With no wind and receptive greens, Valhalla was ripe for red numbers during the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday. Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and a host of other players took advantage, carding rounds in the mid-60s. Westwood is one of three players tied for the first-round lead at 6-under while McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and others are one shot back at 5-under. Tiger Woods is 9 shots off the lead after struggling in the first round. He’ll have work to do if he’s going to make the cut.
PGA Championship 2014 scores: Lee Westwood tied for the lead, Rory McIlroy 1 back
Ideal weather led to optimal scoring conditions at Valhalla on Thursday and a few players took advantage with red numbers.
David Cannon
McIlroy carded a 5-under round of 66. He’s been by far the best player in the world recently, winning the British Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational before starting strong at the PGA Championship. His round could have been even better if not for a poor second shot at No. 10 that landed out of bounds and led to a double bogey. McIlroy did all he could to make up for it, carding five birdies in his final seven holes. McIlroy played his last nine rounds at 37-under, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel. McIlroy did that in three marquee events, playing against the best fields in the world. McIlroy made his run in large part to his work on the greens.
Westwood joins Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer at the top of the leaderboard. Widely regarded as the best active player without a major championship, Westwood finished his first round with nine birdies, including five in his final six holes. Jim Furyk joins Stenson and McIlroy at 5-under. Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose finished the first round at 1-under while Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott each carded even-par rounds.
Woods managed to get through the round without noticeable back issues, but his game continued to be rusty. Woods arrived in Louisville Wednesday and played only nine practice holes after withdrawing from the Bridgestone Invitational due to back spasms. Woods was unable to get much going in the first round, dropping over par on his second hole and he never got back to even. His only birdie of the day came at No. 16 when he chipped in from just off the green.
Woods finished the round at 3-over and sits in a tie for 109th place. With the cut line projected at even, Woods will likely need a good round if he’s going to make the weekend. Jason Dufner won’t be around for the weekend after the reigning PGA Champion was forced to withdraw due to neck issues. Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast for Friday, so scoring conditions aren’t likely to be as favorable as they were in the first round.
Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 18 holes:
Place | Player | Score | 1st Round |
T1 | Lee Westwood | -6 | 65 |
T1 | Kevin Chappell | -6 | 65 |
T1 | Ryan Palmer | -6 | 65 |
T4 | Jim Furyk | -5 | 66 |
T4 | Edoardo Molinari | -5 | 66 |
T4 | Henrik Stenson | -5 | 66 |
T4 | Rory McIlroy | -5 | 66 |
T4 | Chris Wood | -5 | 66 |
T9 | Mikko Ilonen | -4 | 67 |
T9 | Jerry Kelly | -4 | 67 |
T11 | Joost Luiten | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Ian Poulter | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Bernd Wiesberger | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Shane Lowry | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Danny Willett | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Shawn Stefani | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Matt Jones | -3 | 68 |
T11 | Seung-Yul Noh | -3 | 68 |
T11 | J.B. Holmes | -3 | 68 |
T20 | Rickie Fowler | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Victor Dubuisson | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Nick Watney | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Jimmy Walker | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Jason Day | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Phil Mickelson | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Jamie Donaldson | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Kevin Streelman | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Russell Henley | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Alexander Levy | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Graham DeLaet | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Steve Stricker | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Cameron Tringale | -2 | 69 |
T20 | Geoff Ogilvy | -2 | 69 |
