Golf Capsules: Bubba, Molinari lead PGA; Woods 3 shots back
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — The fog finally lifted over Whistling Straits and revealed a stunning vista.
Tiger Woods' name was atop the leaderboard. Just not for long.
At the end of opening day in the PGA Championship, he wasn't near the names of Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari, who each opened with a 4-under 68; or Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney, who also were at 4 under when it became too dark for them to finish the first round.
Woods, who made three birdies inside 12 feet on the opening four holes, had to birdie his final hole just to break par, a 1-under 71. That used to be considered an ordinary start in a major. Considering his recent woes, this was nearly cause for celebration.
"To shoot something under par, that was the goal today," Woods said.
He joined 21 others among the 78 early starters who completed the first round, which was delayed by more than three hours because of fog. Still to be determined is whether he can back that up. It was the first time in eight rounds that Woods had broken par.
And there were enough errant shots, including one that went so far left it found a marsh he didn't know was there, that Woods had to make an 8-foot birdie on the final hole to avoid wasting a day in which he appeared to make progress.
"I've played too good not to shoot under par," Woods said. "It would've been very disappointing and frustrating to end up at even par as well as I played today. To make that putt — to shoot under par — just feels like that's what I should have shot the way I played today. And that's a good feeling."
Since when is shooting 71 a good feeling for a guy with 14 majors?
When he's coming off the worst tournament of his career, an 18-over 298 at Firestone to beat only one player in the field, raising questions that ranged from whether this would be his last PGA Tour event of the year in America to whether he belonged in the Ryder Cup.
"Welcome to golf, you know?" Woods said.
The fog delay meant none of the late starters could finish the opening round.
Els, desperate to make sure another year doesn't end without a major, played bogey-free through 14 holes and was at 4 under, making a 7-foot par save on the 14th shortly before the horn sounded. Also at 4 under were Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney, courtesy of eagles — Kuchar on the 13th early in his round by holing from the fairway, Watney on the par-5 11th, his last hole of the day.
Phil Mickelson, closer than ever to going to No. 1 in the world, ended a wild day at 1 under. He knocked it close for a couple of birdies, and spent the rest of the time in the bunkers and rough as he scrambled to save par. He finished on a strong note with back-to-back birdies, the last one a wedge that stopped 2 feet away on the 11th.
In a summer of majors at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews, it only figures that a fog delay of just over three hours would be in Wisconsin.
"I had never gotten up at 5:30 for a 12 o'clock tee time," said Charles Howell, who shot a 69.
The group at 69 also included Ryan Moore, the only player among the early starters to reach 5 under until dropping two shots over his last three holes into the wind. Jason Day of Australia bogeyed his last hole for a 69.
With so much rain on Wednesday and in the week before the PGA, the course that looks like a links played more like a PGA Tour course with soft conditions. It was suited perfectly for Watson, one of the biggest hitters in golf.
Of all his birdies, none showed off his power quite like 587-yard fifth hole, the first one on the back nine with the wind at this back. Ignoring the bunkers and water to the right, Watson hammered his drive so far — 445 yards by his calculations — that he had only a lob wedge for his second shot and an easy two-putt birdie.
"It makes it a little easier, I guess, when you do that," Watson said of his long game.
Everything feels easier these days for Watson, the southpaw from the Florida Panhandle who has been through some tough times at home. His father is battling cancer, and he had a major scare over the Christmas holidays when told that his wife — who once played professional basketball — had a tumor. It turned out to be an enlarged pituitary gland, but Watson still broke down talking about it.
His goal now is to enjoy himself, from the video games at night to the golf he plays during the day, and it led to his first PGA Tour victory two months ago at the Travelers Championship.
Is a major too far behind? Watson didn't sound like the pressure would ever get to him.
"Any golf tournament I have a chance to win, that's a major," he said. "I don't change the way I do anything. I still hit driver as much as I can, and hopefully chip and get up-and-down and make putts."
He had nine one-putt greens, which works at any tournament.
Molinari went about his work differently, relying on accuracy. He missed only four fairways and two greens, dropped only one shot along the way and worked his way into a share of the early lead with a birdie on the par-3 seventh, among the scariest of the par 3s that hug the shoreline.
Coming off two majors won by players who had never done it before, Molinari has reason to believe he could be next.
