Darren Clarke birdied the first four holes in the PGA Championship and didn't stop until he had a 7-under 65 on Thursday, quickly putting to rest the rumors that Whistling Straits might be the toughest test ever at a major.
Clarke, feeling right at home on a links-styled course that reminds so many players of Ireland and Scotland, made nine birdies for a one-shot lead over Ernie Els and Justin Leonard. It was the lowest score under par in the first round of a major since Chris DiMarco had a 7-under 65 at the 2001 Masters.
PHOTO: EPA
"We got fortunate with the conditions," Clarke said. "The greens were holding. We were able to fire at flags that we were not able to do earlier in the week."
Those weren't the only favorable conditions.
The whipping wind during the practice rounds was more of a gentle breeze, and it shifted directions about an hour into the first round. That eliminated the crosswind that tends to blow any shot slightly off line into some of the 1,400 bunkers and over the bluffs along Lake Michigan.
If that wasn't enough, the PGA of America -- perhaps itself fearful of the unknown on a 6-year-old course never tested in competition -- decided to move up the tees on three holes. That knocked 132m off the longest course in major history, so it played only 6,706m. Plus, all the par 3s had pins at the front of the greens.
"I think they were pretty nice to us with the tee markers," Jay Haas said after a 4-under 68, enhancing his bid to become the oldest man to qualify for the Ryder Cup at age 50.
But it wasn't much of a help to Tiger Woods.
Winless in his last nine majors, Woods now has another streak to worry about. With a double bogey on his second hole and 32 putts in his round, Woods failed to break par in the first round of a major for the 10th straight time, shooting a 3-over 75 that left him in serious jeopardy of missing the cut for the first time in 128 tournaments and the first time ever as a professional in a major.
"I didn't hit the ball all that poorly, but I sure putted bad," Woods said.
Vijay Singh, playing with Woods and John Daly, got himself into position to end his drought in 18 straight majors with a 5-under 67, putting him in a large group that included Ryder Cup hopefuls Scott Verplank and Luke Donald, along with Briny Baird.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson opened with three straight birdies in the afternoon and shot 69, a good start in his bid to become the first player to finish in the top 3 in all four majors in the same year.
"Without wind, all that trouble -- all those bunkers you see -- aren't really in play for us," Mickelson said. "The course played very susceptible to low scores, to birdies."
British Open champion Todd Hamilton shot 72.
Singh, who slipped out a side door to avoid speaking to reporters after his 67, later told a PGA Tour official that he thought the tournament went soft.
"I think they kind of went a little too easy," Singh said. "I enjoyed playing it, and I think it's going to get tougher from here in."
The PGA champion has been under par 41 times in the 46 years since the tournament switched to stroke play, and most everyone figured Whistling Straits would be one of those exceptions. The wind can be wicked off Lake Michigan, the greens are enormous with severe slopes and it's not easy to get the ball close to the hole.
But it didn't take long to realize this wasn't the monster course that had been predicted.
Clarke, the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland, hit a lob wedge into 12 feet for birdie on the opening hole and was off to the races. He just missed the par-5 second hole in two shots for an easy birdie, hit 8-iron into 18 feet for birdie on the third and followed that with a driver and a 9-iron on the 493-yard fourth hole to 12 feet for another birdie.
"The greens were soft, and some of the pin positions were ... I would not say generous, but reasonable," he said. "There were birdie opportunities out there."
He didn't have much choice. The biggest threat came from his own group -- Leonard and K.J. Choi, who birdied his first five holes and wound up with a 68. They combined to shoot 17 under par.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but