T35 | Patrick Reed | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Colin Montgomerie | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Brendon Todd | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Ernie Els | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Brendon de Jonge | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Louis Oosthuizen | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Justin Rose | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Stephen Gallacher | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Charley Hoffman | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Sergio Garcia | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Bubba Watson | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Martin Kaymer | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Hunter Mahan | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Luke Donald | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Zach Johnson | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Richard Sterne | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Tim Clark | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Daniel Summerhays | -1 | 70 |
T35 | Chris Stroud | -1 | 70 |
T54 | Robert Karlsson | E | 71 |
T54 | Hideki Matsuyama | E | 71 |
T54 | Billy Horschel | E | 71 |
T54 | Brian Stuard | E | 71 |
T54 | Jordan Spieth | E | 71 |
T54 | Adam Scott | E | 71 |
T54 | Thongchai Jaidee | E | 71 |
T54 | Brian Harman | E | 71 |
T54 | Brooks Koepka | E | 71 |
T54 | Kevin Stadler | E | 71 |
T54 | Marc Leishman | E | 71 |
T54 | Marc Warren | E | 71 |
T54 | Brendan Steele | E | 71 |
T54 | Pat Perez | E | 71 |
T54 | Scott Brown | E | 71 |
T54 | Scott Stallings | E | 71 |
T54 | Jonas Blixt | E | 71 |
T54 | Erik Compton | E | 71 |
T54 | Fabrizio Zanotti | E | 71 |
T54 | Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | E | 71 |
T54 | Bill Haas | E | 71 |
T54 | Vijay Singh | E | 71 |
T54 | Thorbjorn Olesen | E | 71 |
T54 | Francesco Molinari | E | 71 |
T54 | Jason Bohn | E | 71 |
T79 | Shaun Micheel | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Freddie Jacobson | 1 | 72 |
T79 | K.J. Choi | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Miguel Angel Jimenez | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Charl Schwartzel | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Stewart Cink | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Ryo Ishikawa | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Gary Woodland | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Anirban Lahiri | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Tom Watson | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Davis Love III | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Kenny Perry | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 1 | 72 |
T79 | Steve Schneiter | 1 | 72 |
T93 | Roberto Castro | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Charles Howell III | 2 | 73 |
T93 | George Coetzee | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Matt Every | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Ross Fisher | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Padraig Harrington | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Graeme McDowell | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Brandt Snedeker | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Hyung-Sung Kim | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Ryan Helminen | 2 | 73 |
T93 | George McNeill | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Webb Simpson | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Ryan Moore | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Scott Piercy | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Branden Grace | 2 | 73 |
T93 | Tommy Fleetwood | 2 | 73 |
T109 | Koumei Oda | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Jamie Broce | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Rich Beem | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Tiger Woods | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Harris English | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Eric Williamson | 3 | 74 |
T109 | David Hearn | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Keegan Bradley | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Chris Kirk | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Hideto Tanihara | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Chesson Hadley | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Paul Casey | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Kevin Na | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Ben Martin | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Steven Bowditch | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Rod Perry | 3 | 74 |
T109 | Ben Crane | 3 | 74 |
T126 | Russell Knox | 4 | 75 |
T126 | Thomas Bjorn | 4 | 75 |
T126 | Bob Sowards | 4 | 75 |
T126 | Rory Sabbatini | 4 | 75 |
T126 | Stuart Deane | 4 | 75 |
T126 | John Senden | 4 | 75 |
T126 | Y.E. Yang | 4 | 75 |
T133 | John Daly | 5 | 76 |
T133 | Rob Corcoran | 5 | 76 |
T133 | Will MacKenzie | 5 | 76 |
T136 | Michael Block | 6 | 77 |
T136 | David McNabb | 6 | 77 |
T138 | Brian Norman | 7 | 78 |
T138 | Mark Brooks | 7 | 78 |
T138 | John Huh | 7 | 78 |
T138 | Jason Kokrak | 7 | 78 |
T138 | Johan Kok | 7 | 78 |
T143 | Pablo Larrazabal | 8 | 79 |
T143 | Matt Pesta | 8 | 79 |
T143 | Dave Tentis | 8 | 79 |
T143 | Darren Clarke | 8 | 79 |
T147 | Boo Weekley | 9 | 80 |
T147 | Jerry Smith | 9 | 80 |
T147 | Matteo Manassero | 9 | 80 |
T150 | Dustin Volk | 10 | 81 |
T150 | David Hronek | 10 | 81 |
152 | Angel Cabrera | 11 | 82 |
T153 | Frank Esposito | 12 | 83 |
T153 | Jim McGovern | 12 | 83 |
155 | Aaron Krueger | 13 | 84 |
See More:
