The Golf Channel is proud to present...
Expanded coverage of the PGA of America's premier event.
The final major of the 1998 season.
The 80th PGA Championship.
Hi again and welcome to a special one hour edition of Golf Central. I'm Rich Lerner alongside Jennifer Mills. Ideal conditions for round one of the 80th PGA Championship.
Really exactly what you would want to highlight the skills of the world's best as well as the absolutely stunning venue, the Sahale Country Club.
Stunning it is. High heavenly ground indeed. What better stage for the world's best and for some players you may not know. We will have all the stories from Sahale.
We'll also have live reports from Brian Hammons and Craig Cann. But first up, today's action.
After great anticipation, the year's final major finally got underway early Thursday morning outside Seattle.
And it did so under sunny skies and temperatures nearing the 90s. It didn't take long for low scores to emerge from the shadows of the huge Douglas Furs.
One of those who set the mark early did so without his primary weapon. Let's take a walk in the woods at Sahale. Off we go.
First round action. Good view from above the course. It is beautiful. Lots of trees, lots of water. Tiger Woods one under. His second shot to the par four tenth.
He's three off the lead. Hits it absolutely stiff. Would make the birdie. Tiger Woods on a roll. He bogeyed the first before he made up for it.
Woods at minus two. His third to the par five eleventh. That sets up another birdie. He's three under. He is one off the lead.
Woods minus three. Twenty-five feet for birdie at the par four thirteenth. Four was the putter working. He ties for the lead at minus four with this man, Glenn Day.
Day's second shot to the par four seventh with the nine iron. One forty-four. And that looks good to retake the lead. Day in position to go one up.
Day always deliberate for the birdie and it slides by. Putter fails him. He remains a co-leader at minus four. Now Day still tied with Woods. Four birdie at the eleventh and he takes the lead at minus five.
Glenn Day on a roll. A welcome sound. A lot of people glad to see Stuart Appleby back out. His first appearance since his wife Renee's death on the first hole.
Splits the middle of the fairway with the tee shot. But most importantly, great to see Stuart Appleby back. Davis loved the defending champion at plus one for birdie at the par four fifteenth.
That one's got a tracking device straight into the hole. He's even par. He shoots seventy. Mark O'Meara. All eyes on him. Watch this putt for birdie. O'Meara thinks he has it.
That one hurts. But he shoots sixty-nine. He's right in there at minus one. Tom Watson in the shadows under the monstrous tree that one under hits a terrible tee shot on the par three seventeenth.
Splash right into the water. He makes double. He shoots two over seventy-two. Bob Estes minus one for birdie. Up the tier on the difficult par four sixth. And look at that one. Great putt. He shoots sixty-eight.
He's at minus two. Back to Tiger Woods. Minus three. Two back of Glenn Day for birdie on the par three seventeenth. This for his third birdie on the four par threes of the day. He shoots a course record sixty-six.
Back to Day. Five under. One ahead of Woods for par at fifteen. Then the comebacker. Ouch. Day takes double. He falls from minus five to minus three. He would finish his round at minus two.
So Tiger set the standard with his brilliant record setting sixty-six. Those going off in the afternoon certainly had something to aim for. Off to Sahale for more of the late day action. Here we go.
And the beautiful skyline of Seattle, Washington. Bill Glasson. Now par four seventh. This is his third shot. Billy Plague by injuries throughout his career. Well played. Saves par. Stays at minus two. Two back of Tiger. Billy Andrade in as an alternate. Par four sixth. The second shot. He birdied the first four holes. Growsome tee.
Wow. He would make double bogey and drop back to two under. That's Freddie Couples, the hometown hero, Seattle native. At the par four twelfth, the third shot. The good soft hands. Freddie has always had them. Saves par, but he was three over at that point.
Back to Glasson on number ten for a share of the lead with Tiger. Get in. Billy Glasson. But he would double eleven to drop to minus two. Now Ernie Ells in the par five eleventh for Eagle. Do that. Big easy. Much needed gets Ernie back to even par.
