the green, fizzes 40 feet past the flag. He leaves the par putt coming back five feet short. A tricky right-to-left slider for bogey, in high wind. And he makes it. The drive cost him there. He’s +1. A no-fuss par for Spieth. That’s eight out of eight. Faldoesque. And another par for Johnson, who stays at +1. Meanwhile Lingmerth is in a spot of bother down 18, his second short of the green. He bumps his third six feet past the flag, and will have a tricky one coming back to reach the turn in 31.
Rory drives into utter filth down the right of 8. He’ll have an awkward stance for his second shot on this long par-four. He can only take his medicine and punch back out to the fairway. He’ll need to get up and down from 150 yards to save his par. He’s struggling to tread water right now. Speaking of awkward stances, Mickelson is in a bunker at the side of 7. Or at least his ball is. He’s got to stand by the side of the trap, leaning into the ball, squatting down. The old knees just about hold out as he splashes magically to eight feet - but then he misses the putt. He’s back to level par.
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Lingmerth can’t make his birdie putt on 17. That’s the first one he’s missed all day. He remains at -5, none too shabby, though every shot helps, and he’s got the harder front nine to come. Mickelson nearly rakes in a long birdie effort on 6 but par will have to do; he’s stays at -1. And it’s pars all round in the marquee group on 7, though Spieth walks off in high dudgeon, having spurned a birdie chance from 12 feet after a glorious tee shot.
Lingmerth whistles a hybrid straight at the flag on 17. He’ll have a ten footer, if that, for a tie of the lead! Equally impressive, in its own way, is the performance of the young Argentinian Emiliano Grillo. The 22-year-old played the back nine in 36 strokes, and after the turn has birdied 1 and now 3. He’s -2 on his major championship debut.
Sangmoon Bae has started out strongly. Birdies at 11, 13, 15 and now 16, offset only by bogey at 14, and he’s -3. Other than Lingmerth, Bae is the only player out there right now to be troubling the upper echelons of the leaderboard. In the clubhouse, Dustin Johnson could be forgiven for commandeering the most comfortable leather chair by the biggest fireplace and ordering brandies and cigars.
Spieth wallops his approach at 6 straight through the green. He’s got a delicate chip coming back from thick rough, but chases it up to a couple of feet. He’ll save par brilliantly. Zach Johnson rattles in a 15-footer for birdie that takes him back to +1. And finally Rory gets up and down from the opposite bank to Spieth, but equally as impressively. The chip’s not so close, but the putt is staunch. The two pre-tournament favourites remain at level par, hanging on in there.
Lingmerth booms his second at the par-five 16th into the front of the green. He lags his long eagle putt up to a couple of feet. That’ll be a birdie that gives him sole ownership of second place. This is a superlative performance in extremely difficult conditions. This wind is, by all accounts, going to be the worst of the weather all week.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lingmerth (7*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F)
Mickelson takes the Rory route down 5. He doesn’t have to play a chip out of the water, though his ball very nearly goes in the stuff. Instead, he’s got a chip out of the hazard from sand. He lobs to six feet, then rattles in the putt. He’s -1. Luke Donald sends his tee shot at 7 to a couple of feet. Then, putting through his shadow, misses the short birdie putt. He remains at -1. Camilo Villegas birdies 16 and 17 to move to -2.
So here’s Rory McIlroy. In a bunker off the tee. Forced to take his medicine to chip out sideways. Sticks a lame third into the drink. And then gets up and down from the water! His putt uses up most of the circumference of the hole, but it disappears. He punches the air, and walks off on some more of the stuff. A huge smile plastered across his coupon, as though even he’s astounded by the sauce of it. What a par! And a penny for the thoughts of Jordan Spieth, who played that hole faultlessly, only to miss the eight-footer he left himself for birdie. He walks off with the same score as McIlroy, who was all over the place. That was marvellously entertaining. No escape for poor Zach, though, who has now made back-to-back bogeys and drops to +2.
There’s one man out there in these blustery conditions bothering the leaders. David Lingmerth. Another birdie, this time at the long par-four 15th, and he’s -4, in a share of second, two off the lead. Back on 5, it’s Rory’s turn to get wet. Having driven into a big bunker down the right and chipped out, he chunks his third, a 7-iron, into the drink front-left of the green. But shades of Jean van de Velde here! His ball is sticking out of the water, having only just tippled into the drink. And it’s wedged in sand. So he rolls up a trouser leg, gets in, and takes a stab at it! He just wants to show off those bare ankles. Anyway, he plays the escape rather brilliantly, punching it out to ten feet. He’ll have a putt for a very unlikely par!
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Scott bounces back from that double-bogey atrocity at 4 with birdie at 5. That’s three birdies and a double so far for the 2013 Masters champion. Back up the hole, Zach Johnson drives into water down the right. He doesn’t look particularly on it today. Meanwhile the 2003 PGA champ Shaun Micheel has raked home a 40-foot right-to-left curler on 17; he’s -1. Alongside him in a group of former champions, 2009’s YE Yang rolls in a monster himself; he’s -1 too, after birdies at 11 and 16 and a double at 13. No such luck for 2002’s Rich Beem, who started out with a birdie at 10 but has doubled 14, and followed it up with bogeys at 15, 16 and now 17. He’s +4.
The 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell had a decent week at the WGC-Bridgestone. He’s continuing that decent form today, four opening pars then a left-to-right birdie slider from 15 feet at 5. He’s -1. As is Luke Donald, who has had a fairly eventful time of it so far: birdie at 1, a shot dropped at 4, and now one picked up at 5. Another bogey for Lowry, this time at 6; last week’s hero is already +4, and he’s looking unlikely to repeat McIlroy’s back-to-back antics of 12 months ago.
Spieth gets the benefit of a lucky lie in the rough to the left of 4. But you still have to know how to take advantage of the breaks you get. And Spieth knows. He whips a medium iron into the front of the green, and leaves himself a 15-foot opportunity for birdie. He can’t quite convert that, but still, what a second shot! Rory whips his second from the middle of the fairway to 12 feet. Then, as he’s walking to the green, the wind whips the cap off his head. It really is blowy. And the wind spooks him as he takes his birdie putt, the ball sailing off to the right, never going in. Par. Bogey for Zach Johnson, though, who was always chasing his par after that errant drive. He’s +1. This wind is good news for Dustin, and the rest of the leaders come to that.