"Tiger is going to get back to his standards, and Phil is going to win more majors," he said. "and so you just need to play really well and try to grab the occasion when you have it."
Woods took a step in that direction.
For the first time all week, he hit a shot without caddie Steve Williams holding the end of a club over his right ear as a reminder to keep his head still. Woods found the first fairway, hit wedge to 12 feet and started with a birdie. Then came another birdie on the par-5 11th, when he two-putted from some 80 feet off the green.
It was the first time in more than a year that Woods had started a tournament with consecutive birdies.
"After a quick start, all of sudden I felt I could shoot something in the 60s," Woods said. "Didn't quite happen. I lost a few shots out there."
One bogey came from a tee shot that missed the fairway by 3 yards and was buried in deep rough. Another came on the par-5 second, when his drive landed close to the lip of a bunker, his next shot sailed with the wind into the gallery and his third stunned him.
"What the hell?" he said to his caddie. "Did you see that ball?"
It started right and looked like a knuckle ball, settling into a bunker that left him a shot starting at Lake Michigan.
His worst swing came at the par-5 fifth, the one where Watson got home in two with a wedge. Unsure where to go with the wind at his back, Woods let the driver come out of his hand after impact, and the ball sailed left over the fairway, the bunkers, a ridge and into a marsh.
Woods was stunned when he got to his caddie and saw the marsh. He yelled a muffled expletive with his face buried in a towel while wiping sweat from his brow. All that, and he still made par. After the penalty shot, he laid up and wound up holing a 7-foot putt.
He will have to wait until Friday to figure out where that leaves him.
The late starters will finish the first round Friday morning and immediately start the second round. For Woods, Watson, Molinari and the rest of the players in their side of the draw, they will face a late start and likely won't finish Friday.
If nothing else, that means Woods will make it to the weekend.
Bubba gets serious after taking lead at PGA
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — While other players waited out the fog delay on the driving range or putting green, Bubba Watson played games on his phone and threw things at Rickie Fowler while his good friend was trying to sleep.
There are, Watson knows all too well, more important things to get worked up about than a round of golf.
Even at a major championship.
The fun-loving Watson earned a share of the early lead at the PGA Championship on Thursday, shooting a 4-under 68. Afterward, he choked up talking about the difficult year his family has endured, with his father battling cancer and his wife having a scare of her own.
"It's kind of emotional now," Watson said, stopping several times to compose himself. "The first doctor told us the wrong diagnosis, but we didn't know that at the time, so it was scary. Why do I want to go hit a golf ball around? So that's where the emotions come from."
It wasn't all that long ago that Watson had a different outlook on life. A fan favorite for his booming tee shots and pink-shafted driver (his favorite colors are pink and lime green), he missed five straight cuts last summer, starting at the British Open. Usually good-natured, he found himself getting angry every time he stepped on the course.
Finally, his longtime caddie — and good friend — Ted Scott pulled him aside. Watson needed to take time off, quit, anything to change his attitude.
If not, Scott said, Watson could find a new caddie.
"There's nothing outside the ropes that bothers me. But inside the ropes, I was letting everything bother me," Watson said. "When he sat there as a good friend of mine and told me that he was going to quit because of my attitude, you've got to change it."
Instead of getting worked up about his game, Watson is having fun with it.
The week he won in Hartford, Conn., he and wife Angie passed a billboard advertising a water park and talked about how much fun it would be to go there. But what professional athlete blows off practice to play at a water park?
Watson did. A few days later, he'd won his first tournament.
"The win just showed me that we're onto something, the right thing. Let's have fun with our lives and let's have fun with golf," Watson said. "That whole week, I just never thought about winning."
Now Watson puts as big a premium on fun as he does on his game. Since arriving at Whistling Straits on Sunday night, Watson and Fowler have been tossing the football around, playing basketball. They even rode scooters with some of the kids in the neighborhood where Watson is staying.
Of course, if any player could use some off-the-course levity these days, it's Watson. His father is battling cancer and when Watson and his wife were visiting him at Christmas, Angie Watson checked herself into a hospital with a severe headache.
"She's a professional athlete who had surgery on knees, shoulder, everywhere possible," Watson said of his wife, a former WNBA player. "So when she wants to go to the hospital, I know something's wrong."
She wound up only being dehydrated. But doctors told the Watsons that, during the course of their tests, they'd found a tumor in Angie Watson's pituitary gland.