Playing alongside Ells Phil Mickelson on eleven for birdie. Sweet. Talk about soft hands. He's minus two. Craig Stadler, the walrus, the long bomb. Get it. That's cool. He would stay at minus one.
Olin Brown's ball found in a tree on number eight. Now we knew the trees were going to come into play this week. You heard the expression, get up. This guy's going to new heights. Wow. He gets the ball out down safely. Olin, however, would make double bogey. Took an unplayable drop to plus two.
Frank Licklider, par four sixteenth. Head for home. Frank Licklider. The minus three. One back of Woods. And then Licklider at the difficult par three seventeenth with a three iron from two oh five.
Trouble. Not even close. He would salvage a bogey, however, and he shoots a sixty eight. So Tiger Woods is the leader. Two top tens and a top twenty in three majors played this year. Licklider is playing in his first ever PGA championship.
We see Shigeki Maruyama on the leaderboard. He opened with sixty eight at wing foot a year ago. Steve Elkington, by the way, the ninety five champ. He's been plagued by injuries this season.
Billy Andrade having a nice tournament. He struggled this year. Russ Cochran was a factor in his native Kentucky when the tournament was at Valhalla, but he closed with seventy seven a couple of years back.
Bruce is right there and Bob Twy, a past PGA champion. You see Marco Mura right in the thick of things. Battle back after a tough start. He's at one under sixty nine.
Steve Stricker playing some good golf of late. Kenny Perry may be redemption this time around. Kenny nearly won at Valhalla. Harrison Fraser promising young player. Paul Aizinger right there. What a story that would be.
And Phil Mickelson, VJ Singh, both at one under par. Anything below par is certainly good on Thursday. Here are some notable scores. Nick Price is at even par. He's missed just one cut at this event in fifteen tries.
Justin Leonard has finished in the top ten in all three of his PGA championships. Tom Layman's shoulder survived an opening round of seventy one and Tom Watson looking for the only major he needs for that career grand slam. He's two over.
Other scores. Nick Baldo one higher. David Duvall you see at the bottom leads the tour in scoring average at sixty nine point two one. He took seventy six strokes today. He tripled the par for tenth after putting his second in the water, third in the bunker and then taking three putts.
And David Duvall said after an exhausting seventy six, if you hit a bad shot, Sahale will get you in the end. It got several players today, but some favorites certainly survived this initial test. Four more on day one. Let's join Brian Hammons. Hi, Brian.
Hi, Jen. Thank you very much and welcome to Sahale where round one is still being played by players out on the golf course and they will still be playing for some time yet. But the leader in the clubhouse, Tiger Woods, who turned in that course record sixty six earlier today.
Now, you'll remember yesterday Tiger told us that this course sets up better for him than any of the other major championship courses this year. Well, that statement raised more than a few eyebrows, but today Tiger went out and backed it up.
Tiger Woods got off to a bad start with a bogey at the first, but a lucky break at the second may have jump started his round. Yeah, I had a really bad three iron in there. Got way ahead of it. It kind of skanked it off to the right.
Well, it went right at the pin and carried the water part about two or three feet almost went in the hole for double eagle, but rolled over the green chip that on to about two feet made it for birdie.
You know, getting off to a bogey birdie start was nice to bounce back like that. Tiger made another birdie at five to get the one under. He bogeyed six, but still impressed his playing partner with his strength.
You know, he has a incredible ability to recover. He had a trap shot. One of the best shots I've seen for a long, long time. He must have had two hundred and twenty five to hundred thirty yards out the bunker on number six and just smoked this two iron out of there and pitched on the green uphill and
just went in the back, sorry, went in the back bunker. But you know, he's got a lot of talent. Tiger would make the turn at one under. He shot thirty two on the back, including a birdie at the difficult par three seventeen. That helped him to a course record sixty six.
