Friday 8 August 2014 12:50, UK
Still seeking his first major title at the 66th attempt, Lee Westwood heads the field after the opening day of the 96th US PGA Championship in Kentucky.
Westwood equalled his lowest round in any major with an opening 65 to share the lead with American pair Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer on six under par.
He headed the 11 European players in the top 19, including Open champion and world No 1 Rory McIlroy who staged a storming late comeback to climb within a shot of the leader into fourth place.
The 41-year-old Worksop golfer looks to have found his old form after missing four consecutive cuts, but with a whole host of big names breathing down his neck, the Englishman will have to maintain his hot start.
Lee Westwood set the early clubhouse target with an opening day six-under-par 65 at the year's final major. He is eight times a top-three major finisher but has yet to hoist a trophy and his only other major 65 came in the third round of the 2011 US Open at rain-soaked Congressional Country Club. His lone triumph this year came at the Malaysian Open, a week after finishing seventh at the Masters, but a big key to his successful start this week was his closing 63 at last week's World Golf Championship event in Akron, Ohio. The Englishman credited a tougher exercise regime with helping him cope with the sweltering heat and humidity as he boosted his bid to make Europe's team for Gleneagles next month. He recovered from a double bogey on his 10th hole of the day with five birdies in his last six holes and is now in a three-way tie for the lead heading into round two. Westwood is looking to put his experience and recent good form together by hitting the fairways and shooting another low score in order to maintain his excellent start.
Open champion Rory McIlroy, seeking his third win in succession and a fourth major title, stayed in contention after an 11th consecutive sub-par round. He followed his victory at Royal Liverpool with another in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday and seized a share of second, one stroke off the lead ahead of the second round, after showing great mental strength. McIlroy, the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship winner, is the clear favourite to become the first back-to-back major winner since Padraig Harrington's 2008 Open and US PGA triumphs. The world No 1 ran up a double bogey on the 10th and then missed a short putt at the 11th to fall back to level par. But he lifted himself to play his last seven holes in five under par - and just missed a long eagle putt at the last. The Northern Irishman will now need to keep focused on the task at hand and avoid the hype if he is to make more history.
Tiger Woods lengthy title drought in the majors showed no sign of ending any time soon as he limped to a modest three-over-par 74 after a frustrating opening round at Valhalla. Playing just four days after his back flared up at Firestone, forcing him to withdraw, 14-time major champion Woods proclaimed himself fit, but sprayed shots all over the course on the way to a 74 that left him out of the top 100 and in danger of missing the weekend cut. One landed in a creek. Another sent the gallery scrambling. Yet another rolled into a fenced-off area, a good 30 yards right of the fairway. "That wasn't very good," said Woods, who made only one birdie and had to hole out from the fairway to do that. "A lot of bad shots."
Ryder Cup hopeful Ian Poulter posted three birdies on the back nine, after starting at the 10th hole, and then mixed birdies at the fourth and seventh with bogeys at the second and fifth on the front nine. That left him on three under and three shots behind early pace-setters Westwood, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer in relatively calm conditions at Valhalla. Despite being hampered by a wrist injury in recent weeks the hero of Medinah believes he is feeling the benefit of some lengthy practice sessions and is starting to find his form.
Former US Open champion and last year's US PGA Championship runner-up Jim Furyk joined a pack sharing fourth place alongside world No 1 McIlroy, Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Italy's Edoardo Molinari. The 44-year-old from Pennsylvania took a mid-season break before embarking on a solid run which helped him to a fourth-placed finish at The Open. But Furyk says a change in attitude is helping his game, after he carded a score of five under par 66 in the opening round to leave him a stroke behind the leaders.
Colin Montgomerie, coming off two major wins on the Seniors circuit, fired a 70 in quest of his long-sought first main tour major crown. His last appearance in a major came in this event in 2010, but the 51-year-old qualified by winning the Senior version in May and outscored Tiger Woods by four shots thanks to a round containing three birdies and two bogeys. "I wanted to represent the Champions Tour well and 70 is okay to start with," said Montgomerie. "I drove the ball well and knew if I did that I could get round."
Watching Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley will be delighted to see a European-dominated leaderboard at Firestone with Westwood, McIlroy and Poulter leading the charge. Edoardo Molinari, Henrik Stenson and England's Chris Wood were alongside McIlroy on five under, with Finland's Mikko Ilonen four under. Holland's Joost Luiten, and Shane Lowry were three under along with Pouter, Danny Willett and Bernd Wiesberger. Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Luke Donald finished one under, although Donald had been just one off the lead before dropping four shots in his last five. In contrast, McGinley's opposite number Tom Watson saw Woods struggle, while Matt Kuchar - who has already secured his place on the team for Gleneagles - withdrew before play began with a back injury and defending champion Jason Dufner pulled out with neck problems after 10 holes.
