Tiger up and down, Rory comes out strong in opening round of PGA Championship
TULSA, Okla. (BVM) – The 104th PGA Championship kicked off earlier today at Southern Hills, and while we have seen impressive opening rounds by many so far, all eyes were on Tiger Woods as he teed it up in his second tournament this year.
Beginning play on the 10th hole in a marquee pairing alongside Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Woods could not have started out much better, hitting a drive in the fairway and knocking his second shot close for an opening birdie.
Dialed in early.@TigerWoods | #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/3G9mL1fSy6
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2022
After a couple of two-putt pars on 11 and 12 and getting up-and-down from the bunker to save par on 13, Woods hit another terrific iron shot into the par-3 14th, sinking his birdie putt to move to 2-under-par through five holes.
Tiger birdie. 🐯🐦 #PGAChamp
(🎥 @PGAChampionship)pic.twitter.com/hcjdQ4Geln
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 19, 2022
However, his round turned after the hot start. Woods gave a shot back with a bogey on 15 after not being able to get up-and-down from the sand, but did salvage pars on holes 16 and 17. Finishing up his first nine, Woods again found trouble with a bunker at Southern Hills, leading to another bogey and an even-par 35 to start the day.
The second nine didn’t start much better for the 15-time major champ, making a second-straight bogey on the first hole. Another unforced error led to a third-consecutive bogey on the second, but Woods did rebound with a solid birdie on hole No. 3. That would be one of the last highlights of the round, however, as he would bogey Nos. 4, 8 and 9 to end the day with a 4-over-par round of 74.
It’s certainly not the start Woods hoped for, as he sits in a tie for 83rd, but he will have a chance to rebound tomorrow and make the cut as he tees it up at 2:36 p.m. local time.
As for the rest of this marquee group, McIlroy got off to a sizzling start – something that has been rare for him lately in majors – as he made seven birdies, four of which came on a dominant stretch from holes 12-15. McIlroy currently holds the lead at 5-under-par in the early going, finishing a second consecutive impressive major round.
65 and the lead for Rory McIlroy. pic.twitter.com/5IlKylClvT
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) May 19, 2022
Like Woods, Spieth also struggled as he aims for the career grand slam, but did salvage a 2-over-par round of 72.
Young Will Zalatoris also impressed in the early going shooting 66, while 43-year-old Matt Kuchar shot a strong opening-round 67.
One of the other big surprises of the day was 1991 PGA champion John Daly shooting a 2-over-par round of 72. Daly hasn’t played a lot of competitive golf recently, but was a couple of strokes under par through 13 holes until a string of four bogeys to close derailed his round.
T3 at -2.@PGA_JohnDaly is cruisin' at the #PGAChamp. pic.twitter.com/iUzFjaAi9a
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 19, 2022
Still, he will be in position to make the cut tomorrow with another solid round, something Woods will also be hoping to do when he gets going Friday afternoon.