Following days of speculation on whether he would even play in the tournament due to a back injury, Tiger Woods did indeed tee it up for the first round of the 2014 PGA Championship. He may not be around for long, however, following a 3-over round of 74 on Thursday. Woods wasn’t sharp, especially off the tee, and will now have ground to make up on Friday if he’s going to make the cut, let alone contend.
Tiger Woods shoots ugly 74, settles near bottom of 2014 PGA Championship leaderboard
Tiger Woods made it through his round without back issues, but he was far from sharp and is currently nine strokes off the lead.
Woods didn’t get much practice time. He arrived in Louisville on Wednesday and played a nine-hole round with Steve Stricker. Woods only played the front nine, so when he stepped to the 10th tee to begin his round on Thursday, it was the first time he’d hit a tee shot on that hole this week. The lack of practice was evident. Woods struggled off the tee, leading to plenty of frustration, including at No. 11, where he had a few choice words for himself after hitting it into the hazard off the tee.
It wasn’t just issues off the tee that kept Woods from getting much going. The other areas of his game were equally rusty. He hit a few poor chips and found the lip of the cup on a couple of occasions. When you aren’t driving the ball well, your short game isn’t sharp and you aren’t making putts, it’s hard to find red numbers. Woods made only one birdie, and he needed to chip in on No. 16 to do it.
Although Woods’ game had plenty of issues, none of them appeared to be caused by his back. Back spasms forced him to withdraw last week and left his status in doubt early this week. If Woods’ back was causing him problems, he did a good job of hiding it. He didn’t wince throughout his round or appear to favor the back. At 3-over, Woods ended his first round tied for 83rd place. That would put him right on the edge of the cut line as of now, but with the afternoon wave just beginning to make its way around the course, that number could move before the day ends. Woods is nine strokes off the lead, which is currently held by Lee Westwood and Kevin Chappell. Making the cut will be the first challenge, but Woods will have to make history if he’s going to come away with a win. He has won 79 times on the PGA Tour, but has never started worse than 2-over and gone on to win, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel.
Phil Mickelson joined Woods in the marquee pairing of the morning and found more success. He also had some issues early on and made the turn at 1-over. Mickelson rallied on the final nine holes, however, playing his second nine at 3-under. At 2-under for the tournament, Mickelson is currently tied for eighth place.
Place | Player | Score | Thru |
T1 | Lee Westwood | -6 | F |
T1 | Kevin Chappell | -6 | F |
3 | Edoardo Molinari | -5 | 15 |
T4 | Joost Luiten | -3 | F |
T4 | Ian Poulter | -3 | F |
T4 | Jim Furyk | -3 | 16 |
T4 | Bernd Wiesberger | -3 | 15 |
T8 | Rickie Fowler | -2 | F |
T8 | Victor Dubuisson | -2 | F |
T8 | Nick Watney | -2 | F |
T8 | Jimmy Walker | -2 | F |
T8 | Jason Day | -2 | F |
T8 | Phil Mickelson | -2 | F |
T8 | Mikko Ilonen | -2 | 14 |
T8 | Ryan Palmer | -2 | 3 |
T8 | Alexander Levy | -2 | 2 |
T17 | Patrick Reed | -1 | F |
T17 | Colin Montgomerie | -1 | F |
T17 | Brendon Todd | -1 | F |
T17 | Ernie Els | -1 | F |
T17 | Brendon de Jonge | -1 | F |
T17 | Thongchai Jaidee | -1 | 17 |
T17 | Brooks Koepka | -1 | 17 |
T17 | Jamie Donaldson | -1 | 16 |
T17 | Louis Oosthuizen | -1 | 15 |
T17 | Stephen Gallacher | -1 | 16 |
T17 | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | -1 | 16 |
T17 | Russell Henley | -1 | 14 |
T17 | Ryo Ishikawa | -1 | 3 |
T17 | Rory Sabbatini | -1 | 3 |
T17 | Erik Compton | -1 | 1 |
T17 | Danny Willett | -1 | 1 |
T17 | Graham DeLaet | -1 | 1 |
T17 | Bill Haas | -1 | 1 |
T17 | John Senden | -1 | 1 |
T36 | Robert Karlsson | E | F |
T36 | Hideki Matsuyama | E | F |
T36 | Billy Horschel | E | F |
T36 | Brian Stuard | E | F |
