JOHNS CREEK, GA. (AP) - Steve Stricker had a shot at history and Tiger Woods made some of his own.
Just not the kind he wanted.
What a wild first day at the PGA Championship.
Stricker missed a 10-foot birdie putt at his final hole Thursday, just a hair away from becoming the first player to shoot 62 in a major championship. He had no complaints, though, about settling for a 7-under score and the opening-round lead at Atlanta Athletic Club.
“I realized it was for 62 but didn’t realize it was for history,” Stricker said. “I hit a good putt. It just didn’t go in. All in all, a good day.”
For Woods, a miserable one.
Seemingly spending as much time in water and sand as he did on the green stuff, Woods returned to the major scene with a major thud _ a 77 that was his worst round ever at the PGA.
A 15th major title? Forget about it.
Woods will need a major turnaround just to make the cut.
Beyond Stricker and Woods, there was Rory McIlroy banging his hand on an ill-advised shot off a tree root, Ryo Ishikawa spending so much time in the water he needed a snorkel, and two patched-up greens caused by mowers gone wild.
Stricker showed it was possible to go low by keeping the ball in the fairway. He tore up the tough back nine with a 5-under 30 and played a bogey-free round, leaving him two shots ahead of Jerry Kelly among those with morning tee times.
It was the 11th time a player has shot 63 in the year’s final major, and the 25th time overall.
“I really had no expectations coming into today’s round,” the 44-year-old Stricker said. “I didn’t make too many birdies the first three days during the practice rounds. I got off to a good start, and it kind of got me going.”
McIlroy, the U.S. Open champion, got off to a painful start, taking an ill-advised swing at his ball resting against a tree root on the third hole.
He let the 7-iron fall from his hands as soon as he struck the ball, and flexed his wrist in obvious pain. He walked to the next hole holding an ice compress on his arm. Finally, at the fifth, he was checked out by PGA Tour physical therapist Jeff Hendra.
Apparently reassured that he couldn’t hurt it any worse, McIlroy played on. He had the wrist taped up to provide extra support and managed to grind out an even-par 70.
Stricker has never won one of golf’s biggest championships _ he’s 0-for-52 _ and the Americans are mired in their longest major drought of the modern era.
It’s early, but maybe he’ll take care of both in the same week.
Stricker amazingly made birdies at both the 15th _ the longest par-3 on the course _ and the 18th, a lengthy par-4 that has water hugging the left side of the fairway and guarding the front of the green.
The Americans sure need a boost. They haven’t won a major since Phil Mickelson triumphed at the 2010 Masters, coming up short at six in a row. During that span, Northern Ireland has captured three championships, South Africa two and Germany one.
Stricker is the highest-ranked American in the world rankings, a spot that used to be controlled by Woods.
Not anymore.
Woods knocked two balls in the water and spent enough time in the bunkers to feel like he was on a beach vacation. The result was predictable: Three double bogeys and five bogeys.
He headed to the clubhouse a colossal 14 strokes off the lead, having put up the same score as 57-year-old Jerry Pate.
“I’m not down,” Woods said. “I’m really angry right now.”
His previous worst round in the PGA was a 75, and the only time he posted a higher score in a major was that 81 in the third round of the British Open, played in awful conditions at Muirfield.
That result was stunning because Woods was in his prime, a superb player in the midst of winning 14 major titles.
Now, he looks like just one of the crowd, at best. Woods hasn’t won a major championship since his stirring playoff win at the 2008 U.S. Open _ on a leg that needed major surgery.
Since then, his marriage has fallen apart, his reputation has taken a beating and his game is not the least bit intimidating.
Fully recovered from a leg injury that caused him to miss both the U.S. Open and the British Open, Woods got off to a strong start with birdies on three of the first five holes, briefly grabbing a share of the lead.
Then Bad Tiger showed up again.
The trouble began at the 253-yard 15th, the over-the-top par 3 that is both long and protected by water. Woods went with an iron but it wasn’t quite enough, the ball plopping into the pond that runs along the right side of the hole. He reached down slowly to retrieve his tee and went on to make the first of his double bogeys.
At the 16th, a wild drive led to more problems. Woods landed in a fairway bunker to the right, knocked his approach into the gallery on the left, flopped it into another bunker and settled for a bogey.
Woods took another double bogey at the brutal 18th after plugging his tee shot in, yes, another bunker. He could only gouge it out, found more sand with his third shot and failed to get up-and-down from there.
His momentum totally stymied by a 2-over 37 at the turn, Woods staggered toward the finish. He started the front side with three more bogeys in the first four holes, then dunked another ball in the water at the sixth to set up his third double bogey on a sweltering day in the Deep South.
Woods closed with an appropriate finish. His approach landed in the bunker in front of the ninth green, his blast-out went far past the flag, and he missed the par putt.
At least Woods fared better than Ishikawa, the Japanese star thought to be a contender coming off a strong showing at Firestone last week.
The 19-year-old put six balls in the water and finishing with an 85 _ pretty much assured of missing the cut before much of the field even got on the course.
Dustin Johnson was looking to make up for a gaffe on the 72nd hole that cost him a chance to win last year’s PGA.
Johnson appeared headed for a three-way playoff at Whistling Straits until the PGA of America pointed out that he grounded his club in a ragged patch of dirt that was actually a bunker.
He had to assess himself a two-stroke penalty, which left Martin Kaymer to beat Bubba Watson for the Wanamaker Trophy.
Johnson has a lot of work to do just to put himself in that position again, opening with a 75.
Kaymer began defense of his title with 72. Watson had a wild round on his way to a 74, stringing together four straight birdies early in the round, then stumbling through five straight bogeys _ and a double bogey at the end.
Shaun Micheel, one of the PGA’s most surprising winners in 2003, is at it again. He opened with a 66.
Everyone raved about the condition of the 7,467-yard course in the sprawling suburbs northeast of Atlanta, which was the home club of Bobby Jones and had hosted three previous majors.
But a baffling mishap the evening before left two ugly patches in the 14th and 17th greens.
Apparently, a quick rise in the humidity caused the brushes on two movers to stick in the grass, ripping the impeccable greens. Head groundskeeper Ken Mangum had to bring in sod for a quick patch job and the PGA of America ruled that the affected areas would be treated as ground under repair, allowing golfers to move their ball if it landed there or they had to putt through it.
“We felt like our hearts had been ripped out,” Mangum said. “It’s a little bit like cutting yourself with a razor on your wedding day.”
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