It was Walker’s best score in a major.
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“I don’t think it’s coincidence or anything”, Walker said after a round that included six birdies and just one bogey.
This unusual setup means that once the weekend starts, scores can change wildly over the final two holes.
Walker wound up with a one-shot lead over two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, Emiliano Grillo and Ross Fisher. “I’ve got off to a great start, but I’m not going to sit back on that”, he said. Grillo and Fisher both played in the morning.
British Open victor Henrik Stenson, Harris English, James Hahn and Andy Sullivan made up a four-way tie for fifth with 67s.
“To make bogey on 18, which is your really only good birdie hole, I just threw away a lot of shots”, Mickelson said. Day birdied Nos. 11, 2 and 5.
He believes he is driving the ball as well as ever, which goes a long way at Baltusrol.
He was a 21-year-old about to enter his senior year at Baylor when he played Baltusrol in the 2000 U.S. Amateur. “I thought I was going to get shut out”, Spieth said. The world’s No.1 player said his son caught something and passed it along to him during the week.
But there were happy memories, too.
He played a practice round that year with Houston golfer Andy Sanders.
Walker kept the ball in play off the tee until late in his round, and he was particularly sharp with his scrambling out by getting up-and-down six times. Sanders now is his caddie. I feel like I’ve been playing really consistent all year.
Walker holds the early first-round lead with a 5-under 65.
It was a precursor for more misery with his putting at the PGA Championship.
And as the hot July sun dried out the green, they only got more hard, as Jordan Spieth (E) found out.
McIlroy was at least nine shots behind after one round, and that doesn’t bode well.
Koepka had to pull out during the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational because of torn ligaments in his right ankle, and he probably wouldn’t be playing this week except that it’s the final major of the year. His ankle is taped and he is wearing a brace. It’s the first time Walker has led in a major. And he had enough power to make eagle on the 18th and four other birdies to offset his mistakes. His American team beat the world in South Korea last fall, but his Presidents Cup experience wasn’t as fulfilling as the Ryder Cup a year before. A month later, he is down to No. 9 in the USA standings. Points count double at a major, so Koepka has a good chance to move back into the top eight that automatically qualify. He’d won two majors, and amid talk of a Spieth Slam he’d almost won a third straight at the British Open at St. Andrews. Lee also matched her official LPGA Tour career low set in the second round of the 2014 LPGA Taiwan.
“I remember watching it back in 2005 when Phil won”, he said after opening with a 3-under 67.
“Seventeen and 18 are the two holes that you are a little upset if you don’t have a look at birdie”, said Rickie Fowler, who also finished Thursday’s round one under par.
Johnson’s playing partners – and fellow 2016 major champions – fared much better in the opening round. “When I’m on really tough golf courses, I’m more focused”.
Walker isn’t new to winning; he won two tournaments in 2015, the Sony Open and Texas Open, and three in 2014, the Frys.com Open, Sony Open, and AT&T Pebble Beach. I came back and made some birdies. Now, he’s off to a strong start in the PGA, with the Olympic golf tournament beginning in two weeks.
There were seven bogeys on the hole from those groups, including ones by Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Brandt Snedeker. He finished the day tied for 143rd place, ahead of only five other players, three of whom are club professionals.
Perhaps this is Jimmy Walker’s time to finally win one of golf’s major championships. Mickelson, just 11 days after that magnificent duel with Stenson at Royal Troon, was 4 over through 11 holes when he rallied with a trio of birdies late in his round to salvage a 71.
Players starting on the back nine were attacking the 11th hole at Baltusrol.
What will Baltusrol serve up this week at the PGA Championship?
Even with afternoon gusts that approached 20 miles per hour, and the late threat of rain, Baltusrol still allowed for good scoring. The U.S. Open was at Baltusrol again in 1993, and Lee Janzen tied the record at 272.
The unheralded trio topped the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening round of the 98th PGA Championship at Baltusrol, all dreaming of becoming the sport’s fifth consecutive first-time major victor. The 49-year-old Brown is the head pro at Tam O’Shanter Golf Club in Brookville.
That’s why there might seem to be a little less excitement about the PGA Championship this year than there has been in past years.
Watson, Spieth and Garcia tee off in the second round at 1:25 p.m.
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Defending champion Jason Day and England’s Andrew Johnston carded 70s.