-6: D Johnson (F)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lee (F), Jones (F)
-3: Steele (F), Bjorn (F), Morrison (F), Rose (F), Lingmerth (5*)
The wind is really blowing right now. At least we’ve not had the thunder that was forecast. Yet. But the breeze is causing bother on the greens, strong enough to become a factor on these slick surfaces. It certainly doesn’t help the more nervous putters in the field. Here’s Adam Scott, who flops a shot from down the bank to the left of 4 to four feet. It’s surely a majestic scramble for par. But he then three-putts from no distance whatsoever, and he’s back to level par after that birdie-birdie start. Mickelson by contrast finds his ball in the sand at 3, a lucky break. He flips it up onto the green, and drains the 12-footer he leaves himself to escape.
Trouble for Lefty on 3. He pushes his tee shot lefty, down the banks towards Lake Michigan. How quickly a fast start can go the shape of a pear. But he’s not the only one spraying it around. Scott’s second into 4 also chases off down the bank to the left. Back on the tee, Zach sends his drive into thick rough down the right; Spieth whistles his ball into rough on the left. Rory splits the fairway. Some more productive news: another birdie for Lingmerth, this time at 13, and he’s the hottest of the players out on the course right now at -3.
Mickelson travels down the 2nd in the manner of Zach Johnson before him. He leaves himself a 20-footer for par, and can’t make it. He’s back to level par. Up on 3, Rory, Zach and Jordan all stroke delicious iron shots straight at the flag. You could throw a golf towel over the three balls. They all have 15-footers. Only Zach makes his. So that’s the three of them, all with a birdie, par and bogey to their name. It’s been a very strange round so far. With the wind picking up, expect it to get stranger.
David Lingmerth - who you may remember setting the Open Championship alight from the get-go, playing the first nine at St Andrews in 29 strokes - is threatening something daft again. Well, he’s started well, anyway. Birdies at 10 and 11, and he’s at -2. That puts him alongside aforementioned fellow fast starter Coetzee, who dropped a stroke at 14. Meanwhile par for Matt Jones at 18, and he’s signing for a 68, the seventh of the day so far. That’s a large group bunched in behind the leader Dustin Johnson.
Spieth gets up and down from the apron at the back of 2. That’s a par. His scrambling is second to none: that’s two in two. Meanwhile McIlroy’s eagle effort dies to the left of the hole, 18 inches from the pin, but that’s a birdie that immediately repairs the damage of the opening hole. He still looks annoyed with himself for missing that putt on 1. Finally it’s Johnson, who can’t drain his long putt from off the green, and has to settle for a bogey. Which, to be honest, could have been a lot worse. The Open champ really bumbled his way up that hole. Anyway, the marquee group standings: McIlroy and Spieth are level par, while Johnson is +1.
An awful start to the round for last week’s WGC-Bridgestone hero. Shane Lowry bogeyed 2, then doubled 3, and he’s +3 through the first four holes. And an awful finish to the round for Anirban Lahiri, who double-bogeys 18. He’ll sign for a very decent 70, but he’s the picture of misery as he pensively runs his hand through his fringe in the pained film-star style.
Johnson takes his medicine down 2. He’s in that bunker, still 150 yards from the green, facing a troublesome lip, so chips out sideways. He doesn’t find the fairway. His fourth goes pin high, but off the right side of the green. He’ll have a putt up the hill for an unlikely par. Spieth has escaped the bunker, but he’s snagged in thick rough by the side of it, and his pitch in whistles past the flag and off the green at the back. Rory, in the heart of the green in two, is doing a lot of waiting around here.
Trouble for the Open champion Zach Johnson down 2. He’s driven into one of the many bunkers down the left, and now he’s hooked into another, even further left. Some bother for Spieth, too: he’s whistled his second into a pot bunker 30 yards ahead of the green. He’ll have a job of work on from there. McIlroy however creams a wood into the heart of the par-five green. He’s pin high, with a 25-foot look straight across the green for eagle. This has been a fine response to that unhappy opening hole.
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A huge cheer pings around Wisconsin, and it can only mean one thing: birdie at 1 for Phil Mickelson, who gets the crowds going where o’er he roams. (Fairly) local lad Steve Stricker has started well, too: birdie at 1 and now at 5, and he’s -2. A fast start for Adam Scott, too, who is anchoring his long putter for the very last time in a major championship, ahead of the big broom-handle ban. The old stick’s working well for him: two mid-length birdie putts on the first two greens, and he’s -2 too.
A blistering start to George Coetzee’s round: birdies at 10, 11 and 12, and at -3 he’s already scaling the leaderboard, just one shot off second place. The South African promises much but hasn’t quite delivered yet. Perhaps it’s time to seriously show in a Stateside major for the first time. (He’s got a couple of top-20 finishes at the Open, but little else.) Meanwhile after Rory’s damp squib of a start, he batters a monster drive down 2. That’ll serve a dual purpose: to slam away a little frustration, but more importantly to prove that his ankle’s up to the rough and tumble of major-championship golf. All looks fine so far!
And here’s some evidence that Rory is a wee bit rusty. He trundles his long first putt up to four feet, but misses the short par saver. He’s +1 after the opening hole. Spieth opts to chip from the fringe and bumps in to a similar distance. The Masters and US Open champion makes no mistake. Par. And Zach Johnson should really make his straight birdie putt, but it slips to the left of the hole and an opening par will have to do. Rory walks off the green with a furrow of the brow and a smack of the lips.
Some other admin. Danny Lee finishes by missing a short par putt at 18, and he’s back to -4. But a 68 will more than suffice. Justin Rose ended the day with a 69, as did his compatriot, cricket’s James Morrison. Paul Casey finished with a 70. Not quite so content, but far from out of it yet: par 72s for Sergio, Oosthuizen, Bubba, Westwood, and Hunter Mahan.
