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Pettersson Seizes Early Lead at PGA Championship
McIlroy Impresses Early at PGA Championship
Woods Finds The Sand but No Bunkers at PGA
Pettersson Seizes Early Lead at PGA Championship
KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP) - Carl Pettersson, who had never broken 70 before in the PGA Championship, birdied three of his first four holes Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the season's final major.
Pettersson is chasing his first major championship title but he already has one victory this year in South Carolina, taking the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head in April. He would like to make it two wins in the Palmetto State after shooting a six-under 66 at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
"There is a long way to go but I am thrilled with my start," Pettersson said. "I haven't contended much in majors. I think I have two top 10s. But I would love to have a chance to see what happens."
Former US Open winner Rory McIlroy heads a group of four players that are one shot back. American Gary Woodland, Spain's Fernandez-Castano Gonzalo and Swede Alex Noren all shot five-under 67.
Australians Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley and Geoff Ogilvy, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, defending champion Keegan Bradley and his fellow American player Scott Piercy, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands and 1991 PGA Championship winner John Daly are all tied for sixth two shots back of the leader.
The 34-year-old Pettersson, of Gothenburg, hit 12 of 14 fairways Thursday and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
"Getting off to a good start was the key to the round," he said. "The wind started blowing a bit on the back nine but I carried my solid play, hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and making a few putts. It was a great day for me."
McIlroy, who is chasing his second major championship title, got his PGA Championship off to a solid start as well, rolling in five birdies in a bogey-free round.
He started on the back nine and began his day with a birdie on the 447-yard, par-four tenth hole. He also had birdies on holes 14, 16, two and six.
"It is a great way to start a tournament," he said. "I thought I had to take advantage of the conditions. I am very happy."
McIlroy has a shot at overtaking Luke Donald as the top ranked player in the world if he plays well this week. In order to do that, the young Northern Irishman needs to win and have Donald finish worse than a two-way tie for second place.
The conditions were ideal at Kiawah Island as there was just a light wind and plenty of sunshine in the morning after several days of rain leading up to the first round.
Weather forecasters were predicting rain in the morning but the early starters were met with hot and humid conditions with temperatures of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
McIlroy said the blue skies were unlikely to last all week.
"I am expecting this to be the best day of the week," he said. "I am just happy I got off to a great start."
Tiger Woods also got off to a sound first round with a three-under 69. His round featured three bogeys and six birdies, including three-straight birdies at the turn.
"I played well today and anything in the 60s is going to be a good start in a major championship and I am right there," Woods said.
British Open champion Ernie Els shot an even-par 72 while American Phil Mickelson struggled with a 73. Englishman Donald shot a two-over 74.
One of the strongest fields ever put together for a tournament is tackling this week the Ocean Course, which at 7,676 yards (meters) is the longest course in major championship history.
A total of 102 of the 103 top ranked players in the world are competing this week at Kiawah Island.
McIlroy Impresses Early at PGA Championship
KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP) - Rory McIlroy got his 2012 PGA Championship off to a solid start Thursday as he rolled in five birdies in a bogey-free round of five-under 67 to climb to near the top of the leaderboard.
McIlroy, who is chasing his second major championship title, started on the back nine and began his day with a birdie on the 447-yard, par-four tenth hole. He also had birdies on holes 14, 16, two and six.
"It is a great way to start a tournament," the former US Open winner said. "I thought I had to take advantage of the conditions. I am very happy."
McIlroy has a shot at overtaking Luke Donald as the top ranked player in the world if he plays well this week. In order to do that the young Northern Irishman needs to win and have Donald finish worse than a two-way tie for second place.
The conditions were ideal on Thursday as there was just a light wind and plenty of sunshine after several days of rain leading up to Thursday's first round.
Weather forecasters were predicting rain Thursday morning but for the early starters it was hot and humid conditions with temperatures of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
McIlroy, like everyone else, doesn't think the blue skies will last all week.
"I am expecting this to be the best day of the week," he said. "I am just happy I got off to a great start."
Tiger Woods also got off soundly with a three-under 69. Woods' round featured three bogeys and six birdies, including three-straight birdies at the turn.
The strongest field ever put together for a tournament is tackling The Ocean Course this week which at 7,676 yards is the longest course in major championship history.