"Two months went by and we did some more tests — man, this is hard," Watson said, stopping to compose himself.
Finally, doctors at Duke University told them Angie Watson did not have cancer. Like many taller women, her pituitary gland was enlarged.
When Watson won in Hartford, the emotions of everything he's gone through this last year spilled over.
"I do this because I love it," Watson said. "When I've been angry, my wife has yelled at me a few times and said, 'Why are you angry? This is what you love to do. When you're home, when you're not playing golf, you're playing golf with all the boys back home. So you love to do this. So why not just go have fun and do it.'"
-- Nancy Armour
Commentary: Woods' game goes from rock-bottom to better place
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — The right hand came flying off the handle of the golf club. The ball kept diving left.
"Get in the bunker!" Tiger Woods barked, tracking the ball's errant flight from the 14th tee. "Get in. Get in."
It did.
Even the rankest golfer knows a ball never listens, but considering how out of control everything else in Woods' life must seem at times, he'll take whatever he can get.
Woods came into this PGA Championship off his worst performance ever as a pro. The consensus after his debacle at Firestone last week — he finished 18-over par and next to last — was that his golf game had cratered. If so, he was in remarkably good spirits early Thursday morning, when fog pushed back the start of the tournament by three hours.
Playing a math game on his phone to kill time, Woods showed it to a reporter standing nearby and asked, "Are you good with numbers?"
"You shot 298 last week," came the reply. "I have to be."
Woods broke into a wide grin, then said something that can't be repeated here. He was in a slightly less playful mood by day's end, after an up-and-down round of 1-under 71 left him three shots off the early lead.
Afterward, someone asked "Going from shooting 75 last week to ..."
Woods cut him off.
"Welcome to golf. It is what it is. Guys shoot 59 and don't win," he said. "Fickle game."
Someone else pointed out that Woods ranked first on the tour in getting the ball closest to the hole from the fairway, but last when he has to play a shot from the rough. The question was barely finished before Woods jumped in again.
"Well," he said, "probably because I was — I've been in the fairway twice per day. So there you go."
He was in the fairway a lot more than that in the first round. Starting off the 10th tee, he hit the first three fairways he faced and made birdie from each one. As he walked onto the tee at No. 14, a fan yelled, "Hey Tiger, where's the after-party?"
It might be coincidence that Woods pulled his next tee shot into that bunker off the left side, but reminders of the scandal that Woods set in motion by pin-balling down the driveway of his Florida mansion last November are still everywhere. An hour drive to the south in Milwaukee, porn star Joslyn James, who bills herself as "Tiger's mistress," was "performing" at the Silk Exotic Gentlemen's Club wearing a green Masters-style jacket. She's been following him around the country.
Unlike last week, Woods was clearly in full competitive mode here. He stabbed a short iron shot from the bunker at the 14th to within six feet of the flag, then calmly watched it spin back another 30 feet before a routine two-putt par. He finished his first nine at 2 under, then made bogeys at Nos. 2 and 7. An 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole put him back in the red.
"It would have been very disappointing and frustrating to end up at even par as well as I played today," Woods said.
"That was the goal today. Got off to a quick start and all of a sudden, I felt like I could shoot something in the 60s. Didn't quite happen," he added.
No. Then again, given how last week ended ...
"Everyone has bad weeks," Woods said.
True, but he's strung together nearly eight months' worth by now. Woods said earlier this week that as far as his golf game is concerned, he expected to hit the skids at the start of the season. Instead, he got off to a fast start at the Masters with a tie for fourth. Ever since, he has been battling rough patches, especially with the putter. If nothing else, it's made him more likely to focus on the small victories, such as when that tee shot on 14 found a bunker instead of the treacherous fescue grass all around it.
The last question Woods faced Thursday was about whether the delay affected him. Given the state of things, most expected he used the extra time to shoehorn in some more practice.
"I got to eat three breakfasts," Woods said, the wide grin returning, "so that's always good."
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org
Notebook: Alternates at PGA Championship don't make field
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — Charley Hoffman waited, fiddling intermittently with his iPad while sweat trickled down his forehead. When he set the device down, Pat Perez scooped it up and tried his luck at "Wheel of Fortune."
Both were waiting for a little luck of their own at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits that never came.
Hoffman and Perez were the tournament's first two alternates, and they spent Thursday camped up in a sweltering tent at the No. 10 tee box watching group after group receive the crowd's warm cheers and begin their major championship bids.
