That may seem odd in a sport where there is a victor and a loser, but the masterly battle between victor Stenson, who fired a record-tying 63, and runner-up Mickelson, who shot 65 to finish 11 shots ahead of third place at Royal Troon, set a standard for major golf finishes. He hasn’t missed a cut on the PGA Tour since the 2015 Honda Classic a year and a half ago.
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He still stayed the weekend.
“When the first guy comes back and he’s ready for a cocktail, you have one”, Walker said. In fact, a first-round leader or co-leader hasn’t held on to win a PGA Championship since Phil Mickelson did it at this course in 2005.
“All year, it has just been real stale and stagnant”. He has three top-10 finishes in his three major starts this season, highlighted by his U.S. Open victory at Oakmont just days before his 32nd birthday. Unlike the 17th, it is reachable in two shots, giving go-getters a chance at eagle.
“I don’t believe that there is a small window”, he said. “I enjoy having my family on the road”, he said.
Dustin Johnson has backed himself to perform well at the US PGA Championship because of the tough course conditions at Baltusrol. Only one club pro has managed that in the last two years.
He wasn’t alone in his misery.
“I don’t look back on the final round with anything that I would have done really different, other than go over to Stenson’s bag and bend his putter a little bit!” the American said.
Twice PGA victor McIlroy struggled with his irons and his putter and shot a four-over 74.
Walker mentioned being lower than usual on the FedEx Cup (No. 50), and he is No. 48 in the world. “It’s just ebbs and flows of golf”.
The score also left him a dozen shots off the lead of Jimmy Walker after just 18 holes.
“It’s frustrating. I know there’s always time to play well at the end of the year”. Instead, only three tour players had a worse score among the morning wave.
Even with afternoon gusts that approached 20 miles per hour, and the late threat of rain, Baltusrol still allowed for good scoring.
Defending champion Jason Day, who played only one practice round Wednesday at Baltusrol, kept it in play and made enough putts for a solid 68.
But the Australian showed no ill effects from his quick study of Baltusrol, though his playing partners Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, in a marquee grouping that teed off from the 10th, did not fare so well.
Rory McIlroy watches his approach shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., Thursday, July 28, 2016. It’s not the start I wanted. “I played really well the last seven holes to get back in it and I’m pleased with that”.
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Jordan Spieth only regrets one hole, the par-4 seventh, when he lost his ball so far to the right he had to chip back into thick rough and wound up three-putting for a double bogey. That was his lone mistake. He made par on both. That would seem to be disadvantage for Johnson, whose length can lead to easy birdies on par 5s. But the 2010 PGA champion bogeyed No. 2 – he started on the back nine – and dropped to 3 under. “I think I just need to do a little bit of work in and just maybe be a bit more confident over them”. “You don’t need to trick them up”. He said the finish was deflating but at the same time he found strength in how well he played. Hit a lot of fairways, a lot of greens, and gave myself some good chances. His third shot was over the green and he had to make a 7-foot putt just for par.