He got a long way to go. I don't care if he shot seventy six or sixty six. He's still got a long way to go. And hopefully I can put together three more good rounds and keep myself right in the ballgame.
You might remember Tiger open with a sixty five at the British Open, but struggled in rounds two and three before closing with a sixty six. If he can just stay away from those big numbers this week, this might be Tiger's week.
A lot of guys open with some solid numbers here in round one, including the man looking for his third major championship of the year.
You know, it's nice to shoot in the red, I think, any time in a major championship. But he'd like to go out and get off to a decent start. Today I started off a couple bogeys the first three holes and just try to remain patient and start hitting some better shots and really played pretty well from about the fifth, sixth hole on.
And I was pleased with the way I played the backside. I kept myself somewhat in the ballgame. I saw Tiger shot four under, which is a super round, but I expected him to play well. He was swinging well in the practice rounds and this is a good golf course for him. I'm just pleased to shoot on the par the first day.
It was an adventure, especially on the back nine. I had a lot of fun on the front just because I was hitting the ball fairly solid. I think I was hitting the ball straight, not necessarily killing it or hitting it really solid.
You know, if I caught one off the toe, it started a little bit right and turned back into the fairway and things like that. So, you know, I can certainly hit the ball better than I did today. But, you know, it's encouraging, you know, especially from the last couple months.
I'm very happy with my score the way I played. I hit the ball really indifferently today for some reason. So, I'm happy to get even par, you know, and this is probably the easiest it's going to play, but at least I'm not out of it.
When you do miss a green, you find yourself in a tricky situation in the sand or in the rough. That's what I do best. I mean, I guess I either am leading or I know I won that statistical category last year as far as getting the ball up and down.
And that's what I do best. And so, the tougher the conditions, usually the better chance I have of playing well.
Golf is a weird game. I can go out tomorrow and play a lot worse than I played today and still shoot two under. Okay. I played really good today to shoot my two under. You got three more days. So, you know, we'll see what happens.
This tournament is notorious for giving players their first major championship. Craig Cann is with a couple of guys over on the practice tee who are hoping it happens to them this week. Craig. Thanks very much, Brian. So far so good. You know, on Thursday you don't want to go too low, but you don't definitely want to go very high.
And I got a couple of guys here who went rather well. Scott McCarran, 69, one under. Congratulations. And you know what? You birdied 18, the par five turn par four.
I think I might actually have a skin there. I hit a great three wood and still had 200 yards to the pin and hit a good five iron in there just below the hole and made about a 25 footer. So that was a great birdie.
Everybody talks about the driver being a club you can't use very often. How many times did you use it and do you buy that?
Well, you know, I've never played golf course where I haven't been able to hit one driver. And this is one golf course where that might happen. So in my plan, I actually am going to hit one driver a day. I'm not sure where it's coming, but I'm going to hit one driver today and today I did it on 15.
So far so good for you. Keep up the good play this week. Thanks, Craig. Appreciate it.
Scott McCarran with 69 and Kenny Perry with 69. A good round for you as well. And we talk about the par five turn par fours. You birdied one too. What hole and talk about it.
Number six, which I think is the hardest hole in the golf course. It's a 475 straight up the hill. And it's probably the best birdie I've ever made in my life.
I sliced my drive into the right fairway bunker and I've got this huge fir tree in front of me. I had 193 to carry the bunker at 228 to the hole and I just flushed this for it. It just carried the bunker and it rolled up there about six foot from the hole and I was able to make it for birdie.
And so I kind of you know, that got me going. I got me to three under after after six holes and I was off and rolling. You talk about the early start. You have to get off to a good start here because the back nine is so difficult. Talk about that.
It's very difficult. You know, after the first four holes, I think you need to try to get one under after the first four because from then on the golf course really gets tough. I mean the back nine. It just seems like every hole is uphill and you're hitting two iron off the tee and you've always got 200 to 220 into every hole.