Spieth is in deep nonsense down the left of 1. He can only bash his ball to the front of the green. Rory isn’t much better off; he can only send his to the back. They’ll both have tricky long two-putts for their par. Zach Johnson, from the centre of the fairway, wedges his second to ten feet. The benefits of discipline off the tee, right there. Anyway, that leaderboard ...
-6: D Johnson (F)
-5: Lee (17)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (F), Holmes (F), Day (F), Lahiri (17), Jones (16)
Holmes can only find the fringe to the right of the 18th green in three. He’s got a long up and down for bogey. He leaves the first putt miles short, but knocks in the ten footer he leaves himself. He escapes with a bogey, and signs for a 68. Back on 9, Tiger pars the last to put his name to a 75: he’s +3, and there’s a fair chance he’ll be missing a third major cut in a row, unless he pulls his finger out tomorrow. Meanwhile Martin Kaymer finishes disastrously, with a double-bogey six. That’s a two-under 70. A poor end to an otherwise fine round. And then the final member of the morning marquee group, Keegan Bradley, who was dreadful all day, finishes birdie-birdie. He’s still carding a 76, but with momentum behind him will now be thinking about escaping the cut, rather than going home.
Here comes the marquee group! The defending champion Rory McIlroy is up first - bedlam, bedlam, bedlam - and he batters an ankle-testing bomb down the left. The ball squirts into the rough. Then - to huge cheers - the USA’s new superstar, Jordan Spieth. He wings his ball into the same stretch of filth. And finally - getting as good a reception as the other two, just reward for his heroics at St Andrews - it’s Zach Johnson. He splits the fairway. This is going to be some afternoon!
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As for today: Dustin Johnson’s in the clubhouse having signed for a 66. He’s the leader at -6. Mixed fortunes for his playing partners: a 68 for Jason Day, but a miserable 73 for Rickie Fowler, who never quite recovered from a quadruple bogey at the par-three 3rd. A leaderboard coming up, once we’ve seen how second-placed JB Holmes does down 18; he drove into sand and was forced to take his medicine and chip out.
Thanks to Tom for that. Now, before we wrap up the early rounds, and begin to obsess over the afternoon’s marquee group of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson, here’s a bit of fun: the cumulative leaderboard in the majors this year through the first three championships. No prizes for guessing who’s leading, and those who have been concentrating all year would have managed a good guess at second spot. But there are one or two eye-openers in there. I’d not have placed Sergio so high for a start. Or Day so low. But here it is ...
-37: Spieth
-23: Oosthuizen
-20: Rose
-17: D Johnson
-16: Matsuyama
-15: Day
-13: Garcia
-12: Scott
-8: Z Johnson, Mickelson
And while the Aussies are on a charge, their Antipodean neighbour isn’t doing too shabbily either. Danny Lee, making his first appearance at the PGA, is in second place after a nice birdie. The 25-year-old won the Greenbrier Classic in July, but has never made the cut at a major. He’s joined by JB Holmes, who has dropped a shot as he approaches the 18th. That means Dustin Johnson is the sole leader through 17.
Matt Jones has sneaked up into a tie for third on four-under after a birdie. Not a bad day for the Aussies out there with two of them in a tie for third. Makes up for their tennis playing compatriot anyway.
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Holmes and Johnson maintain their lead through 16. The leaderboard as it stands:
-6: Holmes (16), D Johnson (16*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (17), Day (17*), Lee (15), Jones (14), Kaymer (16*)
Kaymer can get to within one shot of the lead if he birdies here - it’s downhill and he’s been putting well over the last few holes ... but he knows it’s not good enough almost as soon as he hits it and he’ll have to settle with a simple par putt. Tiger’s par leaves him +3.
Kaymer’s at the par-three seventh with the wind coming in from the left, nice and strong. Not that it bothers the German much: he connects wonderfully to land the ball within 10 feet of the hole. Better news for Tiger too: if anything his shot is better than Kaymer’s and he fades it in to a similar distance as Kaymer’s.
Tiger has a par putt on the sixth, following up from his birdie on the last but comes up short and is back to +3. He gives the crowd a weary doff of the cap but his body language tells the story. And it’s not a happy one. Keegan Bradley is doing even worse – his bogey sends him to six over. Tiger is right on the edge for the cut, which is +3 at the moment.
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A third birdie on the spin, and a fifth in six holes, for JB Holmes! This one at 15, a huge right-to-left curler from 35 feet, has him tied for the lead with Dustin Johnson at -6. The pair are two clear now, Harris English having just dropped one at -4. Meanwhile both Russell Henley and Matt Kuchar are in with 68s; both men played their back nines in 32 strokes.
-6: Holmes (15), D Johnson (15*)
-4: Henley (F), Kuchar (F), English (15), Day (15*), Lee (14), Lahiri (13), Jones (13)
And with that, I’ll be handing over to Tom Lutz for a brief but beautiful period ...
Moving in the right direction: JB Holmes and Jason Day. They’ve just birdied 14 and 5 respectively, and are tucked in behind Dustin Johnson and alongside Harris English at -5. Meanwhile another brilliant scramble for the 2010 champ Martin Kaymer. He pushed his second into a boggy lake down the right of the double-dogleg par-five 5th, going for the green in two. A bid for birdie looked like turning into at least a bogey, but having dropped he wedged four into the green to 12 feet, then drained the putt calmly. He stays at -3. Not so calm: Keegan Bradley, who drops yet another stroke to move out to +5. But Tiger responds to back-to-back bogeys by raking one in from 20 feet. He’s +2. Three very different rounds being played out by this morning marquee group.
Also to be filed under Severe Disappointment: the round of Thomas Bjorn. He held a share of the lead not so long ago, but after bogeys at 17 and 18, he’s back into the pack. He should by no means be disappointed with his 69, which puts him alongside Brendan Steele in the early clubhouse lead, but he’ll feel a pang or two all right.
