GOLF: THE GOLFING gods dispense their favours with a fickle sense of justice, as demonstrated by two shots in yesterday's opening round of the 93rd US PGA Championship here at Atlanta Athletic Club yesterday.
Steve Stricker, a player yet to win a Major in an otherwise honour-laden career, had a putt for history – which he missed – in shooting an opening-round 63; while Rory McIlroy, so recently a favoured son, injured his right wrist in executing a bold shot from against an exposed tree root on the third hole of his first round.
McIlroy – who received physiotherapy treatment at various points of his round as well as having his wrist strapped – did continue, occasionally squirming in pain after the impact of clubhead on ball, but managing to produce some exquisite recovery shots, a la Seve, at times to keep his round alive.
It was that kind of day, one of contrast and – yet – one which underpinned how Majors differ so dramatically from regular tournaments. It was not for the faint-hearted.
Stricker’s stellar play – in shooting a seven-under-par 63 – was a joy to savour.
And, yet, there were stark contrasts from others, most notably Tiger Woods who, after a start that hinted at great things, disintegrated to a horrible 77 that left not only his PGA quest in trouble but also the rest of his season as the one-time long-time world number one is set to miss the end-of-season money fest that is the FedEx Cup.
Stricker – competing in his 53rd career Major and yet to savour a win – produced the best golf of all in a bogey-free 63 that was one stroke away from creating history. The American missed a 10-foot birdie putt on his final hole, failing to become the first player to shoot a 62 in a Major championship.
“I realised it was for 62 but didn’t realise it was for history. I hit a good putt, it just didn’t go in.
“All in all, a good day,” said Stricker, whose round contrasted to that of Woods – playing in a Major for the first time since the Masters in April – who staggered to his worst first round ever at the PGA Championship.
Stricker became the 11th player to shoot a round of 63 in the US PGA and the 25th to shoot that score in a Major.
For McIlroy, his round threatened to end almost as soon as it got going.
Having pulled his tee shot on the par four third hole into pine needles beside the tree running down the left-hand side of the fairway, McIlroy found his ball lying beside an exposed tree root.
Instead of chipping back towards the fairway, the 22-year-old Ulsterman elected to hit a hard seven-iron towards the green. It was to prove a costly decision, as he connected with the ball but also, unfortunately, hit into the root and left him with an injured right wrist.
McIlroy firstly got an ice pack and then got two bouts of on-course physio, one from PGA Tour physio Jeff Hendra and later from his European Tour phsyio Cornell Driessen, as he played on through the pain which ran from his wrist into his forearm and up to his shoulder.
Remarkably, despite the discomfort, he had back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes.
Woods, who had got his round to three under through five holes, had a meltdown in the near-100 degree Fahrenheit conditions.
“I’m not down, I’m really angry,” said Woods, who – having started on the 10th – disintegrated on the stretch of holes from the 15th to the 18th where he went double-bogey, bogey, par, double-bogey to go from contending to struggling to survive the midway cut which falls at the end of the second round.
“A tough stretch,” observed Woods of that run of holes which will make or break many a round.
He did, however, candidly admit to some failings with his swing. “My shots don’t shape like they used to, I don’t shape the ball as much.
“What causes the ball to shape more? It’s a bunch of things. Unfortunately, I’m not at a point that I can let it go . . . I’ve been in this process before with Butch (Harmon) and I’ve been through it with Hank (Haney). Now, I’ve been through it with Sean (Foley).
Once you get to a Major, you just let it fly. I did, and it cost me.”
On another day of soaring temperatures, Stricker produced the hottest numbers of all as his 63 left him a shot clear of fellow American Jerry Kelly and four ahead of Scott Verplank.
Stricker, the world number five, made a dream start with three straight birdies – from 15, five and four feet on the 10th, 11th and 12th respectively – and never looked back.
“I know 63 is that number that no one has gotten under. But I really never thought about it at all today. My caddie old me after I missed the putt; he’s like, you know, ‘that was for the lowest competitive round in history of major championships’, and I’m like, ‘oh, shoot, it was?’
“It really never registered. I was just trying to make a birdie and finish eight under, and I really was concentrating on the putt but never thought about the history part of it,” said Stricker.
Collated first round scores in the US PGA Championship, Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Georgia, United States of America (USA unless stated, par 70, Irish in bold)
63Steve Stricker
65Jerry Kelly
66Shaun Micheel
67Scott Verplank
68Brendon De Jonge, Anders Hansen (Den), Bill Haas, Davis Love III, John Senden (Aus), Brandt Jobe, Matteo Manassero (Ita), Simon Dyson (Eng)
69Brian Davis (Eng), Adam Scott (Aus), Stewart Cink, Bob Sowards, Mark Wilson, D.A. Points, Brendan Steele, Ricky Barnes, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)
70Nick Watney, Robert Garrigus, Jason Dufner, Michael Bradley, Gary Woodland, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Alexander Noren (Swe), K J Choi (Kor), Luke Donald (Eng), Camilo Villegas (Col), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)
71Spencer Levin, Seung-yul Noh (Kor), Ross Fisher (Eng), Bill Lunde, Ryan Palmer, Johan Edfors (Swe), Peter Hanson (Swe), Ben Crane, Steve Marino, Sean O'Hair, Justin Rose (Eng), Lee Westwood (Eng), Y.E. Yang (Kor), Jason Day (Aus), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Zach Johnson, Scott Piercy, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley, Jim Furyk, Johnson Wagner, Jonathan Byrd
72Chris Kirk, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Brian Gay, Sergio Garcia (Spa), David Toms, Harrison Frazar, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Charles Howell III, Stuart Smith (Nzl), David Horsey (Eng), Angel Cabrera (Arg), Kevin Na, Hunter Mahan, John Rollins, Robert Allenby (Aus), Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn), Andres Romero (Arg), Paul Casey (Eng), Steve Schneiter
73Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Scott Stallings, Kyung-tae Kim (Kor), Brad Lardon, Mark Brooks, Steve Elkington (Aus), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Kevin Streelman, Charlie Wi (Kor), Mike Small, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Martin Laird (Sco), Bo Van Pelt, Pádraig Harrington (Irl)
74Bryce Molder, Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Sean Dougherty, Bubba Watson, Anthony Kim, J J Henry, Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Ernie Els (Rsa), Rich Beem, Ian Poulter (Eng), Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Tringale, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe)
75Marty Jertson, Charley Hoffman, Jeff Sorenson, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Jeff Overton, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Ryan Moore
76Thomas Aiken (Rsa), David Hutsell, Craig Stevens, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Jeff Coston, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Vijay Singh (Fij), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Tom Gillis
77Tiger Woods, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Jerry Pate, John Daly, Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Mike Northern, Faber Jamerson, Jamie Donaldson (Wal), D.J. Trahan
78Brendan Jones (Aus), Robert Mcclellan, Darren Clarke (NIrl), Dan Olsen, Rob Moss, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Arjun Atwal (Ind), Larry Nelson
79Richard Green (Aus), Rocco Mediate
80Scott Erdmann, J.B. Holmes, Lucas Glover, Heath Slocum
81Daniel Balin, Tommy Gainey
82Todd Camplin
85Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Brian Cairns
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