"Hopefully somebody's not able to play and I'll be able to get in there," said Hoffman, who had a wrist injury early in the season that hindered him until the summer. "Unfortunately the PGA is making us sit on the tee, obviously it'd be a little better if we could be on the practice facility and actually be ready to play instead of sitting here."
Hoffman joked that he was taking in a little steam in the tent.
Perez called it an oven, and many pros stopped by to greet the two.
"They're usually asking questions, 'Why am I here?'" Hoffman said. "They know, though. If you want to get in the major championship, that's why you do it."
With Hoffman as the first alternate, Perez had the less enviable position of being second — a virtual certainty that he wouldn't be playing.
"Waiting for nothing," Perez said.
That didn't keep him from saying that if Hoffman got in, he would too.
"It's either zero or two. It won't be just one, you can bet on that," Perez said.
Hoffman's wife, Stacy, decided to stay at the hotel instead of hanging out to watch nothing.
With an over 3-hour delay due to foggy conditions, the couple figured they'd spend another night in Wisconsin instead of catching a flight back home to San Diego.
"It's a long day, obviously if someone pulls out it would be worth it," Hoffman said. "But it's a little time consuming."
Hoffman said he'd look at booking flights off his iPad, but was afraid they still wouldn't make it to the airport in time because the final pairings don't tee off until 5:25 p.m.
"I was hoping to get out tonight, but with the 3-hour delay I don't think it's possible," he said, remaining in good spirits. "It's definitely worth the wait. There's no downfall besides a day."
MEET, GREET AND EAT, EAT, EAT: Stephen Gallacher got to eat and eat and eat as he waited through the fog delay. He also met a fellow countryman for the first time.
During the long delay, Gallacher chatted with Martin Laird, the two men representing Scotland in the tournament even though they'd never met.
Laird played college golf at Colorado State and now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"I had never met him before and we sat during the delay and had a nice chat," Laird said. "We were talking about having a couple (of players) over here and flying the flag."
Gallacher spent most of his time eating as the fog kept hanging around.
"I got here at 5:45, had my breakfast and went out," Gallacher said. "In for another breakfast, back out for some chipping, back in for another breakfast of some toast and fruit. ... Teed off and there was a slight delay and it never really picked up. I didn't see the ball land until the fifth hole."
SICK DAY: Jason Day had a round that positions him near the top of the leaderboard for Friday. The chronic sinus infection he's battled over the last eight months continues to give him fits.
"I've been on medication for about three months now," Day said. "My left maxillary sinus was full — 100 percent blocked — at the start of the year and it went down to 60 (percent). I had two, three CAT scans now, three CT scans now, and it's actually halfway, under halfway right now full of gunk."
Day said his plan now is to survive through the next few tournaments before having surgery after the FedEx Cup that will take out a portion of bone and drain the sinuses. He'll need about two to four weeks to recover.
In the meantime, he continues to fight the symptoms and balance problems with medicine. He said he needed six or seven energy bars and about 10 bottles of water to complete his round and that he can't practice because of his illness.
"I would go maybe every couple of holes and get a little shaky again. I felt lightheaded out there, but I try to not make that an excuse," Day said. "I want to focus on playing well, even though it's a little frustrating out there."
WISCONSIN'S HOPEFULS: Steve Stricker was humbled by the large ovation he received to begin his round. Wisconsin's other hopeful, Jerry Kelly, lost his concentration early and blamed himself for a bad start.
Stricker was 1-under par through 13 holes after play was suspended because of darkness.
"Pretty nice welcome I got there on the first tee. That got me a little bit, it's pretty cool to come up there and get that sort of reception to start to play. You want to get off to a good start, too," Stricker said. "I hit a lot of quality shots early — all day, really."
Kelly, meanwhile, finished his first round with a 3-over 75.
"I just threw it away, countless — just menial stuff," Kelly said. "Small mistakes I can't make if I expect to contend in a setting like this, so it's disappointing. I haven't shot myself out of the tournament yet by any means. But (I need) a great round tomorrow — and I'm going to need a great round on Saturday."