A very disappointing end to Hideki Matsuyama’s round. Dropped shots at 6, 8 and finally 9, and he’s signing for a 70. A card that could, and should, have been so much better. He’s frustratingly streaky, Matsuyama, always threatening to shoot something very low, the memorable rounds never quite materialising. But hey, he’s only 23. And you can very rarely win a major on the first day, but you sure as hell can play your way out of them. So he’s in good nick. As is Brendan Steele, whose only decent showing in a major was a top-20 finish in the 2011 PGA; he’s in with a 69.
Dustin Johnson has responded to dropping his first stroke of the day by picking one up on the very next hole. He’s birdied 4, and now leads by one shot from English, who has birdied 14, and two from a group that now also contains JB Holmes, who has fizzed up the leaderboard with birdies at 10, 11 and now 13. Kaymer then very nearly joins that group at -4, having guided his second into 4 to 12 feet, but his birdie putt slips past on the left. Another bogey there for Tiger, incidentally, his tee shot leaking into thick rough down the left, forcing him into a costly lay-up.
-6: D Johnson (13*)
-5: English (14)
-4: Bjorn (17), Henley (17), Kuchar (16*), Holmes (13), Day (13*)
But once you start dropping shots, it can be difficult to stop. Matsuyama was through 14 holes before he made his first bogey, at 6, and now he’s just carded another at 8. He’s back to -3. Jamie Donaldson’s woes continue, too: having reached the turn in 40, he then doubled 11 and dropped another at 12. He’s unlikely to have celebrated the birdie at 13 that’s taken him back up to the dizzy heights of +6. But in happier news, it’s another birdie for Russell Henley, this time at 16; he’s -4. And Justin Rose has birdied 5 and 6 to move to -3. This is a brilliant performance by Rose after an awfully stodgy start.
What a run Matt Kuchar has been on! He began the day with birdies at 10 and 11, but handed the shots back at 14 and 18. No matter! He’s just carded four birdies in five holes - 3, 5, 6 and 7 - and at -4 he’s suddenly a shot off Dustin Johnson’s lead. And it is just Dustin Johnson’s lead: Thomas Bjorn was two holes from a blemish-free card, but he’s bogeyed the par-three 17th after pushing his tee shot short and right. He’s back to -4, though if he can get into the clubhouse without any more damage, this will have been a marvellous days work for the Danish star.
Martin Kaymer enjoys Whistling Straits all right. The champion here in 2010 has just found the heart of the par-three 3rd, and rolled in a right-to-left breaker for another birdie. He’s now -3, and right in the mix. It looked like trouble could be afoot for Kaymer when he hooked his tee shot into filth on 14, having just bogeyed 13. But he managed to turn a possible bogey into an unlikely birdie, and he’s not looked back since. Keegan Bradley has gone the other way since. He’s got exactly the same birdie putt as Kaymer, but seriously overcooks it, and the four footer he leaves himself coming back lips out. He’s +4 now, and the putter goes clanking into the bag. He’s got the G-Funk. G standing for golf. And godawful. He’s really lost the head. Tiger three putts too, sliding back to +2, but he departs the scene with dignity.
Another birdie for Anirban Lahiri! The Indian star was out in 33, and he’s now birdied 10. He’s just a shot off the lead, for Big Dustin has just failed to get up and down from the left-hand side of the par-three 3rd, and the dropped shot takes him back into a tie for the lead with Thomas Bjorn. Harris English meanwhile has picked up a shot at 11. This is already a fascinating and very international leaderboard, even if half the field have yet to hit a shot:
-5: Bjorn (16), D Johnson (12*)
-4: Matsuyama (16*), English (12), Day (12*), Lahiri (10)
News of the 1991 champion John Daly. The Wild Thing played the back nine in 38 strokes, with a double at 18, but he’s bounced back well, with birdies at 2 and 3. He’s got a couple of holes to negotiate for a level-par 72. Elsewhere, Sergio dropped a stroke at 4. He’s back to -2. And young Tyrrell Hatton’s fast start has slowed somewhat: having reached the heights of -3, he’s dropped strokes at 15 and now 18, and he’s back to -1.
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Keegan Bradley is in the cockpit of the funk mothership right now, and he’s set the controls for the heart of the sun. He’s not happy. He drives into the long bunker down the left of the par-five 2nd, then doesn’t make a particularly good fist of laying up, the ball flying into the rough down the other side. As he climbs out of the trap, he hoofs his club into his bag. Difficult to say whether he was deliberately attempting to volley the iron clean across the fairway, or had been going to hoof the bag up into the air, only for the club to get in the way before he could connect. It’s not a particularly elegant movement. He was all over the place. Already he has the aura of a man who really, really, really wants to go home. He wedges into the green, where he’ll have an uphill putt from 20 feet for birdie, which does make you wonder whether the performance back up the fairway was a proportionate response. And then the birdie putt horseshoes out. So unfortunate. For a second he considers launching his cap into the lake, but simmers down quickly. He stays stuck at +3. Pars too for Kaymer (-2) and Woods (+1).
Eagle for Jason Day on 2! He sends his fairway wood screaming to 10 feet, and all of a sudden he’s -4. For a second, he’s a shot off the lead, but his playing partner Dustin Johnson birdies the hole, and he’s now the sole leader at -6. And there’s more movement at the top of the leaderboard, with Matsuyama dropping his first stroke of the day, at 6. One minute the young Japanese major-winner-in-waiting is tied for the lead, the next, he’s tied for third. It doesn’t take much.
-6: D Johnson (11*)
-5: Bjorn (15)
-4: Matsuyama (15*), English (11), Day (11*), Jones (8)
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A wonderful par save by Kaymer on 1. His tee shot found rough down the left. He then chunked his second shot, leaving himself short and left of the green, then misjudged his chip, the ball only reaching the fringe. But he’s got an uphill putt, and curls it in from 15 feet to remain at -2. Meanwhile Bradley misses a short putt to drop yet another stroke. He looks thoroughly livid. He’s +3, and already in danger of playing himself out of this.
It’s been a miserable morning for Jamie Donaldson. The Welsh Ryder Cup hero began well enough, with birdie at 2, but he’s since bogeyed 4, 6 and 9, and doubled 7 after some bother in a bunker. He’s out in 40 strokes, +4 for the tournament already. His Ryder Cup friend Victor Dubuisson is suffering in similar style: having gone out in 38, he’s just made double bogey at 4. He’s +4 too.