And it's just hard to fit that ball close. You know, it's just with the rough, you know, if you hit it in a rough then you're pitching out. So I was very fortunate. I had a lot of fairways. You've been close to the PGA before. Good luck the rest of the way. Thanks, Craig. Appreciate it.
Kenny Perry, 69 Scott McCarran, 69. So far, so good for those guys. Let's go back to you, Brian.
Thanks, Craig. There's more to come here at Sahale. I'll be joined by Mark Lye and we'll get his thoughts on what has happened so far here in round one. That's coming up a little later. Now let's send it back to Orlando and Rich Lerner.
All right. Thank you very much, Brian. Stay with us. Much more to come as the 80th PGA Championship continues in just a moment. We will have full field scores. Some analysis from Mark Lye plus a report from the prestigious U.S. Women's Amateur.
PGA Central's expanded coverage of the 80th PGA Championship continues.
Looking for his first major since the 97 Masters. Tiger Woods didn't start well on Thursday. He made bogey at the first as you heard, but he certainly made up for it. Take a look at some of his numbers. As Tiger Woods said afterwards, it wasn't the big stick but the putter that made the difference. He called the driver the big doughnut because he never hit it in round one.
He used the putter only 27 times. Woods birdied both par fives and on the short holes, which he said earlier in the week would be the difference, he was three under. Brian Hammons rejoins us now for more on today's play. Brian.
Welcome back to Sahale and Golf Central's continuing coverage of the 80th PGA Championship. I'm joined now by Golf Channel analyst Mark Lye to get his thoughts on what has transpired in round one.
Let's start with Tiger Woods. He told us yesterday this course sets up perfectly for him, yet it's as narrow as a hallway. It didn't seem like it made much sense, but today he goes out and shoots 66.
Well, I'm still not buying it. God bless him for shooting 66. That's a great score for anybody out there, but if you take the strongest weapon out of a guy's bag, I know it's not his putter. It may be the sandwich, but it definitely, most definitely is the driver. That's where he is the most potent and can blow everyone away with.
But this is showing us that he's really got a lot more than just the long game, and I'm really surprised to see him do so well. I can't wait to see how he does on the weekend.
He says he loves hitting that two iron, and he hits a 260, so maybe if he can keep that in play, that's the way to go.
Well, he does, but he also has to watch out for his aggressiveness on the greens. It seems like today a few times he ran those short putts by five or six feet, and he didn't miss any of them, but you know, if he keeps doing that, he's going to test himself to the max.
Glenn Day is near the top of the leaderboard yet again. He's had his tremendous year. He's been close in some big tournaments, almost won the players championship. How do you like his chances?
Terrific iron player. He doesn't drive the ball very far, but he really has a lot of class as far as hitting the irons to the greens, but where he's really going to have problems is trying to keep up with guys like Tiger.
See, they're going to be driving the ball in the same position. Of course, Glenn Day is going to be using a three-wooder driver to get where Tiger does with his two iron, but where Tiger is going to beat him is he's got six irons left in where Glenn Day's got three and four irons left in.
And the way that he bounces over the green on the 18th hole today shows me that Glenn Day is going to have to play a whole lot better than Tiger to win this tournament.
Fred Couples came in here with a lot of expectations. He's coming home. Everybody's pulling for Freddie here. He shoots 74 in round one. Obviously he's disappointed, but maybe just a little bit too much pressure on Freddie here.
Well, there's always pressure when you play in front of the home crowd, but he's accustomed to everybody being on his side, even in L.A. and even at Augusta and even at TPC where he's won before. He's always a fan favorite.
There's a little bit more extra heat on him this week, though. He's basically the unofficial host of the golf event, so that's putting a little bit more heat on him. He's not really accustomed to being in this position.
I saw him out on the town on Monday night, probably just glad handing and seeing some friends that he hadn't seen in quite a while, but now it's all business and it's nothing strange for him.