DIVOTS: Tiger Woods and Charles Howell III also mentioned they ate breakfast three times as their early morning tee times turned into midday starts. ... The two fog delays totaled 3 hours and 16 minutes and play was officially called at 7:54 p.m. ... Woods has posted subpar rounds in 14 of his last 17 tries at PGA Championships dating back to 2006. ... This week's purse is $7.5 million, up $1.25 million from the 2004 PGA Championship here.
-- Colin Fly
PGA Championship at a glance
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — A brief look at the first round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits:
Leading: Among players who finished the round, Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari both shot 68. Ernie Els and Matt Kuchar were still on the course at 4-under.
Chasing: Jason Day, Ryan Moore and Charles Howell III all shot 69. Darren Clarke and Simon Khan were on the course at 3-under.
Hazy start: Fog delayed the start and pushed back tee times by three hours, 10 minutes. Forty minutes later, it rolled back in and forced another six-minute suspension.
Crouching Tiger?: Coming off his worst week ever as a pro, Woods started with back-to-back birdies for the first time since the 2009 Buick Open and shot 1-under 71.
Howell did that end?: Teeing off at No. 10 with the wind at his back, Howell ran off four straight birdies. But like almost everyone else, he found the front nine tougher. It played more than a half-stroke harder than the back.
Shot of the day: Watson hammered his drive on the 587-yard fifth hole so far — 445 yards by his calculations — that he had only a lob wedge for his second shot and an easy two-putt birdie.
Fashion police: John Daly — who else — went with orange harlequin pants, shirt and cap and could have been mistaken for a construction cone or an out-of-season snowmobile driver.
Quotable: "I got to eat three breakfasts, so that's always good." — Woods on how he spent time during the delay.
Champions
Jeld-Wen ends sponsorship of Tradition in Sunriver
SUNRIVER, Ore. (AP) — Jeld-Wen, an Oregon-based window and door manufacturer, will end its sponsorship of the Tradition after next week's Champions Tour event.
Jeld-Wen has been title sponsor of the event since 2003, when the Tradition moved from Arizona to Oregon. The event has been staged at Crosswater Club in central Oregon in recent years.
Rod Wendt, president and chief executive of Jeld-Wen, says the company's sponsorship contract ends this year so it is a logical time to step away as the firm's priorities have changed.
The Tradition is one of five majors on the Champions Tour for professional golfers age 50 and older. Mike Reid is the defending champion of the tournament, which opens next Thursday.
Amateur
Lee advances to round of 8
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Erynne Lee became the only tri-medalist to advance to the round of eight, notching two victories at the U.S. Women's Amateur on Thursday.
Lee followed a 1-up victory against Moriya Jutanugarn with a 3-and-1 win against Lizette Salas.
"I had the feeling that I would play well," Lee said. "My game was up to par, but I didn't feel like it was outstanding. But then practicing out here and playing the first two stroke play matches, I felt like I had a shot to win. Everything was solid."
Co-medalist Rachel Rohanna, who set an event record with an opening 65 in stroke play, rallied from 3 down against Marina Alex, but lost after a bogey on No. 19.
The other co-medalist, Jacklyn Sweeney, lost 5 and 3 when Junthima Gulyanamitta had birdies on three straight holes to clinch.
Lee's next opponent, Jessica Korda, was one of three golfers to advance with extra-hole victories in the third round.
Korda, who defeated Lee in the third round of the U.S. Women's Amateur last season, had a birdie on the second extra hole against Lisa McCloskey to complete a comeback in a match she called one of her toughest.
"I'm going to need to put some ice on a lot of parts of my body," said Korda, 17, whose father, former tennis star Petr Korda, served as caddie. "Lisa just played some great golf. I was down 10 holes and I didn't get a break until 16, where I could really come back to do something."
It took Kristen Park 20 holes to defeat Alex, who eliminated Rohanna in the morning session. She'll face Jennifer Kirby, who had to knock out Sara-Maude Juneau, a teammate on the Canadian national team, 1-up, by rallying from 3 down.
"You can never just sit back and get comfortable, even if you are up," Kirby said. "For me, I just had to keep grinding away because I knew that she was a good player. I know her very well, so I knew she wasn't going to let me win easily."
Sydnee Michaels earned a spot in the quarterfinals Friday with a win in 19 holes against Jungeun Han. Stephanie Sherlock, the third Canadian in the quarterfinals, will face Gulyanamitta.
Quarterfinals are Friday and semifinals Saturday on the par-72, 6,559-yard course. The final will be 36 holes on Sunday.