T36 | Jordan Spieth | E | F |
T36 | Adam Scott | E | F |
T36 | Marc Leishman | E | 15 |
T36 | Kevin Streelman | E | 15 |
T36 | Marc Warren | E | 14 |
T36 | Pat Perez | E | 14 |
T36 | Shane Lowry | E | 3 |
T36 | Charley Hoffman | E | 3 |
T36 | Dustin Volk (CP) | E | 3 |
T36 | Scott Stallings | E | 3 |
T36 | Eric Williamson (CP) | E | 2 |
T36 | Matteo Manassero | E | 2 |
T36 | Stuart Deane (CP) | E | 2 |
T36 | Jonas Blixt | E | 2 |
T36 | Webb Simpson | E | 2 |
T36 | Fabrizio Zanotti | E | 1 |
T36 | Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | E | 1 |
T36 | Gary Woodland | E | 1 |
T36 | Anirban Lahiri | E | 1 |
T59 | Shaun Micheel | 1 | F |
T59 | Freddie Jacobson | 1 | F |
T59 | K.J. Choi | 1 | 17 |
T59 | Brian Harman | 1 | 17 |
T59 | Charl Schwartzel | 1 | 16 |
T59 | Stewart Cink | 1 | 16 |
T59 | Brendan Steele | 1 | 14 |
T59 | Scott Brown | 1 | 3 |
T59 | David Hearn | 1 | 2 |
T59 | Dave Tentis (CP) | 1 | 1 |
T69 | Roberto Castro | 2 | F |
T69 | Charles Howell III | 2 | F |
T69 | George Coetzee | 2 | F |
T69 | Matt Every | 2 | F |
T69 | Ross Fisher | 2 | F |
T69 | Padraig Harrington | 2 | F |
T69 | Graeme McDowell | 2 | 17 |
T69 | Brandt Snedeker | 2 | 17 |
T69 | Kevin Stadler | 2 | 17 |
T69 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | 2 | 16 |
T69 | Justin Rose | 2 | 15 |
T69 | Ryan Helminen (CP) | 2 | 15 |
T69 | George McNeill | 2 | 14 |
T69 | Bob Sowards (CP) | 2 | 4 |
T83 | Koumei Oda | 3 | F |
T83 | Jamie Broce (CP) | 3 | F |
T83 | Rich Beem | 3 | F |
T83 | Tiger Woods | 3 | F |
T83 | Harris English | 3 | 17 |
T83 | Hyung-Sung Kim | 3 | 16 |
T83 | Rob Corcoran (CP) | 3 | 14 |
T83 | Matt Pesta (CP) | 3 | 3 |
T91 | Russell Knox | 4 | F |
T91 | Thomas Bjorn | 4 | 17 |
93 | John Daly | 5 | F |
T94 | Michael Block (CP) | 6 | F |
T94 | David McNabb (CP) | 6 | 15 |
T94 | Jerry Smith (CP) | 6 | 14 |
T97 | Brian Norman (CP) | 7 | F |
T97 | Mark Brooks | 7 | F |
T97 | John Huh | 7 | 15 |
T100 | Pablo Larrazabal | 8 | F |
T100 | Jason Kokrak | 8 | 16 |
T100 | Boo Weekley | 8 | 15 |
103 | Angel Cabrera | 11 | F |
104 | Frank Esposito (CP) | 12 | F |
105 | Aaron Krueger (CP) | 13 | F |
- | Sergio Garcia | - | 1:25 p.m. |
- | Steve Stricker | - | 1:25 p.m. |
- | Tom Watson | - | 1:25 p.m. |
- | Vijay Singh | - | 1:30 p.m. |
- | Davis Love III | - | 1:30 p.m. |
- | Shawn Stefani | - | 1:30 p.m. |
- | Kenny Perry | - | 1:35 p.m. |
- | Ryan Moore | - | 1:35 p.m. |
- | Henrik Stenson | - | 1:35 p.m. |
- | Cameron Tringale | - | 1:40 p.m. |
- | Scott Piercy | - | 1:40 p.m. |
- | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | - | 1:40 p.m. |
- | Bubba Watson | - | 1:45 p.m. |
- | Martin Kaymer | - | 1:45 p.m. |
- | Rory McIlroy | - | 1:45 p.m. |
- | Branden Grace | - | 1:50 p.m. |
- | Hunter Mahan | - | 1:50 p.m. |
- | Thorbjorn Olesen | - | 1:50 p.m. |
- | Jason Dufner | - | 1:55 p.m. |
- | Y.E. Yang | - | 1:55 p.m. |
- | Keegan Bradley | - | 1:55 p.m. |
- | Chris Kirk | - | 2:00 p.m. |
- | Matt Jones | - | 2:00 p.m. |
- | Seung-Yul Noh | - | 2:00 p.m. |
- | Luke Donald | - | 2:05 p.m. |
- | J.B. Holmes | - | 2:05 p.m. |
- | Francesco Molinari | - | 2:05 p.m. |
- | Jerry Kelly | - | 2:10 p.m. |
- | Tommy Fleetwood | - | 2:10 p.m. |
- | Hideto Tanihara | - | 2:10 p.m. |
- | Zach Johnson | - | 2:15 p.m. |
- | Darren Clarke | - | 2:15 p.m. |
- | Richard Sterne | - | 2:15 p.m. |
- | Will MacKenzie | - | 2:20 p.m. |
- | Steve Schneiter (CP) | - | 2:20 p.m. |
- | Chesson Hadley | - | 2:20 p.m. |
- | Tim Clark | - | 2:25 p.m. |
- | Paul Casey | - | 2:25 p.m. |
- | Kevin Na | - | 2:25 p.m. |
- | Johan Kok (CP) | - | 2:30 p.m. |
- | Ben Martin | - | 2:30 p.m. |
- | Chris Wood | - | 2:30 p.m. |
- | Steven Bowditch | - | 2:35 p.m. |
- | Rod Perry (CP) | - | 2:35 p.m. |
- | Ben Crane | - | 2:35 p.m. |
- | Daniel Summerhays | - | 2:40 p.m. |
- | Jim McGovern (CP) | - | 2:40 p.m. |
- | Geoff Ogilvy | - | 2:40 p.m. |
- | David Hronek (CP) | - | 2:45 p.m. |
- | Chris Stroud | - | 2:45 p.m. |
- | Jason Bohn | - | 2:45 p.m. |
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