Thomas Bjorn now has company at the top of the leaderboard! Hideki Matsuyama makes a birdie at 5, his fifth of the day in a no-blemish round. Dustin Johnson meanwhile has birdied 1, and he’s up there at -5 too. His playing partner Rickie Fowler had bogeyed 17, but he picks up one at 1 too, and he’s -3. Meanwhile news of Paul Casey, who looked to have lost the wheels after that three-birdie start, with bogeys at 15 and 18. But another birdie at 2 brings him back to -2. There’s quite an interesting bunch at -2: it contains, among others, Casey, Westwood, Day, Kaymer and this year’s US Open nearly men from South Africa, Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace.
The English: patient. You may remember that both Justin Rose and Lee Westwood began their rounds in dismal fashion. Well, they’ve hung on in there, and after a while, things started to happen for them. Westwood had dropped strokes at 10 and 11, but has since recovered with birdies at 13, 15, 16 and now 1. He’s -2. Meanwhile Rose began with bogeys at 11 and 13, but has birdied 14, 16 and 17. He reached the turn in 35, and is now -1 through his first 11 holes of his round.
Bradley is forced to take a drop on 18. He wedges into the heart of the green. Two putts, and that’s a double bogey. He’s back down to +2. It’s already not looking good for the 2011 champion, who doesn’t look particularly comfortable with his new short putter. Tiger drops a shot after missing the green on the right, and finding deep filth. He’s back to +1. A fifth PGA title looks a pipe dream right now, though I guess it did when he was standing on the 10th tee as well. Kaymer makes a no-fuss par, and he’s out in 34, in a very healthy position at -2.
Another birdie for Sergio! This one comes at 2, and he’s -3. As is Anirban Lahiri, who like Garcia also had a very decent Open Championship this year. Lahiri has birdied 1, 4 and now 7. English drops a shot at 9, though he’s still out in 33 strokes, -3 for his round so far. Russell Henley, a breakthrough waiting to happen, has just posted three birdies in a row, at 10, 11 and 12. He’s -3. And yet another birdie for Matt Jones, the 35-year-old Aussie making his fourth of the day at 7, following up the ones at 2, 3 and 5.
-5: Bjorn (13)
-4: Matsuyama (13*), D Johnson (9*), Jones (7)
-3: Henley (12), Garcia (12*), Morrison (11), English (9), Warren (8*), Lahiri (7)
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Bradley clatters his drive into a hospitality stand down the right of 18. This new super structure has apparently been built on the site of Dustin’s Bunker. A lucky bounce back into the rough, though, for Bradley. Who then hoicks his second into Bubba’s Creek. A real 2010 retro feel about Keegan right now. Martin Kaymer, the beneficiary of the Dustin-Bubba blowout that year, stands in the middle of the fairway suddenly feeling a Proustian rush of a very warm nature. He creams his second into the heart of the green.
A birdie for Bradley at 17, a lovely tee shot to six feet taking him back to level par. Kaymer and Woods both make good up and downs to scramble their pars. They’re -2 and level par respectively. Tiger’s scramble was particularly impressive, his second played from atop a large grassy mound to the front right of the green. A gorgeous wedge flopped to four feet. Godawful tee shot, mind you. Elsewhere, news of Runner Up Jason Day, to give the man his full name. He took a while to warm up today, but broke a run of pars with birdie at 14. Another at 16, and he’s currently -2 for the tournament. After his struggle with vertigo at Chambers Bay, and heartache at St Andrews - why didn’t he hit that putt on the last?!? - only a heart of stone would deny him victory here this week. He was brilliant at the Canadian Open recently, so he’s bang in form. Could this finally be it? He’s started well.
Thomas Bjorn is the new leader of this tournament! He’s followed up that birdie at 11 with another at 12. He’s -5. The great Dane came close in this tournament in 2000 and 2005, when he came third and second respectively. At 44 years old, he couldn’t, could he? Meanwhile news of another player who has repeatedly come so close in the majors only to be battered in the teeth every single time: yes, it’s Sergio, who has been going along very quietly since starting out with birdie at 10. He reached the turn in 35 strokes, one under, and has just picked up another at 1. He’s -2, in the big group tied for eighth spot right now.
Woods was further up 16 than Bradley, but he clips his wedge to three feet, and that’s a certain birdie. He’s back to level par. Bradley can only knock his third to ten feet, and can’t make the birdie putt. That’s a run of 5-5-5-5 for the 2011 champion, and he’s got a face on. He needs to simmer down. Kaymer meanwhile quietly went about his business for another birdie, and he’s very nicely placed at -2 now. That’s a couple off the lead at -4, where Matsuyama and Dustin have been joined by Thomas Bjorn (with birdie at 11) and Harris English (8). Matt Jones has started quickly, meanwhile, with birdies at 2, 3 and 5, while James Morrison is finding pars hard to come by: his run between 7 and 10 reads birdie-bogey-birdie-birdie, and he’s -3 too.
-4: Matsuyama (12*), Bjorn (11), English (8), D Johnson (8*)
-3: Morrison (10), Warren (6*), Jones (5)
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We have a new joint leader! Up on the 16th green, Dustin Johnson, who had his heart broken here in 2010 - number two in a series of 873 - has just drained an eagle putt from 30 feet. He joins Matsuyama at -4! His playing partner Rickie Fowler birdies, his third of the day, and he’s -3. And Marc Warren, following decent showings at both the US Open and Open, has opened his challenge here with birdies at 11, 14 and now 15, and he’s -3 too.
There’s nothing like a really exasperated hot sigh of “fucksake” in professional sport. Uttered in angst more than anger. Here’s Tiger, the portmanteau whistling out of his mouth with perfect comic timing after he really puts the shoulder into a drive at the par-five 16th, sending his ball into a thicket of paying punters down the right. He takes his medicine and chips out. Bradley follows him from tee to trouble, and simply opts to blooter the ball out of the thick stuff with a hybrid. His noggin’s gone a bit. But sometimes brute force does the trick, and he’s somehow managed to power his ball near to the green. Both players desperately need something at this hole to revive their fortunes; at the moment, it’s Bradley who looks more likely to get it.
