“I put some work in (on the range) last night and it paid off today”. “And it worked out”.
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First rounder leader Dustin Johnson however endured a torrid time with a run of four dropped shots in eight holes as his challenge faded badly.
This was the 27th round of 63 at a major, 13th at a PGA.
Hardly his worst major heartbreak, though.
McIlroy was desperate to make amends for the double bogey on the 18th and charged his birdie attempt on the same hole four feet past the hole, but produced the ideal response on the par-five second, chipping in for an eagle to get back to two under. Last month, he started the British Open with another 65.
Afterward, the PGA Tour announced that Woods will compete in next week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro.
“Yeah, I had a great start to the tournament, finished at 4-under, made a lot of birdies”, Holmes said. It’s only the first round.
“Obviously calling it for the day now is a bit of a drag, because it means we’ll come out at 5 a.m. and play one hole and then probably, play around 2 o’clock in the afternoon”.
But he made a quick impression.
But don’t sleep on McIlroy or Spieth.
The Swede pumped his right arm after finishing with a birdie putt on the par-4 18th, which has been the toughest at Whistling Straits.
Cameron Smith made his charge with a 68 to get to two under for the championship, and is joined by world No. 1 Rory McIlroy (71).
There was no chance of a repeat Thursday.
It was here in 2010, of course, that he grounded his club on scrub at the last after failing to recognise it as a bunker when leading by a stroke. Besides, he smashed his drive far and left, leaving him nothing more than a 7-iron to the green.
Day will have a makeable 15-foot birdie putt on the 15th green to get to 10-under.
The weekend might not be as sure for the two biggest names from this tournament five or 10 years ago. It looks as if he’ll be a factor come the weekend.
He said he’s most comfortable playing in the lead. Majors aren’t often won from behind, but now that’s what Johnson must do. The third member of the group, the Open champion Zach Johnson, shot 75. He said he wasn’t driving the ball well at St. Andrews and it caught up with him. But he said he worked hard the past three days at Whistling Straits and could feel his game turning around on the final day of practice.
And it showed on a breezy morning.
“It’s great to be back – I was quite nervous on the first tee”, he said. That’s one shot ahead of Dustin Johnson, who doesn’t start his second round until this afternoon.
There were moments of excellence from the world No2, including a chip-in at the 12th for birdie and his lasered approach to four feet to set up another birdie at the par-five 16th. “I wasn’t quite able to do that today at points”.
Daly suffered another mini-meltdown in a major when he hit three tee shots into the lake to the right of the par-3 seventh hole.
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“There’s less shots you’ve got to make up”.
