The PGA Championship is back at Oak Hill for the first time since 2003. “It’s one of the best setups I’ve ever seen, the way the PGA has set it up, I just think it’s incredibly well thought out,” said Phil Mickelson. The rain last night in Rochester, New York softened up the course, which made for some optimum scoring conditions this morning. Like Matt Kuchar illustrated after his round, the players with early tee times had the advantage. Some players like Kuchar took advantage of that, while others failed to capitalize. Here is a look at some of the more notable scores so far about three 3 quarters of the way through day 1.
Tiger Woods: Like love or hate him, it always starts with Tiger. Coming off of his dominating performance last week, Vegas had Tiger as a considerable 4 to 1 favorite. Given the fact that there well over 100 players in the field, 4 to 1 is a heavy favorite. Tiger did not justify that on day 1. He started on the back 9 and looked sharp, birdying 13 and 15, but struggled after he made the turn. It seemed like he was scrambling all day. A rare bogey of a par 5 for Tiger on 4, was compounded by his awful double bogey on 9 to finish +1. He had an up and down for par, but shanked it right into the sand, then left his sand shot very short and missed the putt. +1 is not where Tiger wanted to be, but theres plenty of golf to be played.
Rory McIlroy: The defending champ has struggled this year, but was on point early. He came ready to defend his title, birdying 1, 3 and 4. A bogey on the 5th puts him back to -2 but a good start should instill some confidence in the struggling star. Rory is on the 7th hole as I write.
Jim Furyk: The awkward swing was firing on all cylinders today. Furyk has been quiet this year, missing 2 cuts out of the first 3 majors. But today he sent a message to the rest of the field by posting a score of -5. He was bogey free and 6 under through 17 holes before he bogeyed the difficult 9th hole. Jim put himself in scoring position all day, and his putter took advantage.
Matt Kuchar: Kuch was one of those guys who had an early tee time. He took advantage of the prime conditions posting a bogey free round at -3. Kuchar played all the par 3’s and par 5’s even, and birdied 3 par 4’s. Kuchar hits it pretty straight which should give him a pretty good chance on this unforgiving golf course.
Henrik Stenson: Stenson is having an incredible 2013. He is climbing his way back into the top 10 in the world with consistently solid golf. Today he was consistently inconsistent. He finished with a quality score of -2, but was very up and down all day. 5 birds and 3 bogeys made for an erratic day. He failed to capitalize on some quality opportunities but also made some great scrambles.
Jason Dufner: Dufner continued his solid play this year by ending day 1 of the PGA at -2. Like Stenson, Dufner was pretty erratic in his 5 birdy, 3 bogey day. If Dufner wants to make a run at this thing he is going to have to scramble a little better (easy for me to say…that rough is thicker than Ron Burgundy’s mustache).
PhIl Mickelson: Lefty’s Open Championship hangover seems to be continuing early on. He bogeyed 3 and double bogeyed 4. But he is only on the 5th hole right now, so he has plenty of golf ahead of him.
Brandt Snedeker: Sneds is off to a solid start. He is -1 through 8. A couple nice par saves and some vintage Snedeker putts is the reason he is under par right now. We all know this guy can roll the rock, I think this could be the 1 for Sneeeedeker.
Other Notables:
Lee Westwood: -2 through 7
Ricky Fowler: Even — F
Adam Scott: -2 though 5
Justin Rose: Even through 5
Luke Donald: +1 through 5
Nicolas Colsaerts: -3 through 8
Steve Stricker: -2 — F
Bill Haas: -2 — F
Hunter Mahan: Even — F
Jason Day: -1 through 8
Graeme McDowell: Even — F
Obviously there is a lot of golf to be played today. But after day 1 to me it looks like Tiger is in his usual post 2008 major form, erratic off the tee but scrambling well. That is not the way to win majors. Phil struggling early but will have chances to claw his way back. The surprise to me is Rory coming in strong. If he can post a solid under par score, it could spark another classic Rory run.
– Steve Butabi
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