Keegan Bradley is unravelling at pace. So much for the benefits of a birdie-birdie start. He whistles a drive miles right of the 15th fairway and into sand. He gets greedy and, going for the green, batters his ball into the lip of the bunker. It ricochets away to the left, and nearly clacks Kaymer upside the head. Kaymer, so undemonstrative and unflappable that he makes Kraftwerk look like cast members of Riverdance, gently steps aside from danger. Then Bradley, from the centre of the fairway, very nearly slam-dunks his wedge into the hole for an unlikely birdie. But it spins ten feet away, and he misses the par putt. That’s three bogeys in a row, and he’s got the funk on. Brow thickly furrowed, eyes like paper cuts. He’s now +1. Pars for Kaymer and Woods.
Tyrrell Hatton started playing golf at the age of 3, burning up his local par-three course. He’s had some decent finishes in the last couple of seasons - a tie for second at the Joburg Open, a tie for third at the European Masters, ties for fourth at the Scottish and Irish Opens. At the age of 23, he’s already played in four Opens, but has missed the cut in every one. This is his only other major appearance to date, and it’s going much better: another birdie, at 13, and he’s -3, one behind the early leader Matsuyama.
Martin Kaymer makes an outrageous birdie on 14. Having lashed an awful tee shot miles into the crowd down the left, he loops a gorgeously crisp wedge over a grassy knoll and into the centre of the green, eight feet from the pin. That wasn’t quite in the Shane Lowry At Firestone South mould - no tree in the way, for a start - but it was an outrageous escape nonetheless. He’s suddenly at -1. Bradley drops another stroke, though, and after his fast start is back to level par. And it’s another green found in regulation by Tiger, but a three-putt bogey is the result, a miserable par tiddler pulled to the left. He’s +1.
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James Morrison played in the same England Youth cricket teams as Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Tim Bresnan. In a parallel universe, he could have been jumping around Trent Bridge last week having just won the Ashes. In this one, having chosen a career in golf instead, he recently finished in the top 20 of the Open Championship, and having been invited to play in his first PGA, has just opened up with birdies at 4 and 7. He’s in a tie for fourth spot at -2 alongside, among others, Moore and Casey, who have just dropped shots at 6 and 15 respectively - and his young compatriot Tyrrell Hatton, the 23-year-old from High Wycombe opening with birdies at 10 and 11!
Some movement at the top of the leaderboard. Hideki Matsuyama is the new sole leader at -4, having birdied 18. The young Japanese genius, who is fond of the odd Mickelsonesque birdie blitz, has played the back nine in 32. Marvellous. Thomas Bjorn has birdied 8, to go with the shots he picked up at 3 and 5. And Harris English has made it three birdies in a row, at 2, 3 and now 4, to join Bjorn, Casey and Moore in a tie for second at -3. No Streb, you’ll notice; he’s dropped a stroke at 7 and is back at -2.
Bradley has been making a meal of this 13th hole. Hacking out of the sand, he pulls his second miles to the left of the gallery, and can only bump his third over a hillock and onto the apron at the front of the green. He’s got a job on to make bogey, never mind par. A decent long putt lagged to four feet, and bogey it is. He drops to -1. Kaymer meanwhile wanged his tee shot down a bank to the right, and was fortunate not to sail out of bounds and towards the briny. He flashes his second into a bunker at the front of the green, and splashes out to five feet. He should save par, but misses the short putt and drops back to level. As for Tiger? A drive straight down the middle, the second smoothly guided into the heart of the green, and a 25-foot putt with a huge left-to-right curl clipped to within a couple of feet. His fourth par in a row. Solid if unspectacular, but that will do for a player who has missed the cut in the last two majors. Small acorns, and all that.
The early leaderboard, then. Featuring Brian Gaffney, the club professional at Quaker Ridge Golf Club, Scarsdale, New York, where George Gershwin was once a member. A 10-handicapper, by all accounts. Some folk can turn their hand to anything.
-3: Matsuyama (8*), Streb (6), Casey (5*), Moore (4)
-2: Gaffney (8*), Bjorn (7), English (3), D Johnson (3*), Fowler (3*), Bradley (3*)
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Three very decent tee shots on 12. Bradley to 20 feet, Kaymer to 15, Tiger to 12. None of the par putts drop. Tiger really should have knocked his in, a reasonably straight one allowed to slip by on the right. But he stays at level par. Bradley remains one off the early lead at -2. Though for how long? He’s just flayed his drive at 13 into one of the many bunkers down the left. Meanwhile the Westwood-Rose comeback has been launched, the former with birdie at 13, the latter at 14. They’re both back up to +1.
Joining Moore and Casey in the lead at -3: Matsuyama, with his third birdie of the day at 16, and Streb, who pockets his third at 5. Harris English has birdied 2 and 3 to tuck in behind the leaders at -2. Meanwhile a typically Bubbaseque start from Bubba: he birdies 10, then pulls his drive into utter rubbish down the right of the par-five 11th, sticks his escape into a fairway bunker, and hands the shot back to the field. Plenty of time left this week for the usual brand of high jinks. Unless he misses the cut of course. One of the game’s biggest stars, and yet listen to this recent record in the majors: in his last eight starts, he’s won one tournament, and missed the cut in five others. This is exactly why he’s one of the game’s biggest stars, of course, but you get the point.
Another birdie for Keegan Bradley, this time at the par-five 11th. He’d found the fringe at the front in two, then lagged up the long eagle putt to a couple of feet. He’s -2. Kaymer picks up a shot as well: his approach kicked off down a bank to the right of the green, but he chips up to ten feet and knocks in the birdie putt. Finally Tiger, who from the fringe hits a hot chip eight feet past the flag, then leaves the birdie effort high on the right.
