Walker was the only one to miss the cut. How does one kill time in such a small Scottish town?
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“I remember walking off of No. 3 and a guy said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a lot of golf left, you’re not out of this, let’s get going, ‘” Mickelson said. His two PGA Tour victories were at Riviera, which hosted the 1995 PGA Championship, and Quail Hollow, which hosts the PGA next year.
Dustin Johnson lines up a putt on the fourth hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Thursday, July 28, 2016. Failing that, taking the first Olympic gold medal in the sport in 112 years would do just fine – especially for an Argentine playing in Brazil. He wasn’t in the thick of the hunt, sitting six shots behind leader Jimmy Walker, but he wasn’t out of it either. I don’t get freaked out, and I probably had one of the greatest pairings, with Gary Woodland and Ryan Palmer.
“However, I’m proud that I hung in there, fought and got three back coming in”. I feel like I am positive because my game is in good shape.
CHASING HISTORY: Stenson can put himself in rare company as he is trying to become the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win back-to-back majors at age 40. “It seemed that if I got out of position at all, I got in a really bad spot”. I went through pretty much every hole with him for about 20, 30 minutes.
It wasn’t the best of times for Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy.
The U.S. Open victor shot a 7-over-par 77, including three straight bogey 5s, two double bogeys, and a bogey 6 on the 18th hole that almost everyone was birdieing. He managed only one birdie in a round of 77 that wasn’t enough to beat 15 of the club pros at Baltusrol.
He wasn’t alone in his misery.
Defending champion Jason Day was three shots off the lead after returning a 68 despite having just one practice round, but two-time victor and playing partner Rory McIlroy struggled to a 74 which included 35 putts.
Walker’s year has been so mediocre that he has finished within five shots of the victor only once this year, at Torrey Pines. He is on the verge of falling out of the top 50 in the world ranking and hasn’t given as much thought to Ryder Cup with qualifying a month away from ending.
Walker, who won five times between October 2013 and March 2015 but has struggled to reproduce such form this season, said: ” I t’s just been real stale and stagnant this year. It didn’t interrupt Jordan Speith’s shot at all, it was just some people being goofy and spouting internet memes at a golf tournament, which is the last place you’d expect to hear them.
“Just haven’t been scoring”, he said. After the frustrating start, the 46-year-old rallied for a 1-over 71 with three birdies over his last seven holes. He played some of his best golf ever only 11 days ago at the British Open.
Day played in the morning group with McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, and he was the only player without much stress.
“It’s not the start I wanted”, Mickelson said.
“I really struggled with the pace”. That was his lone mistake.
Fisher missed only two fairways and two greens in regulation in round one, which he capped with birdies at the par-5 17th and 18th to jump into the hunt.
England’s Justin Rose battled back from two over after 10 to finish level par, while Scotland’s Russell Knox birdied the ninth, his last, to also post 70.
Fellow Englishmen Chris Wood, Paul Casey and Lee Westwood – who finished with a birdie and an eagle on the final two holes, both par fives – opened with one-under-par 69s, the same score as Welsh duo Bradley Dredge and Jamie Donaldson.
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Fisher leads the way after carding five birdies in his four-under 66. Kaymer started his afternoon round on the back nine and kept it together with two pars, including a 35-yard bunker shot on No. 8 to within 3 feet.
