All eyes were on Rory McIlroy and his return to competitive golf on Thursday at Whistling Straits. Just didn’t have the speed at all.
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DUSTIN PART II: Johnson has the first part down.
It was a big start for McIlroy, and a shaky one for Spieth.
Looking forward to the final three rounds this weekend, here are our observations from early first-round action. McIlroy has not played since the U.S. Open, out for 53 days because of an injury to his left ankle and mildly curious whether his game would be sharp enough to compete. Johnson hit his tee shot 336 yards to the left side of the fairway, clear past a treacherous slope of tall grass and bunkers. Jordan Spieth couldn’t make a putt.
John Senden ground his way to an afternoon round of 1 under 71 which, given the scoring conditions for most of the afternoon, represented a very solid round.
It certainly was for Johnson.
Tiger Woods carded 33 putts en route to a disappointing opening round of 75, three over, in the US PGA. Last month, he started the British Open with another 65.
Johnson is back at the venue where five years ago he incurred a two-stroke penalty on the final hole of the last PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, costing him a spot in a playoff.
It was like none of that ever happened. Birdied my first two holes, 10 and 11.
McIlroy started with bogey, courtesy of a three-putt, before responding immediately with a birdie at the par-5 second.
“I felt it was good…Obviously I was pretty nervous on the first tee”. He looked sharp on the tougher end of the draw Thursday, as he continues to hit crisp iron shots. “It didn’t. I’m going to try and shoot an under-par round tomorrow and sneak in”. “But hopefully I can hit the ball as well as I did today [on Friday] and make some putts”.
McIlroy then set about getting his round under par figures and even with a further bogey on the final hole he achieved that goal.
Along the way he rolled his trouser leg up to save par from the shallow water of a pond at the par-five fifth.
“I’m pleased with it”, Spieth said. But it was fine. I wasn’t hitting the shots that I wanted to hit. I knew the history of it. I knew what we possibly could have done.
That shot made for good TV.
Swede David Lingmerth, who won his first PGA Tour title at the Memorial Tournament in June, recorded the best score in the tougher afternoon conditions as winds gusted up to 28 miles per hour (45 kph), firing a six-birdie 67 to finish a stroke off the pace. But that was full bore as good as I can do, especially with a wind like that.
“I made a few here and there but I gave myself plenty of chances to shoot five or six under par, then I finished by losing two shots”.
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“I still haven’t accomplished that goal”, said Spieth.