Plenty of birdies on offer out there right now, with the wind not as troublesome as predicted. Yet. But barring a couple of club professionals, nobody has made a worse start than the English pair Lee Westwood and Justin Rose. Westwood - his major-winning window as good as slammed shut nowadays, one would imagine - bogeyed 10 and 11. Rose - still a force, but whose performance during the last round of the Bridgestone last weekend was dreadful, the championship having been there for the taking - dropped shots at 11 and 13. They’re both +2.
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A combination of injury and poor form threatened to turn Paul Casey into a total irrelevance post 2010. But he’s been getting his groove back this year: a couple of second-place finishes on the PGA Tour, a top-ten finish at the Masters, a solid top-20 finish at the WGC-Bridgestone last week. He finished the week at Firestone South with a superb 67, so appears to be hitting form at the right time. And it’s three birdies from three now, this time at 12. He’s -3, in the lead alongside Ryan Moore, who has matched his fast start, only starting out from the 1st. Meanwhile Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler have added to birdies at 10 with birdies at 11. They’re both -2.
A couple more fast starts here. Ryan Moore has birdied 1 and 2. Paul Casey has birdied 10 and 11. Thomas Bjorn 3 and 5. They’re in the leading group at -2 alongside Matsuyama, Streb and Kuchar, but not Sabbatini, who shed another shot at 6. Just the one par for Sabbatini so far. Selected other players with early birdies to their name: David Howell, Stephen Gallacher, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen, who having finished the US Open like a train and missed out in the play-off for the Open, is arguably due something this week. Oh, and Sergio, who is also certainly due something in major-championship golf, but let’s not labour the point too much. God speed, though, Sergio.
The morning’s marquee group is out. Patchy form or no, Tiger Woods is still one of the biggest draws in the game. Still the biggest, despite the stellar efforts of Rory and Jordan? Yep, probably. Given the joy with which people love to write him off, isn’t it going to be something when Tiger wins his valedictory 15th major? Hey, dreaming is free, and you can’t stop anyone doing it. Anyway, he’s in a group with the PGA winner here in 2010, Martin Kaymer, and the man who took the brilliant German’s title off him a year later, Keegan Bradley. The three of them will all have a look at birdie at 10, Bradley by far the closest. Tiger isn’t far away from sliding a 25-footer in from the back. Par. That should feel like a birdie, given the number of times he’s managed to spectacularly balls up the opening hole of a major, a strange habit even in his pomp. Kaymer can’t roll in his 12-footer. Par. But Bradley, with his new short putter, the broom-handle hoicked out of the window, pops his missable five-footer into the cup. Solid birdie, and he’s one off the early lead.
Updated
Sabbatini can thank me for bunging up that early leaderboard when the going was good. For he’s just dropped a stroke at the absurd par-five 5th, which kinks past water on this side and that, and is 603 yards to boot. He’s back in the group at -2, now just sharing the lead. Which of course means less than nix at this preposterously early stage. Even so, a couple more notable names have joined the group at -2: Hideki Matsuyama, who is going to win one of these big events sometime soon, having just finished in the top ten at the Masters and top 20 at the US Open and Open; and Robert Streb, another player threatening to make the big breakthrough. Streb is one of the hottest players on the Tour this year; he’s fifth in the FedEx Cup rankings, having finished in the top 20 in seven of his last eight events. He came close last week at the WGC-Bridgestone, and will be worth keeping an eye on this week.
The fastest of fast starts has been made by Rory Sabbatini. The 39-year-old South African has only one top-ten finish in the majors, a tie for second at the 2007 Masters. Apart from that, he’s spent most of his time and energy arguing, falling out with Tiger Woods, Ben Crane and Sean O’Hair for reasons various. But he’s the first player to show this week. Out in the very first group, he birdied the opening hole, then followed it up with a couple more at 2 and 4. He’s currently a shot ahead of Matt Kuchar, who has six top-ten Tour finishes to his name this year, but hasn’t really featured at the business end of any of the majors, which is unlike him. The Kuch, starting out at 10, has birdied his first two holes. He’s alongside Chesson Hadley of North Carolina, and the club pro Brian Gaffney at -2. The first leaderboard of the week, then, just for the record, if nothing else:
-3: Sabbatini (4)
-2: Hadley (5), Gaffney (5*), Kuchar (3*)
Updated
Sports in a minute, then, with news of the early action at the 97th PGA Championship. But first the weather. And a long, long day could be stretching out in front of us, with a few black thunderclouds expected around lunchtime, and perhaps midway through the afternoon as well. Potentially a stop-start first round, then. Hopefully nothing too serious. Hopefully nothing at all. But whatever occurs, we’re unlikely to suffer the sort of meteorological madness which blighted the east coast of Fife and the Open last month. It might stay breezy all week, with the winds coming at the course from all angles, just to mix it up a bit. But nothing’s certain in the wild and wonderful world of weather forecasting, and there’s also been talk of the weekend turning out rather balmy, in which case the course will be playing faster, longer, harder. A lot of bases covered there. Make of it what you will.
Preamble
Which of the major championships is the greatest? Each and every one of us, all golf’s excitable children, will give the same answer: why, the greatest major championship is the one being contested right here, right now, silly. The glamorous and elegant Masters Tournament. The storied and demanding US Open. The historic and unique Open Championship. And finally the PGA Championship, the year’s glorious, unpretentious, free-wheeling, celebratory, final bid for immortality. Glory’s Last Shot.
The PGA hasn’t been shy in delivering some big stories in recent years. Since the Beem-Micheel era - something of a nadir, let’s be honest with ourselves, nice guys and all - some of the game’s brightest stars have won the prize: Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy. There have been epic tussles: Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia; YE Yang and Tiger; Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson; Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner; Rory, Rickie Fowler and Phil. Yang, Kaymer, Bradley and Dufner all broke their major ducks. Tiger lost a 54-hole lead in a major for the first time. Yang became the first Asian major champion. Rory won with a record eight-stroke margin. He also made that eagle at Valhalla to kickstart a comeback victory in the gloaming. Dufner had a putt for a 62. And, here at Whistling Straits in 2010, Dustin grounded his club in one of the many hundreds of designated bunkers pockmarking the course, and cost himself a shot at glory.
