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Tiger Woods knows he’s competitively rusty, compared to the vast majority of this week’s PGA Championship field. That doesn’t mean he expects any less of himself.
Woods opened the 106th PGA Championship in 1-over 72, a mixed bag of a morning in Louisville, Kentucky. He battled through a series of wayward tee shots to remain around par through the majority of his opening round at Valhalla Golf Club, and he caught fire midway through his second nine to move into red figures. Woods, though, closed with back-to-back three-putt bogeys that will leave a sour taste in his mouth overnight. He’s 10 strokes off the pace of Xander Schauffele, who carded 9-under 62 to begin the week, the PGA Championship’s single-round record low score.
The day resembled his first round at last month’s Masters (1-over 73), with an up-and-down cadence but an end result that should fall near the projected cut line. Woods followed with a second-round 72 at the Masters to make the cut, setting a tournament record with his 24th straight made cut. He’ll look Friday to play the weekend for a second straight major championship, aiming for a faster start than he accomplished Thursday (where he was lucky to escape his first three holes in just 1 over, before working into more of a flow).
“It took me probably three holes to get back into competitive flow again and get a feel for hitting the ball out there in competition, adrenaline, temperatures, green speeds,” Woods said after his opening round. “These are all things that normally I adjust to very quickly, and it just took me a few holes to get into it.
“I am getting stronger for sure … Each day is a little bit different. Some days, it’s better than others. It’s just the way it is. My body is just that way. Some days, it feels great, and other days, a bit of a struggle.”
Woods’ history echoes throughout the grounds at Valhalla, as his 2000 PGA Championship victory here (outlasting Bob May in a three-hole playoff) marked the third leg of the “Tiger Slam,” which he completed at the 2001 Masters. Woods won the 2000 U.S. Open and The Open by a combined 23 shots, before the wily veteran May gave him all he could handle for 75 holes at Valhalla. It might be a tall task to expect Woods to hoist another Wanamaker Trophy this weekend, but making the cut for a second straight major championship is certainly in the realm.
“I think that I’ve made a few cuts in a row, what was it, 140-some odd,” Woods said Thursday. “So you have to just grind it out. It’s a marathon. Major championships are a long grind. It’s just plotting along. It’s not a sprint. It’s just a grind.
“You can’t win a tournament unless you make the cut. That’s the whole idea is get to the weekend so that you can participate and have a chance to win. I’ve been on the cut number and have won tournaments, or I’ve been ahead and leading tournaments and I’ve won tournaments. But you have to get to the weekend in order to win a golf tournament.”
Read below for hole-by-hole updates from Woods’ opening round at the 106th PGA Championship.
1:25 p.m.: It’s a disappointing finish for Woods, who closes his round with a second straight three-putt bogey.
He splits the fairway off the tee at the dogleg-right, 411-yard par 4, leaving just 144 yards to the hole, but plays a substandard approach to 34 feet, leaves his birdie putt 6 feet short and cannot convert to save par. It means a 1-over 72 for Woods, featuring some good and some bad. He’ll still be within striking distance of the cut line at Valhalla, but he’s 10 strokes back of early leader Xander Schauffele, who set a PGA Championship single-round scoring record with a 9-under 62.
1:10 p.m.: Woods plays to the front-left portion of the 169-yard, par-3 eighth, but his birdie putt releases well past the hole to leave a lengthy par attempt from 10 feet. He can’t convert. Just like that, after reaching red numbers for the first time on the previous hole, he’s back to level par for the day. One hole remains.
12:55 p.m.: After a solid two-putt par from 54 feet at the staunch par-4 sixth, Woods solves the double-fairway, par-5 seventh. He plays to the left fairway off the tee, strikes a 238-yard second shot into the right greenside bunker (a conservative line with flanking down the left side) and gets up-and-down with a birdie from 13 feet.
For the first time today, Woods is under par. It’s a testament to his resilience after a shaky start, and his body appears to be holding up respectably. He’s 1 under for the opening round with two holes to play. He’s eight off the pace of leader Xander Schauffele, but the 15-time major champion is tied for 17th on the leaderboard, comfortably inside the projected cut line.
