Buy tickets to premium and sold out events
Call us at: 800-927-2770
PGA notes: Harrington staying in range
Updated  | Comment  | Recommend E-mail | Print |
Padraig Harrington lines up a putt during the first round of the PGA. The British Open champion shot a 1-under-par 69 and trails leader Graeme Storm by four strokes.
By Streeter Lecka, Getty Images
TULSA — British Open Padraig Harrington says a golfer only has to stay around par to have a chance to win a major championship, but he's the only major winner who found that range Thursday.

Harrington shot 69, Masters champion Zach Johnson shot 74 and U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera shot 81.

"A 69 in any round of a major championship will keep you in the tournament," said Harrington, playing for the second time since winning at Carnoustie.

"It really doesn't make a difference whether it's 68, 69, 70. It's a good position. The issue now is how I play the next three rounds."

Johnson eagled the par-5 13th, but he gave it back with a double bogey on 16.

Cabrera's 10 on the par-3 No. 6 was the big shock.

"That's the nature of major championship golf," Harrington said. "There's a fine line between staying in a tournament and playing your way out of it.

"Angel is the U.S. Open champion. I don't think many golfers will feel sorry for him."

Woods putts poorly

Tiger Woods kicked his putter, dropped his putter, even flipped it in the air and caught it after it made a 360-degree spin.

What he didn't do is make many tough putts, which is one reason he left Southern Hills on Thursday with a score that didn't represent the way he felt he played in the first round.

"I felt like I hit the ball better than my score indicates, which is good," Woods said after his 1-over-par 71 left him six strokes behind Graeme Storm. "That's a good sign heading into the next three days. I just need to clean up my round a bit."

If he cleans it up, he could be scary. What else can you say about a player who beat the field by eight strokes at the Bridgestone Invitational last week?

Woods finished second at The Masters, second at the U.S. Open and a lackluster 12th place at the British Open and is on the verge of going 0-for-the majors for the first time since 2004.

He has long acknowledged that no year, even if it includes four victories, can be deemed "great" if at least one of those wins doesn't come at a major.

Does that add more pressure here at "Glory's Last Shot?"

"No," he said. "I've just got to go play, go out and grind like I always do."

Phil Mickelson made his share of amazing birdies to go with a collection of blunders, such as his journey through the rough in trees for a bogey on the par-5 sixth, and dumping a flop shot into the bunker on No. 8.

"You're going to hit some bad shots and get bogeys here," he said after shooting a 73. "You're not going to be able to go all 18 holes and go unscathed."

Late misses costs Garcia

Sergio Garcia, eager to bury the disappointment of last month's British Open, was satisfied after opening Thursday with an even-par 70 at the PGA Championship.

If not for a couple of missed reads on his last two holes, Garcia would be right with the leaders at Southern Hills. He is five shots behind.

"On a scale of 100, there were probably 95 positive things and five negative things. So you can't forget about a week that is so positive," Garcia said of the British Open, which he lost in a playoff to Padraig Harrington.


Stephen Ames birdied his last three holes for a 68, tying him with Arron Oberholser and Woody Austin. The group at 69 included Harrington, Lee Westwood and former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who made seven birdies.

Retief Goosen, who won the U.S. Open at Southern Hills in 2001, opened with a 70.

Club pros

Brad Lardon was only moments removed from getting within a stroke of the lead when the manual scoreboard at the 17th green was updated to show he was approaching.

There it was, in giant capital letters: LANDON, followed by a big red 2. Through 16 holes at the year's final major, he was 2 under par.

Pardon the scoreboard operator — and everyone else at Southern Hills, for that matter — if Lardon's name wasn't familiar. After his birdie at the 16th, an alert went out to fans carrying new handheld electronic scoreboards explaining that Lardon had qualified for the PGA through a tournament for club professionals and was using a local caddie.

Just don't expect Lardon to be pleased by one good round.

"I like to put some pressure on myself to play well," Lardon said Thursday after finishing at even par 70. "I'm ecstatic to be at the PGA, but that wasn't the goal. This was about playing well at the PGA, and that's what I'm trying to do."

Recovery of the day

Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, finished 1 under par after Round 1 after being as high as 3 over par. He started on the back and got to 1 under through six holes (No. 15), before four bogeys in a row at Nos. 17, 18, 1 and 2 took him to 3 over. Four birdies in his six last holes (Nos. 4-9) took him back to 1 under.

Hole of the day

The 200-yard par-3 No. 6 wasn't the most difficult statistically in the opening round, but it played that way for U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina.

He made 10, hitting two balls out of bounds and one in the water. He stood on the sixth tee even par, but left the green 7-over par, en route to an 81.

It was the highest score of the day on the hole, and might have assured Cabrera that he won't be around after the cut Friday.

"A bad shot; I make 10," Cabrera said.

The hole ranked seventh in difficulty with a stroke average of 3.338. Ten players made birdie and 99 made par.

Stat of the day

2: Of the world's top 10 players, only Geoff Ogilvy (69) and Padraig Harrington (69) broke par.

Weather report

Stay hydrated: The National Weather Service said the temperature reached 101 degrees at midafternoon, but throw in humidity near 50% and the heat index hit 108. For some, it felt like triple digits must earlier. Pat Perez was in the morning group and shot 70, then said he was never thinking about birdies and bogeys: "I'm just trying to stay alive out there. It's so hot I can't even think straight. I try not to think about anything. Just stay cool and drink water and just kind of get around."

John Daly says: "I grew up around this area. I'm used to the little valleys where you don't get any air and there's a lot of humidity and it's tough to breathe. I light up a cigarette and drink some caffeine and it actually works. It does bother me but I'm used to it, let's put it that way."

Weekend forecast

Friday: Sunny, high of 102 (10% chance of rain).

Saturday: Sunny, high of 102 (10%).

Sunday: Sunny, high of 104 (20%).


Contributing: Wire reports

E-mail | Print |