Waite jumps out to early PGA lead
Associated Press
Tiger Woods says he's not that far off. Try telling that to the 99 players in front of him after one round of the PGA Championship at Duluth, Ga.
The list starts with Grant Waite of New Zealand, who rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 6-under 64 and a two-stroke lead over nine players, a group that includes British Open champion David Duval and Phil Mickelson.
Ernie Els led a dozen others at 67. In fact, the 55 players who broke par was the highest number in six years at the PGA Championship.
Three of those guys were club professionals.
And then there was Woods.
His summer swoon continued yesterday on a day when just about everyone else took advantage of the soft, spongy greens that allowed for an incredible scoring assault in a major championship.
Woods had two double bogeys, two three-putt bogeys and not nearly enough solid shots to join the mix. Instead, he signed for a 73 and wound up nine strokes back, matching his largest first-round deficit in a major since he turned pro five years ago.
He also was nine back at the 1997 U.S. Open.
"I'm not that far off," said Woods, who failed to break par for the sixth time in his last nine rounds at a major. He previously broke par 13 straight times, a streak that ended at the Masters with his unprecedented sweep of the majors.
"If I play a good round tomorrow, I should be able to get myself back in the tournament," Woods said. "That's the good thing about majors. If you play well, you're going to be rewarded by moving up the leaderboard."
A surprising adventure
If the scoring was surprising, so was the leader.
Waite had never made the cut in four previous PGAs. He had never even had a round in the 60s. The last time he was in contention anywhere, Woods hit a 6-iron from 218 yards out of a fairway bunker, over the water and right at the flag, to birdie the last hole and beat Waite by one stroke at the Canadian Open last September.
"I've never been close to any position like this before," Waite said. "This is an adventure. I want to look back at the end of the week and say I enjoyed it."
There's a lot of golf left, and a whole lot of players in contention.
The most daunting prospect is Duval, who played as if he just got off a plane from Royal Lytham & St. Annes without losing a step from his British Open victory.
Duval started with three straight birdies, all inside 6 feet, and hit perhaps the most impressive shot of the day with a 5-iron from 198 yards — over the water, right at the flag — to 4 feet on the 490-yard 18th.
"I haven't felt this good about my golf or as confident in my abilities in a long, long time," Duval said.
Mickelson is as confident as ever, despite having never won a major. His strategy this week is not to win, but to win by a margin he won't disclose.
"I don't want to come down the stretch and have one shot here or there be critical," he said. "I want to have a comfort zone."
Others at 66 were Niclas Fasth of Sweden; Stuart Appleby, Dudley Hart, K.J. Choi and Fred Funk.
Els was in the lead at 5-under in the morning until hitting his approach in the water on No. 18 and taking double bogey. He slipped to 67, along with Hal Sutton, Thomas Bjorn and even Nick Faldo.
When the final group walked off the Highlands Course, Woods was tied for 100th, in desperate need of a solid round to avoid missing the cut for the first time in a major — and only second time overall — since he turned pro.
LPGA
• Canadian Women's Open: Se Ri Pak, Rosie Jones and Kelly Robbins are playing it safe.
Avoiding the thick rough with conservative tee shots, the three shot nearly mistake-free 7-under-par 65s yesterday in favorable scoring conditions to share the first-round lead at Markham, Ontario.
The 41-year-old Jones matched Pak with a bogey-free round on Angus Glen's South Course. Robbins had eight birdies after three-putting for bogey on the opening hole.
Barb Mucha was a stroke behind the leaders. Charlotta Sorenstam had a hole-in-one to join Donna Andrews and Diana D'Alessio at 67.