Chances are, another big story will be told this week in Wisconsin. Can Jordan Spieth become only the third player in history, behind Ben Hogan and Tiger Woods, to win three majors in a calendar year? Can Rory roar back from the injury that kept him out of the Open Championship to defend his title? Can Zach Johnson win back-to-back majors, joining Walter Hagen, Nick Price, Tiger, Padraig and Rory on an elite list of same-season Open and PGA champions? Can Jason Day finally break his major duck? Can the in-form Bubba Watson come back from disappointment at the WGC-Bridgestone last week to win a third major title? Can Shane Lowry join Rory and Tiger in following up a win at Firestone South with a PGA title? Can Dustin earn redemption for 2010, among many other things? Can Sergio Garc... well, we could explore the endless possibilities all day.
Suffice to say, this has all the makings of another major championship cracker. The long course, links in looks if not quite in the way it plays, was designed by everyone’s favourite sadists Pete and Alice Dye, and will set the field one hell of a test. So it’s sure to be exciting. And it’s certain to be memorable. It’s glory’s last shot. It’s on!
Ladies and gentlemen, on the first tee ...
6.45am CDT (12.45pm BST): Ryan Helminen, Rory Sabbatini, Chesson Hadley
6.55am CDT (12.55pm BST): David Howell, Grant Sturgeon, Boo Weekley
7.05am CDT (1.05pm BST): Charles Howell III, Austin Peters, Thomas Bjorn
7.15am CDT (1.15pm BST): Byeong Hun An, Russell Henley, Robert Streb
7.25am CDT (1.25pm BST): James Morrison, Ryan Palmer, Charley Hoffman
7.35am CDT (1.35pm BST): Stephen Gallacher, Ryan Moore, Thongchai Jaidee
7.45am CDT (1.45pm BST): Vijay Singh, David Toms, Mark Brooks
7.55am CDT (1.55pm BST): James Hahn, Jamie Donaldson, Harris English
8.05am CDT (2.05pm BST): Ross Fisher, JB Holmes, Mikko Ilonen
8.15am CDT (2.15pm BST): Tony Finau, Branden Grace, Danny Lee
8.25am CDT (2.25pm BST): Steven Young, Morgan Hoffmann, Anirban Lahiri
8.35am CDT (2.35pm BST): Brian Cairns, Matt Every, Matt Jones
8.45am CDT (2.45pm BST): Adam Rainaud, Brian Harman, JJ Henry
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12pm CDT (6pm BST): Bob Sowards, Koumei Oda, Alex Cejka
12.10pm CDT (6.10pm BST): Ryan Kennedy, Kevin Chappell, Brendon de Jonge
12.20pm CDT (6.20pm BST): Davis Love III, Darren Clarke, Steve Stricker
12.30pm CDT (6.30pm BST): Jimmy Walker, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
12.40pm CDT (6.40pm BST): Webb Simpson, Bernd Wiesberger, Shane Lowry
12.50pm CDT (6.50pm BST): Nick Watney, Ian Poulter, Joost Luiten
1pm CDT (7pm BST): Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Patrick Reed
1.10pm CDT (7.10pm BST): Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka
1.20pm CDT (7.20pm BST): Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Zach Johnson
1.30pm CDT (7.30pm BST): Jason Dufner, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington
1.40pm CDT (7.40pm BST): Cameron Tringale, Danny Willett, John Senden
1.50pm CDT (7.50pm BST): Jason Bohn, Marcel Siem, Omar Uresti
2pm CDT (8pm BST): Richard Ramsay, Dan Venezio, Nick Taylor
... and starting on the 10th ...
6.45am CDT (12.45pm BST): Pat Perez, Brian Gaffney, David Hearn
6.55am CDT (12.55pm BST): Hideki Matsuyama, Johan Kok, Brendan Steele
7.05am CDT (1.05pm BST): Matt Dobyns, Colin Montgomerie, John Daly
7.15am CDT (1.15pm BST): Victor Dubuisson, Matt Kuchar, Charl Schwartzel
7.25am CDT (1.25pm BST): Sergio Garcia, Bill Haas, Louis Oosthuizen
7.35am CDT (1.35pm BST): Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Geoff Ogilvy
7.45am CDT (1.45pm BST): Bubba Watson, Paul Casey, Jim Furyk
7.55am CDT (1.55pm BST): Hunter Mahan, Lee Westwood, Ernie Els
8.05am CDT (2.05pm BST): Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler
8.15am CDT (2.15pm BST): Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer, Keegan Bradley
8.25am CDT (2.25pm BST): Gary Woodland, Francesco Molinari, Marc Warren
8.35am CDT (2.35pm BST): Brent Synder, Tyrrell Hatton, Brendon Todd
8.45am CDT (2.45pm BST): Jeff Olson, Fabian Gomez, Martin Laird
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12pm CDT (6pm BST): George McNeill, Charles Frost, Emiliano Grillo
12.10pm CDT (6.10pm BST): Chris Wood, Brett Jones, Sean O’Hair
12.20pm CDT (6.20pm BST): George Coetzee, Ben Martin, Soren Kjeldsen
12.30pm CDT (6.30pm BST): Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Y.E. Yang
12.40pm CDT (6.40pm BST): Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Steven Bowditch, Daniel Berger
12.50pm CDT (6.50pm BST): Camilo Villegas, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Pablo Larrazabal
1pm CDT (7pm BST): Cameron Smith, Shawn Stefani, Hiroshi Iwata
1.10pm CDT (7.10pm BST): Kevin Streelman, Sang-Moon Bae, David Lingmerth
1.20pm CDT (7.20pm BST): Troy Merritt, Alexander Levy, Russell Knox
1.30pm CDT (7.30pm BST): Tim Clark, Billy Horschel, Miguel Angel Jimenez
1.40pm CDT (7.40pm BST): Eddie Pepperell, Sean Dougherty, Kevin Na
1.50pm CDT (7.50pm BST): Marc Leishman, Ben Polland, Kevin Kisner
2pm CDT (8pm BST): Scott Piercy, Alan Morin, Andy Sullivan
