Golf - US PGA:How do you describe a spluttering first day of the 92nd US PGA Championship? A day when a fog wrapped its claws around this outpost hard by the shores of Lake Michigan to disrupt the finely tuned preparations of players' with their eyes on the Wanamaker Trophy. An incomplete day, which finished with a horn blaring to summon those 78 players in the late wave who failed to get through all 18 holes.
And, yet, despite the messy stop-start nature of the round, there were some engrossing tales to tell. As if to signal that this new generation of players come to these Majors without fear, Bubba Watson – who only managed a breakthrough career win on the US Tour last month’s Travelers Championship – and Italian Francesco Molinari took the clubhouse lead with four-under-par 68s.
They were not alone. Out on the course, three players called ashore by the siren had joined them on their mark: Ernie Els (through 14 holes), Nick Watney (through 11) and Matt Kuchar (through 14), while Darren Clarke – making the most of his special invitation from the PGA of America – had a run of three successive birdies from the ninth to move to three-under, which he remained through 13 holes.
The quintet of Irish players in the field experienced different emotions. Clarke, just like he did in the old days, led the way but the rejuvenated Ulsterman had good company in Shane Lowry, competing in his first Major in the United States, who was two under through nine. And Rory McIlroy, who had a disastrous start which saw him three-over after four holes, showed that patience is a virtue by recovering with a run of four birdies in six holes to be one-under on his round after 13 holes.
US Open champion Graeme McDowell, though, found birdies hard to come by and was two over after 12 holes when rescued by the siren. Of the Irish in the field, only Pádraig Harrington completed his round. But it was a disappointing effort. The Dubliner signed for a 75, three over, which left him believing that he had been too impatient.
In attempting to explain his round, Harrington said: “I was very confident going out, (but) I kept playing aggressive shots tentatively whereas playing conservative shots aggressively would have been better. It’s disappointing, as I was very happy going out there. . . you could say I try too hard, that is a possibility. I was in great stead coming off the last two weeks, hitting the ball well and looking forward to it. I probably wasn’t that patient.”
While Harrington has a job on his hands if he is to survive the cut, at least Clarke, Lowry and McIlroy have put themselves at the business end of things. They are in a happy place, for sure.
World number one Tiger Woods could be seen working with Sean Foley – coach to Sean O’Hair and Hunter Mahan – on the range for a considerable time after his round. Woods, who birdied his finishing hole for a 71, said that “shooting something under par” was his goal for the first round after a dreadful outing in last week’s Bridgestone Invitational in Akron. “Everything was better,” remarked Woods of the improvement in his game. Maybe Foley will become a permanent fixture rather than a temporary one.
Phil Mickelson, a new devout of vegetarianism as he seeks to overcome his arthritic ailment, also showed signs of improvement on his Akron form as he birdied the 10th and 11th to move to one under on his round when play was halted due to fading light. The 78 players are due to restart their rounds at 7am local time (1pm Irish time).
Molinari, meanwhile, continued the fearlessness of the new breed of European golfer. The Italian claimed that he was inspired by McDowell’s US Open success and that of Louis Oosthuizen in the British Open. “If you see those guys winning majors, you know you can do it. But, still, it’s really hard to win a tournament like this and it happens a few times that a player not in the (world’s) top-10 wins. I don’t think that’s going to last forever. I think Tiger is going to get back to his standards and Phil is going to win more majors. So you need to play really well to grab the occasion when you can.”