93rd PGA Championship, 2011

Time again to talk about another major golf tournament.

The first round of the 93rd PGA Championship has kicked off and for some reason I  was really hoping to see Tiger Woods play well. I suppose after last week, where Adam Scott won so decisively at the Bridgestone Invitational with Tiger's old caddie Steve Williams, I wanted to see a reaction from Tiger. I noticed a couple of tweets from golf announcer Kelly Tilghman about how his round was going so far yesterday, and it was going quite well. Starting his round on the 10th hole, he was 3 under par after 5 holes which was good. But it didn't end that way.

Tiger Woods during 1st round of the 93rd PGA Championship.
Pic by Turner Sports Interactive (TSI)

As with most major tournaments, the feel is different. There's a lot more pressure because there's a lot more at stake. And the golf course will obviously be a real test. No walk in the park here. At the Atlanta Athletic Club, the drama comes around the 15th hole to the 18th hole. The 15th is 260 yard (234m) par 3 with water just before the green, and bunkers just after it. For normal people like you and me, this is just a WHAT THE HELL?! kind of hole. Getting a par here would be a miracle! So you can imagine how difficult it can be even for the pros. The next three holes present the level of difficulty that requires pinpoint approaches, and basically all round shot perfection. Nothing less. So like I said, not exactly a walk in the park.

Go to http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/course/tour/index.cfm?holeId=1  for a video tour of each hole at the Atlanta Athletic Club.

So back to Tiger. His tee shot into the 15th hole went in the water, and he never recovered from it. He ended up with a double bogey on that hole, and proceeded to play 16, 17 and 18 at +3. He finished that stretch of holes 5 strokes above par. Poor guy. I feel for him because the same thing happened to me a couple weeks back. Played really well over the first four holes, took one bad shot into the water, and I just lost the feel of what I was doing. So I know exactly what he was going through (and now I don't feel so bad about my own game hahaha!). I should tweet to Tiger, tell him we have something in common now.

Dropping after landing in the water at the 6th. (TSI)

Tiger's round continued to be a disaster and he finished with a score of +7 after the first round. That's just terrible man! Unless he plays a super round of golf tomorrow, he won't be around to play on the weekend. 

The other big story for Thursday's round was Rory McIlroy busting his wrist after taking a shot from the rough at the 3rd hole. His ball was resting on a tree root and he whacked it out, letting go of his club upon impact, and visibly in pain. He played the remaining 15 holes with his injured wrist and carded an even par 70. Not bad for being injured. We'll have to see if he can continue to play tomorrow. 

McIlroy icing his hand (Getty Images)

McIlroy teeing off with effectively one hand. (TSI)

So after one round, the leader for the 93rd PGA Championship is Steve Stricker at -7. Stricker missed out on the tournament record score of 62 by one stroke. But nevertheless, still an impressive total after the first day of play. This guy is currently the World Number 5 golfer, so I'm not too surprised he's up there contending yet again. 

Steve Stricker after his round of 63. (TSI)

Right now it seems too soon to predict a winner, but I'll say that Stricker could just win it if he continues the way he's played so far. He doesn't usually make too many mistakes, but we'll see...

For more info on the tournament, go to http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/index.cfm
There is even a video game you can play on the website. So if you're bored at work, give it a go. :)

I've also posted a live leaderboard widget on the right side of this blog, so just scroll down about halfway to view that.

Peace out!