Springfield, N.J. – Tiger Woods arrived at historic Baltusrol Golf Club in search of his third major of the year. On Thursday at the PGA Championship, he was just trying to find a golf swing.
Woods slogged around the 7,392-yard, tree-lined layout Thursday in 5-over-par 75, his worst start, to par, in a major championship since he turned professional in 1996. Woods, winner of the Masters and the British Open this year and runner-up at the U.S. Open, couldn’t control his driver. He missed his first four fairways and six of his first seven.
“I just did not have it, starting out,” Woods said. “Every hole you could say there’s something I did wrong to not make birdie. That was frustrating.”
His problems weren’t contained to the tee box. Woods, who trails the six co-leaders, including Phil Mickelson, by eight strokes, didn’t putt any better than he drove the ball. He needed 35 putts, ruining any chance to scramble out of the hole created by his wayward tee shots.
Whether Woods, tied for 113th place, has shot himself out of contention remains to be seen.
“If you’re looking for me to shed a tear, it’s not going to happen,” said a grinning Mickelson, who birdied his last hole for a 3-under 67. “But I believe, as we all do, that come Sunday his name will find its way on top there. It’s going to be tough for us to keep him back.”
Whatever happens, the intrigue has multiplied at an event where Woods was the overwhelming favorite. And although the presence of 25 club professionals in the 156-player field always lowers the 36-hole cut – the low 70 players and ties- it should be noted Woods has never missed a cut in a major since turning pro. He failed to make it to the weekend in the 1996 Masters as an amateur.
Woods said he’s not out of it, although his game appeared that way at times. He hit only six of 14 fairways, recorded a double-bogey 6 on No. 7 and made no putts of consequence. His only birdie, on No. 8, his 17th hole, was a kick-in 2-footer.
Woods sees hope in how tough he believes the course will play the final three rounds.
“After the first nine, I could easily have lost it and packed it in and gone home,” Woods said. “Guys are not going to go out there and shoot 63s every day. The golf course is going to get tougher. There won’t be too many guys under par by the end of the week.”
There sure was a slew of them Thursday, however.
Mickelson, the 2004 Masters champion and runner-up to David Toms in the 2001 PGA at the Atlanta Athletic Club, was joined at the top by 2003 British Open winner Ben Curtis, Australian Stuart Appleby, South Africans Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini and Stephen Ames, a resident of Canada.
Eleven more golfers lurked at 2-under, including two-time U.S. Open winner and reigning International champion Retief Goosen and Davis Love III, whose only major championship is the 1997 PGA.
“It’s a course that really can give a lot, and it can take it away in a blink,” Sabbatini said. “If you’re not making birdies, you’re going to shoot a high number.”
Baltusrol hasn’t hosted a major since Lee Janzen won the 1993 U.S. Open, and many competitors had not seen the course before this week. Judging by the leaderboard, the veterans appeared to have a big edge managing their games. Among those who turned back the clock and opened with 68s were Jesper Parnevik, Steve Elkington and two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer.
Langer had a wild finish. On the 650-yard 17th, he pulled his tee shot to the left, where it bounced off a cart path and then hit a female spectator in the shoulder. The ball dropped just a few feet from a hospitality tent, behind a tree. After pitching out sideways to get back to the fairway, Langer managed to save a bogey. Langer got that stroke back – and more – on the 554-yard, par-5 18th when he ripped a 5-wood second shot to within 4 feet of the pin and then rolled in his eagle putt.
“I got a couple of good breaks, so I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be in there (challenging) on Sunday,” Langer said.
It’s early, but if nothing else, Langer begins today with a big advantage on Woods.
As does most of the field.
