Tiger Woods stayed in the bottom half of the US PGA Tour season’s second major event, the PGA Championship, on the first day of a four-over par.
In the first round of the tournament held at Southern Hills Country Club (par 70, 7,556 yards) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, Woods recorded a 4-over par 74 with 3 birdies and 7 bogeys.
Woods was tied for 99th and had to worry about passing the cut.
This is Woods’ second appearance after a car accident in February of last year.
The PGA Championship, which Woods has won four times, in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007, was particularly anticipated in 2007 at Southern Hills, the venue of the year.
Woods, who finished 47th at the Masters last month, which was the first official tournament after a car accident, showed confidence ahead of this tournament, saying, “I only had one day off after the Masters. I got stronger than at the Masters.” I did.
Woods, who started the game on the 10th hole (par 4), caught a birdie by hitting the second shot close to the hole on the first hole, and succeeded in putting a 4m birdie on the 14th hole (par 3) and started off smoothly.
However, he made his first bogey on the 15th hole (par 4) and also recorded a bogey on the 18th hole (par 4), ending the first half with an even par.
In the second half, Woods was shaken with a bogey on the 1st and 2nd holes in a row and made up for the first shot with a birdie on the 3rd hole (par 4), but lost another shot on the 4th hole (par 4) and lost another shot on the 8th and 9th holes. He finished the first round with a 4 over par with a bogey streak.
His average driver distance was 346.4 yards, his fairway landing rate was 71.43%, and his green hit rate was 38.89%.
“I had a good driver shot, but my iron shot wasn’t that good,” Woods said. “I couldn’t get the ball close.”
He said, “It started well, but I couldn’t continue. It was a frustrating day.”
“The condition of my leg is not as good as I would like it to be,” said Woods, who suffered a severe right leg injury in a car accident last year.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who played in the same group with Woods, finished second and took the sole lead by one shot with a 5-under 65, kicking off his third victory in the tournament following 2012 and 2014.
McIlroy recorded seven birdies and two bogeys, including four straight birdies on holes 12-15.
USA’s Will Xalertoris and Tom Hogi were tied for second at 4 under par, while Matt Kucha and Justin Thomas and Mexico’s Abraham Anser were tied for 4th at 3 under.
Kevin I, a Korean-American, hit 2 under par and tied for 7th with Xander Shopale. Among Korean players, Kyung-hoon Lee, who won the AT&T Byron Nelson Championship last week, finished the first round with a tie for 16th at 1-under.
Yang Yong-eun, who became Asia’s first major champion by winning this tournament in 2009, and Kim Si-woo, who had three career victories on the PGA Tour, put one over par and tied for 38th place.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea)
