- Woods starts with lowest first round in a major since 2012
- Jason Day leads the field after shooting a five-under 65
There is a Tiger Woods statistic for all occasions. Some leap off the page, such as a 68 to begin the US PGA Championship being Woods’s lowest major first round since the Open Championship of 2012. For his 15 major triumphs, Woods has been sub-70 on only seven Thursdays. Yet it somehow felt even more noteworthy that Woods used Harding Park and golf’s long-awaited return in this, its most high profile form, to outscore his playing partners.
In Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, Woods was alongside a player for whom this venue looks tailor-made and the recently-appointed world No 1. McIlroy struggled for driving accuracy during a level par 70 while Thomas slipped to a 71. It would be folly to discount either from this tournament – as Woods knows only too well – but the old master’s rising to the occasion after the buildup of just a single, disappointing post-lockdown event turned heads.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3gDQdMm
