That’s how Dustin Johnson said he was handling this PGA Championship week, oblivious to the talk, ignoring the history, laughing at the demons.
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The tournament is making its third visit to Whistling Straits which also hosted 2003 and 2010 PGA Championships, the 2007 U.S. Senior Open and will host the 2020 Ryder Cup Matches….
Australians Jason Day and Matt Jones, Americans Matt Kuchar, Russell Henley, Harris English and JB Holmes, and New Zealander Danny Lee sit two strokes behind Johnson after finishing their rounds as the wind began to pick up on the visually spectacular but challenging links-style lay-out.
Woods, a four-times victor of the PGA Championship, planned to head off to the practice area to work on his putting once his media commitments were over.
Bouncing back from a summer of disappointment, Johnson breezed his way to a 6-under 66 in moderate morning conditions at Whistling Straits and wound up with a one-shot lead over David Lingmerth of Sweden.
However, the 31-year-old was then penalised two strokes after it was ruled he had grounded his club in a fairway bunker before hitting his second shot, even though spectators had been trampling all over the hazard.
He led midway through the final round of the U.S. Open in June, before his three-putt on the 18th hole clinched the title for Jordan Spieth.
Brit Justin Rose, using his putter from last year’s Ryder Cup, recovered from bogeying two of his first four holes to post a 69 and sit three off the lead. “I thought I did a good job of just staying patient, hitting the shots that the course allowed me to hit”, Johnson said.
“I played pretty well at the US Open on the weekend, ” Johnson said. I wasn’t too comfortable with my swing. “I was swinging well and I was hitting the shots where I was looking”. “We’ll see if we can get somebody to carry it around for the round”.
Player quotes on the weather told us as much.
Kohler: Near-perfect greens and an advantageous tee time did not help Tiger Woods’ cause at the PGA Championship on Thursday as the former world number one struggled to a three-over-par 75 in the opening round.
McIlroy made birdie on the 593-yard par-5 second hole, soothing any early jitters.
At 22, Spieth is trying to join Ben Hogan and Woods as the only players to win three majors in the same year.
His coach, Butch Harmon, said there was going to be no holding him back.
Crowds gathered to watch Woods sink a few puts on the putting green before walking up to his 8:15 a.m. tee time.
“It’s awesome when she comes out to events”, Jordan Spieth said.
The Campbellsville native and University of Kentucky product bogeyed just once, at the Par 4 eighth, before a rocky finish to his back nine that also included five birdies. It was a little bit deeper on the right side, so I just rolled my right trouser leg up and it was fine.
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“It just showed that I have the ability to play golf in a tough competition like that, have the ability to perform at a high level, under stressful situations” said Watson, who had won his first US PGA Tour title just a fortnight earlier. “I felt I was back to where I was this whole year when I was hitting the ball really well”.