Both Tiger Woods and McIlroy can overtake Donald as the world number one, depending on how they do this week. Donald has held the No. 1 spot for 54 weeks.
Joost Luiten of the Netherlands is also off to a hot start thanks to an eagle on the 16th hole. The 26-year-old started on the back nine and had three birdies and the eagle in his first seven holes.
Woods Finds The Sand but No Bunkers at PGA
KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP) - Tiger Woods had to scramble out of three straight sand traps on one hole Thursday but according to new rules at the 94th PGA Championship he didn't land in any bunkers.
Woods hit his tee shot on the 497-yard, par-four No. 13 into the sand trap on the left side of the fairway. His next shot also sailed left finding the sand behind the ropes and then he chipped it into another hazard next to the green before finishing with a bogey.
But officially Woods didn't hit any bunkers in Thursday's opening round of the final major of the season.
Organizers have decided to declare all sand this week "through the green" which allows players to treat the bunkers on the Kiawah Country Club course as if they were simply sandy areas. That means for the first time at an event players can take practice swings and ground their clubs in the bunkers.
Woods says he forgot about the special conditions until his caddy (Joe LaCava) made him aware of it on No. 13.
"I pull it left on 13 and Joey reminds me that you can take a practice swing out there," Woods said. "I had not done it in a tournament yet. I felt a little weird to put my club on the ground.
"All these bunkers are different. Some have a lot of sand and some have no sand."
The ruling is in effect at this event because the PGA doesn't want a repeat of what happened to American Dustin Johnson at Whistling Straits, a similar looking ocean-side course with plenty of sand.
Two years ago Johnson missed a playoff in the PGA Championship when he got a two-shot penalty for not realizing he was in a "bunker" on his final hole. Whistling Straits has more than 900 bunkers many of which look like sandy patches of dirt.
Woods got off to a sound start on Thursday with a three-under 69. His round featured three bogeys and six birdies, including three-straight birdies at the turn.
"I played well today and anything in the 60s is going to be a good start in a major championship so I am right there," Woods said.
Starting from the 10th tee, Woods went through one stretch of birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, beginning with the 12th hole on his front nine.
He birdied the par-four 12th, but then made bogey on No. 13.
Woods made bogey on his second-straight hole on the par-three, 238 yard 14th.
His tee shot went left and landed near the bottom of a steep in hill right next to a sand trap. Standing on the steep slope, Woods didn't get enough of the ball on his next shot and it barely got over the hill, stopping well short of the flag. But he made a nice chip from 40 feet which rolled just past the hole leaving him with a one-foot putt for bogey.
On the par-four 15th, Woods hit a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway and then put his approach on the green. He then poured in an 18-foot putt for his second birdie of the day to get back to even par on the round.
Woods also had three consecutive birdies as he made the turn to vault up the leaderboard.
He made bogey on No. 4 but then birdied the eighth hole to finish at three-under.
Woods said his putting is starting to come around after a couple of tournaments where he failed to putt consistently.
"I putted well on the weekend," he said. "I came out here with the same thoughts, same feels and I made a few today."
Bradley's Putter Goes "Ping"
KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 9, 2012 (AFP) - Keegan Bradley wasn't going to let a small equipment malfunction ruin his week at the 94th PGA Championship.
When Bradley was practising with Phil (Mickelson) earlier in the week his putter broke as they were strolling along one of the fairway's on the Kiawah Island Golf Resort course. 
"I was walking down the fairway on Tuesday with Phil and I hear a ping and part of my putter had fallen off in the fairway," Bradley said. "You know, it's a miracle it didn't happen on Sunday. I'm thankful that it didn't happen on Sunday or today.
"Odyssey made me a putter that's exactly the same. It feels great. It's my old shot shaft in there. It's amazing, it looks the exact same."
Bradley got his title defence at the PGA Championship off to a solid start on Thursday by firing a four-under 68 in a round that included an eagle and five birdies.
Playing in a group with Tiger Woods, the 26-year-old American started on the back nine and opened with a birdie on the par-four 10th and an eagle on the par-five 11th.
"It was just a solid, solid round," said Bradley, who has never missed a cut in a major. "I feels great. I get announced as the PGA Champion, it gives me chills. It was really fun and I love playing with Tiger, so it was a great day."