And surprise, surprise, Marco Mira once again near the top of the leaderboard at one under par of it. He was two over at one point on the front nine, and what a great round saver he made. He played very well down the stretch.
Really gutsy performance because everybody, to a man, was playing the front nine better than the back. I mean, the first four or five holes, players were really getting the red numbers going. Marco Mira started off a couple over, and he had the meat of this golf course to improve on, and he really did it.
He showed up tough on the back side. Watch out for him.
Surprises for you in round one?
Well, you know, Payne Stewart and Lee Jantzen seem to be, you know, their games are tailor-made for this type of position golf. They're really good middle and long iron players. They didn't show up today, shot 76. They've got a lot of work ahead of them just to make the cut.
All right, Mark, thanks so much for your thoughts. You'll be with us all week, and as Tiger Woods said, there's a lot of time left. Now let's go back to Orlando.
All right, thank you, guys. What are the chances of our leader going wire-to-wire? Always difficult under any circumstances, but it has been done five times in the 40 previous PGA Championship stroke play tournament as proof that Raymond Floyd was one of the great frontrunners of all time.
He went wire-to-wire not once, but twice in this event in 69 at NCR in Dayton and again in 82 at Southern Hills. Jack did it at Canterbury in 71, then ran second to Hal Sutton at Riviera in 1983.
Well, stay with us. There is much more ahead as our expanded coverage of the 80th PGA Championship continues in just a moment.
Popular players in the game received the lion's share of the attention. Unfortunately, very few in the crowd were lined up to catch a glimpse of a select group of 25 who in all honesty have very little chance of winning, but who are still as vital to the game as Davis Love and Tiger Woods.
Ron McDougal, assistant professional at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York.
Bruce Sibriski, teaching professional at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. Mike Burke Jr., head professional at Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, New Jersey.
Arguably the top three PGA Club professionals among a group of 25 who have qualified for the right to play alongside the game's best during the final major of the year.
By virtue of their finish at this year's PGA Club Pro Championship, they've earned the right to play at Sahale, but make no mistake, they're fully aware of their number one priority first and foremost.
I'd like to thank my club, Mountain Ridge Country Club in New Jersey. I have now been out of work here for 15 straight days and I can honestly say that they roll with the punches real well and support me and there are a lot of guys that would give their right arm to be able to have the freedom I have to play and I'm very appreciative of them to allow me this chance to pull something like this off.
When Mike Burke Jr. won the 31st Club Pro Championship this past June, he had temporarily left behind his main responsibility, looking after his club and its membership.
Day in and day out, Mike, Bruce, Ron and thousands of club pros like them around the country provide an invaluable service for the benefit and long-term health of the game.
They not only teach, but help foster the accessibility and enjoyment of the sport.
While the rewards may not seem as glamorous as holding up large six-figure checks after tournaments, the sense of accomplishment is no less real.
To see a student go out or come in from around and say, you know, I just made two bogeys in a row and I've never made a bogey. And, you know, so that's part of it, to see the joy in somebody's face.
If you can help them with their golf games, whether it's with saying something, teaching, or a nice smile in the morning, or telling them how nicely they're swinging, or whatever it is to help them along with their game and enjoy the club and the game more, I think that's the whole thing that we're all trying to do.
It's very difficult to get, you know, work 350 people, let's say, on the same wavelength. But, you know, when you work the tournaments, when you get a good tournament off the ground, when you can handle all the tee times and basically get everybody what they want and work things out so things aren't too hard, it's rewarding.
While each pro takes great pride in their club and its membership and understands the importance of their chosen profession, they have all retained that burning desire to know their game and to test it competitively.
It was always in the back of my mind. That's why I love the US Open, the PGA's I sneak into, but again, I'm always playing in tournaments where I'm going to get myself beat up pretty much. So it would be nice to go play in some normal tournaments, so to speak.