Staff writer Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
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Tee times
First hole
5:15 a.m. – Hunter Mahan, Brett Melton, Steve Webster
5:25 a.m. – Greg Owen, Darrell Kestner, Yang Yong-eun
5:35 a.m. – Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jay Haas, Chris Riley
5:45 a.m. – Woody Austin, Bart Bryant, Stuart Appleby
5:55 a.m. – Wayne Grady, Larry Nelson, Mike Reid
6:05 a.m. – David Howell, Nick O’Hern, Joe Ogilvie
6:15 a.m. – Thomas Bjorn, Chad Campbell, Arron Oberholser
6:25 a.m. – Brent Geiberger, Alex Cejka, Tim Petrovic
6:35 a.m. – Paul McGinley, Mark Hensby, Scott Verplank
6:45 a.m. – Lee Janzen, Jesper Parnevik, Pat Perez
6:55 a.m. – Mike Small, Ben Crane, Dudley Hart
7:05 a.m. – Jean Francois Remesy, John Rollins, Steve Schneiter
7:15 a.m. – Jeff Yurkiewicz, Rob Moss, Jeff Coston
10th hole
5:15 a.m. – Michael Allen, Tim Thelen, Henrik Stenson
5:25 a.m. – Travis Long, Bo Van Pelt, Brett Quigley
5:35 a.m. – Brian Davis, Jason Bohn, Sean O’Hair
5:45 a.m. – Kenny Perry, Carlos Franco, Fred Funk
5:55 a.m. – Paul Casey, Tim Clark, Geoff Ogilvy
6:05 a.m. – Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson
6:15 a.m. – Rory Sabbatini, Brad Faxon, Graeme McDowell
6:25 a.m. – John Daly, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III
6:35 a.m. – Stephen Ames, K.J. Choi, Ryan Palmer
6:45 a.m. – Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Todd Hamilton
6:55 a.m. – Peter Hanson, Dave Tentis, Stephen Leaney
7:05 a.m. – Stephen Gallacher, Kelly Mitchum, Billy Mayfair
7:15 a.m. – Don Berry, Chris Wiemers, Alan Morin
First hole
10:20 a.m. – Joe Durant, Billy Andrade, Mark Mielke
10:30 a.m. – Loren Roberts, Ron Philo Jr., Stephen Dodd
10:40 a.m. – S.K. Ho, Nick Dougherty, Scott Spence
10:50 a.m. – Jim Furyk, Colin Montgomerie, Angel Cabrera
11 a.m. – Ted Purdy, Trevor Immelman, Toru Taniguchi
11:10 a.m. – Chris DiMarco, Jose Maria Olazabal, Justin Leonard
11:20 a.m. – Fred Couples, Darren Clarke, Shingo Katayama
11:30 a.m. – Tiger Woods, Michael Campbell, Kevin Sutherland
11:40 a.m. – Stewart Cink, Luke Donald, Robert Allenby
11:50 a.m. – Paul Azinger, Jeff Sluman, David Toms
Noon – Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, Peter Lonard
12:10 p.m. – Niclas Fasth, Bob Estes, Tim Fleming
12:20 p.m. – Lucas Glover, Maarten Lafeber, Jeff Martin
10th hole
10:20 a.m. – Craig Thomas, Jonathan Kaye, Arjun Atwal
10:30 a.m. – Thongchai Jaidee, Bob Ford, Charles Howell III
10:40 a.m. – Richard Green, Thomas Levet, Tim Herron
10:50 a.m. – Ian Poulter, Mark Calcavecchia, Jerry Kelly
11 a.m. – Jeff Maggert, Shigeki Maruyama, Rod Pampling
11:10 a.m. – Hal Sutton, Rich Beem, Bob Tway
11:20 a.m. – Mike Weir, David Duval, Ben Curtis
11:30 a.m. – Tom Lehman, Scott McCarron, J.L. Lewis
11:40 a.m. – Steve Elkington, Shaun Micheel, Mark Brooks
11:50 a.m. – Fredrik Jacobson, Craig Parry, Kevin Na
Noon – Vaughn Taylor, Bernhard Langer, Andre Stolz
12:10 p.m. – Steve Flesch, Rich Steinmetz, Tom Pernice Jr.
12:20 p.m. – Chris Starkjohann, Tim Weinhart, Chip Johnson