Bradley went through a lull after winning last year's PGA Championship as a Tour rookie. But he proved last week he is not a one-hit wonder as he captured the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
"It can change in one week," he said. "I went from having a decent year to struggling a little bit and then I win and I'm backup here on top."
He said Thursday's conditions were difficult with the heat in the morning and then the wind picking up in the afternoon. Temperatures were around 32 degrees Celsius but the humidity factor made it feel much hotter.
"I'm so happy it started blowing because it was so hot this morning," he said. "On the 14th tee was one of the hottest moments of my life."
Weather forecasters are predicting blue skies will turn to periods of rain later in the week so Bradley said it was key to come out of the gate with a good score.
"You have to take what the round gives you," he said. "Any time in golf if you try to push it or force it, bad things can happen.
"I just tried to stay calm and I got off to a really good start."
First round scores in the 94th PGA Championship at par-72 Kiawah Island Resort (Ocean Course), Kiawah Island, South Carolina (USA unless stated):
66 - Carl Pettersson (SWE)
67 - Gary Woodland, Rory McIlroy (NIR), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Alexander Noren (SWE)
68 - John Daly, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Keegan Bradley, Joost Luiten (NED), Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Adam Scott (AUS), Scott Piercy, Graeme McDowell (NIR)
69 - Pat Perez, Ben Curtis, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Tiger Woods, Cameron Tringale, Peter Hanson (SWE), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), K.T. Kim (KOR), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Justin Rose (ENG), K J Choi (KOR)
70 - Greg Chalmers (AUS), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Ian Poulter (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Padraig Harrington (IRL)
71 - Matteo Manassero (ITA), Martin Laird (SCO), Ken Duke, Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Dustin Johnson, Trevor Immelman (RSA), Ryan Palmer, Tim Clark (RSA), George McNeill, Brendon De Jonge (ZIM), Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Vijay Singh (FIJ), Blake Adams
72 - Marcel Siem (GER), Toru Taniguchi (JPN), Jim Furyk, David Toms, Shaun Micheel, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT). John Huh (KOR), Jason Day (AUS), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN), John Rollins, Matthew Every, Sang-moon Bae (KOR), Anders Hansen (DEN), Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els (RSA), Zach Johnson, Davis Love, Matt Kuchar, Rich Beem, J J Henry
73 - D.A. Points, John Senden (AUS), Rory Sabbatini (RSA), Michael Thompson, Darren Clarke (NIR), Ryan Moore, Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Chris Stroud, David Lynn (ENG), Jonathan Byrd, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker, Bo Van Pelt, Y.E. Yang (KOR), Paul Lawrie (SCO), Nick Watney, Simon Dyson (ENG), Retief Goosen (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA), William McGirt
74 - Branden Grace (RSA), Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP), Robert Garrigus, Scott Stallings, Jason Dufner, Robert Karlsson (SWE), Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker, Jeff Coston, Alan Morin, Seung-yul Noh (KOR), Rickie Fowler, Luke Donald (ENG), Chez Reavie, Jeff Overton, Marc Leishman (AUS), Ted Potter
75 - Johnson Wagner, Lee Westwood (ENG), Bill Haas, Brian Davis (ENG), Sean O'Hair, Brian Cairns, Bryce Moulder, Bob Sowards, Darrell Kestner, Marcus Fraser (AUS), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Scott Verplank, Paul Scaletta, Robert Allenby (AUS), Kevin Na, Rod Perry
76 - Kelly Mitchum, Charles Howell, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Mike Small, Robert Rock (ENG), Angel Cabrera (ARG), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Mark Wilson, Brian Gaffney, Brendan Jones (AUS)
77 - Spencer Levin, Lucas Glover, Tommy Gainey, Danny Balin, Brandt Snedeker, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)
78 - Mark Brown (NZL), Corey Prugh, Mark Brooks, Roger Chapman (ENG), Michael Hoey (NIR)
79 - Michael Frye, Paul Casey (ENG), Martin Kaymer (GER), Webb Simpson, Charlie Wi (KOR), Mitch Lowe
80 - Bud Cauley, Marty Jertson, Kyle Stanley
81 - Matt Dobyns, Charley Hoffman
82 - Bill Murchison
83 - Doug Wade
84 - Frank Bensel