When I go out there and play with the bigger names, I'm not trying to compare. It may be embarrassing for me to go out and feel like I don't hit it as far as some of the guys, or I don't chip it as well as some of those guys. But I'm certainly not going to get embarrassed. I take it in stride and say, look, I played well enough to get there.
I have a lot of pride in my golf and I've always put down in my book time for myself, whether it's very early in the morning or very late at night. And I make that time because I just don't want to just play. That wouldn't be, I want to play and be competitive and compete.
The question often arises, should they be playing at this level against the best touring pros in the world? According to some pretty influential voices, there's little doubt.
Without the PGA Professional, the game of golf would not be enjoying the great popularity that it is today. So we view the PGA Professional as a very important part of the game and a very important part of the future of the game.
It's something that drives their organization and they look forward to and it's a nice benefit for them for all they do for the world of golf. Sure it's getting more and more of a gap between the top players and the club pros, but it's still nice to have and makes the championship special.
While their practice time is limited and their chances of real success even more improbable, this select group of 25 remains united and focused.
I'm sure all 25 guys, everybody's club is just very much looking forward to their pro being there. And I think it's important that tour pros realize how much this means to a club.
And yes we'd like to make the cut and yes we are taking a spot, but hopefully they can realize the importance that it holds to us.
If I can walk away from the PGA Championship and hold my head up and say, hey I played, I competed, maybe I didn't make the cut or maybe I didn't contend, but I feel good about it. So that's my goal.
Being part of that tournament, representing the PGA as best I can, representing my 1,200 members here and the pride that Westchester Country Club has as best I can, those are all my goals and they're a little bit different than Tiger Woods or Mark O'Mara.
That is one tough job. They work such long hours and it's not easy trying to make two, three hundred people at any golf club happy and then not easy either trying to listen to the blow-by-blow accounts that we always give to our club professionals.
They really are the lifeblood day in, day out of this great game and it's nice that they are in the spotlight this week at Sahale.
Well stay with us when we return. We will tell you the story of the 10th alternate trying to make the most of his opportunity that is ahead when Golf Central's coverage from Sahale continues in a moment.
Welcome back once again to Sahale, round one of the PGA Championship where this morning Dan Forsman was forced to withdraw because of kidney stones.
Now while that was certainly a major disappointment for him, it set up an interesting situation for David O'Gren. For that story, let's head over to Craig Kam.
Brian, thank you very much. Now imagine sitting at home right now and then suddenly being told to fly halfway across the country for a morning business meeting that may or may not happen.
That's pretty much what happened to David O'Gren, the 10th alternate in this field who got into his sixth PGA Championship the hard way.
Well it's been very interesting this week. 24 hours ago I was having breakfast with my mom in Waukegan and now here I am 24 hours later getting ready to play in the PGA at Sahale.
Did you eat your Wheaties? You might need them.
Well, you know, I don't know if I ate Wheaties or not but it was a very interesting thing because I was very shocked.
Just the morning I opened up the USA Today and I saw that P.H. Horgan had gotten in the tournament.
And I knew that P.H. and I were real close in the alternate list so I called out here and they told me I was third.
So I got on the horn and I booked a flight out of St. Louis because we were in the van in Chicagoland with my family.
And so on the way down to St. Louis I called and they said Billy Andrade was in and I told my wife that I was second or better.
I'd go and I went and got out here last night at midnight and then I found out about two hours ago that I was in.
So at 8 a.m. on Thursday he finds out he's in. At 10 a.m. not a practice round to be had.
David O'Gren, the 10th alternate, strokes a few putts, heads toward the practice tee and tries to loosen up for a major opportunity with a tee time set for 11.37.
Are you nervous? Are you playing this course blind now?
Well, no, I'm not nervous. There's some really good precedent for guys doing kind of interesting things from the last guy in standpoint.
My first U.S. Open as a pro was at Oakmont and Bobby Watkins.
