The first round at Thursday’s PGA Championship tournament at Atlanta Athletic Club offered viewers a chance to see vastly different games from the world’s top players. Tiger Woods, in his second major tournament since his recovery from leg injuries, was three under par through five holes and lurking near the top of the leaderboard when he hit his iron shot into the pond at the 260-yard, par-3 15th. He made a double bogey that began a downward spiral that resembled this week’s Wall Street tumble: Woods played the last 13 holes in 10 over par and shot 77.
Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland’s champion of the 2011 U.S. Open and a golf fan favorite, defied expectation by trying to hit a shot off a tree root on the third hole. But rather than making the impossible shot, he injured his wrist. But he worked through his pain with a bucket of ice on hand. He received medical attention several times on the course, eventually having the wrist wrapped and played on. After a bogey-par finish on the final two holes, McIlroy posted an even-par 70.
The winner of the day was Steve Stricker. Starting with a pack of fellow golfers that included Woods at the 10th, Stricker opened with three birdies before quickly adding two more in the four-hole stretch. He then finished off his round with two more birdies on his inward nine to shoot a major championship record-tying 63. At 7 under par, he leads fellow Wisconsinite Jerry Kelly by two shots heading into today’s second round of the final major of the season.
“I really felt like I was in trouble coming into this tournament,” Stricker said. “I really didn’t feel that good on the course. But I got off to a good start birdieing those first three holes and that really kind of set the momentum for me for the day and I kept that throughout the round.”