The wind didn’t howl on Thursday at St. Andrews this year; Chambers Bay was diabolical, but not as terrifying as many U.S. Open courses; players are making birdies like mad at Whistling Straits.
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Defending champion Rory McIlroy and world number two Jordan Spieth were among the later starters and McIlroy got off to an adventurous start in his first competitive round since June 21 after a seven-week injury lay-off. “But hopefully I can hit the ball as well as I did (Thursday) and make some putts”.
Sabbatini dropped another shot on the sixth to fall back to one under, two shots off the lead now held by Paul Casey, Matsuyama, Robert Streb and Ryan Moore. I just had to remember to hit it hard.
In the lead-up to the opening round, Day said he wouldn’t trade all the close calls for one win and a bunch of also-ran finishes.
“This was definitely the time to take advantage of the golf course, Probably as easy as we have seen this place play”.
Masters and U.S. Open champion Spieth was delighted with the grit that he displayed during a round highlighted by a chip-in for birdie at the par-three 12th. But his ball was sitting up in the water, so McIlroy rolled up his pant leg, splashed it out to 7 feet and saved par.
With his athletic power game allied to his customary laid-back demeanor as he worked his way around the links-style layout, the 31-year-old eagled the par-five 16th and added five birdies and one bogey to surge to the top of the leaderboard.
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McIlroy had to play sideways from an awkward sidehill lie in the rough on the eighth and carded his second bogey of the round, but again responded immediately with a birdie on the next following a superb approach to four feet.
Hole 13: Spieth (E) two-putted for par after his second shot spun more than he expected.
Spieth’s haul this season is more than US$9.3 million through 20 PGA Tour events, including US$1.8 million each for his triumphs at both the Masters and US Open. After all, they were experiencing a world-class event in southeast Wisconsin that appears to have become a once-in-five-or-six-year happening.
“Well, I hit it great today, but I made actually nothing”, said Woods, who totaled 33 putts on the superbly manicured greens at Whistling Straits.
The intriguing storylines for this weekend’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Course are plentiful, and so are the contenders for the title. You get so wrapped up in what you’re doing and your own little life and your own little bubble, sometimes you forget there’s a bigger, wider world out there. You could go on and on with his list of accomplishments. So I feel a lot more comfortable right now.
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McIlroy got up and down from the agua on No. 5 to save par – the highlight shot in a round of 1-under 71.
