SHEBOYGAN, WIS. — After a brief return to the top of the leaderboard, Tiger Woods is back to chasing a bunch of lesser knowns.
In other words, the PGA Championship is shaping up to be just like the rest of this wacky season.
Jason Day was the early clubhouse leader with a 3-under 69 on Thursday. Woods, meanwhile, was at 1 under after making a brief appearance on the leaderboard with three birdies in his first four holes.
Phil Mickelson, who could take the world No. 1 ranking from Woods this week, tees off later Thursday with U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen. Playing two groups ahead of them are Steve Stricker, the Wisconsin native and No. 4 player in the world, and Rory McIlroy, who tied a major championship record with a 63 in the first round of the British Open.
The first round is unlikely to be completed Thursday. Tee times had to be pushed back 3 hours and 10 minutes because of a soupy fog that shrouded Whistling Straits for much of the morning.
Seeing Woods atop the leaderboard so early at a tournament, even a major, wouldn’t ordinarily count as big news.
But there is nothing ordinary about Woods these days.
While his personal life is starting to “normalize” after nine months of tawdry details of infidelities, his game has never been lower. Woods arrived at Whistling Straits fresh off the worst performance of his career, shooting a whopping 18-over 298 and beating only one player in the 80-man field at Firestone — a course where he’s won seven times. He’s broken par in only four of his last 20 rounds, and is in danger of losing the No. 1 ranking he’s held for a record 270 weeks in a row.
When the fog cleared, however, there was a glimpse of the old Woods. Starting on the back nine, he birdied three of his first four holes and found himself in a share of the lead. But he missed three birdie chances before he made the turn and started spraying shots around the course on his back nine.
He had trouble on both par-5s, holes that used to be guaranteed birdies — or better.
He found a bunker, trampled down grass and another bunker with his first three shots on No. 2, and left his par putt about three feet short. Woods didn’t even finish his backswing after his drive sailed left on No. 5, dropping the club with his hands still above his head. He managed to save par on the hole, though.