I distinctly remember got in just like this and went out and shot 69 blind at Oakmont.
So this course can't be as tough as that Oakmont course was.
Do you put expectations on yourself?
Well, I mean, we all remember that John Daly won from the last guy in position there at Crooked Stick.
So I mean, there's precedent for that. That's why they have an alternate list. That's why a tournament like this, it's very,
it's a good thing to keep allowing those players to come in as people drop out because you never know when the next great story.
Expectations? No. Hope? I have great hope.
With the prized Wanamaker trophy glaring his way at the first tee,
Ogren, who said he made no adjustments to his usual 14 clubs, set off with his A game, two straight top 20s coming in, trying to turn hope into headlines.
He was one of the few to hit metal instead of iron at the first.
The advantage was evident as Steven Leany smacked his second to the par four. Ogren, 25 yards ahead, was ready to capitalize on three wood.
He hit it to eight feet, but settled for par.
On the par five second, Ogren again played aggressive, basically shrugging his shoulders at naysayers who said beware Sahale trouble.
Ogren ripped a fairway wood, carried the water and left himself an eagle chance. He too budded for birdie.
The only thing Ogren didn't seem in command of early, the speed of Sahale's greens.
The first three holes, three putts left a few rolls short.
What Ogren did on Thursday was roll with it. His day one round could have been better, yes, but it probably could have been worse.
At least now, when Ogren tees it up on Friday, he will have finally seen Sahale.
I shot 73. Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow. I spent most of the day checking it out, but I think I could have shot it on par if I had really executed it all.
Pretty interesting story about what happened to David Ogren on the 18th hole.
As he was walking up, he was actually announced as Dan Forsman from Provo, Utah.
The name Dan Forsman was on the leaderboard and David Ogren was going no, no, no. They re-announced him as David Ogren. He gave him the thumbs up.
He gets no respect, but he is playing fairly well. Another guy who's in pretty decent shape right now, Paul Stankowski, plus two.
Good round for you. Tough front nine, plus three. Good back nine, minus one.
Yeah, it was hot and cold. Cold first, hot later. This golf course, you get it off the fairway and you're going to make some bogeys and put it in the wrong spots and some greens, you're going to three putt.
I did a little bit of both on the front nine. In the back nine, I played a little more solid, hit in the fairway, and made one birdie. I didn't kill myself, but I'm not looking too good.
Putting has been a struggle for you lately. Have you got that short away this week?
No, not yet. I made a putt on 17 for birdie from about 12 feet that I thought I missed. I hit it and started walking and went in. So maybe that's what I've got to do is miss hitting more putts. I might make some.
What's going to be the key as we go to the week? Everybody talks about the difficult par fives turned into par fours, but 17 hurt a lot of people today. We had a triple bogey by Peter Lonnard and some other players really struggled there.
17 is difficult as well. Talk about the down stretch. 17 and 18. You leave it short on 17, it's coming back in the water. Today the tough pin on the very front of the green is getting a little firm. You want to stuff it in there below the hole because the putt from above it is pretty quick.
You do that and you make a mistake and you're in the water. 18, boy, it's a tough one. I hit three wood off the tee today and I must say I hit a sprinkler head because it played short for me. I hit seven iron to the green.
You know if you hit three wood and hit it right center of the fairway, you go through the fairway in the rough. If it stays in the fairway, you got three wood in your hand. So it's really one of those weird holes that you've got to get something hooking.
It's playing long. If you're too conservative off the tee, you're going to have a really long shot to a green. And so you just got to hit it in the right spots and you got to play aggressive at times and lay up at times.
We've heard good things from you in majors previously. Hopefully this will be your work. Paul Stankowski, thank you very much. Thanks, I appreciate it. Good luck the rest of the way. Brian, let's send it back over to you.
Thanks, Craig. That will wrap up our coverage from here at Sahale for day one of the PGA Championship. As we head to break, here's a look at the full field scores.
One of golf's.