admin
OAK HILL — TIGER Woods struggled, after a bright opening, to score a one-over par 71 on the opening day of the PGA Championship here yesterday as his quest to get back to winning Majors started badly. By the time Woods completed his round, he was five strokes behind club-house leader David Heran of Cadana who shot a 66 but with a number of big guns teeing of later, there was a real chance that could be overhauled.
Woods self-destructed after an impressive opening spell and lost his way at holes that he was supposed to dominate.
Sportsmail’s golf correspondent Derek Lawrenson summed it up:
“You don’t expect that from Tiger Woods, do you? After ten holes you’d have bet your mortgage on him finishing with a 65 or 66, and particularly given how scoreable that final stretch of the front nine was proving for so many.
“That double bogey at the 9th, however, demonstrated just how penal this course can be if you get out of position.
“For me, the pattern of this major has been set this first morning. The winner will surely be a fairways and greens plodder, and probably American.”
Hearn said: “I hit the ball great and didn’t really miss a shot. So I am really happy with the start and looking forward tot he rest of the week.
“I feel like I have being doing a lot of good things. I have played a few US Opens so any time you get to play in one of these Majors is real special.”
Hearn fired a four-under par 66 to seize the clubhouse lead while Woods struggled to stay under par at Oak Hill.
Hearn, who grew up five blocks from ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s home, opened with a bogey but responded with birdies at the second, the par-5 fourth and the par-3 sixth holes, began the back nine birdie-birdie and added another at the par-4 16th before closing with a bogey.
Hearn achieved his best US PGA Tour finish last month, losing a playoff at the John Deere Classic on the fifth extra hole to US teen Jordan Spieth, who became the tour’s youngest winner since 1931.
Jim Furyk, the 2003 US Open winner, was on five under with four holes to play in the first round of the year’s final major tournament. Australian Marcus Fraser was four under with three holes remaining.
England’s Paul Casey and American Robert Garrigus were in the clubhouse on three-under 67 with Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Americans Steve Stricker and Jason Dufner finishing on 68.
Woods, a 14-time major winner seeking his first major title since the 2008 US Open, was one-under par with four holes remaining. Woods, seeking a record-tying fifth PGA Championship crown, began on the back nine and birdied the par-5 13th and sank an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-3 15th and saved pars at 17 and 18 after missing the green. But Woods found trouble on the front side, missing a four-footer for birdie at the second and finding rough and a bunker on his way to a bogey at the par-5 fourth. He made a motion after his second shot as if to throw his club before holding onto it and his temper. Woods collected his fifth title of the year last week at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational by seven strokes for his eighth career triumph at Firestone, a run that included a second-round 61 to match the lowest round of his career.
Casey opened with a bogey at the 10th, birdied the first two holes on the front nine and answered a birdie at the third with back-to-back birdies on the next two holes and another birdie at the par-4 seventh. —Mailonline/AFP.
Online Reporter