Thursday, August 16, 2001
Woods struggling, Duval sizzling
at PGA Championship
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — It was a day meant
for scoring low at the PGA Championship. Just about everyone took
advantage — except Tiger Woods.
British Open champ David Duval grabbed a
share of the lead Thursday while Woods struggled to a 3-over-par
73 in the opening round at Atlanta Athletic Club.
“I haven't felt this good about my
golf or as confident in my abilities in a long, long time,”
said Duval, tied with six others at 66.
Not so for Woods. He followed a 25th-place
showing at the British with another lackluster effort, including
a pair of double-bogeys.
“I didn't hit the ball very good today
and I didn't make that many putts,” Woods said. “I'm
not that far off. If I just eliminate my mistakes, I'm under par.”
The lead pack included Brad Faxon and David
Toms, both on the Ryder Cup bubble and needing strong showings
to make the U.S. team that will be announced Monday.
“I have a good record the last three
years, so who knows?” Toms said. “If I can build on
what happened today, I'll have a chance to make it.”
Now that Duval has the British victory on
his resume, Phil Mickelson holds the undisputed title of “best
player never to win a major.”
The left-hander got off to a good start
in the afternoon with an eagle at the par-5 fifth. He made the
turn at 4-under.
Fred Funk, Dudley Hard, Sweden's Niclas
Fasth and Australia's Stuart Appleby shot 66 to share the lead
among players in the clubhouse.
Like Mickelson, K.J. Choi of South Korea,
Grant Waite of New Zealand and Andrew Coltart of Scotland were
at 4-under with holes to play.
Duval opened with three straight birdies,
feeding off the momentum from his breakthrough victory last month
at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
“I knew I had it in me,” Duval
said. “I think that makes it easier going out there and playing
now, having done it.”
Ernie Els was poised to hold the lead until
he knocked his second shot in the water at the treacherous 18th
hole. He wound up with a double-bogey and a 67, brushing off reporters
on his way to the clubhouse.
Woods had a couple of double-bogeys and
finished with a three-putt bogey, leaving him seven strokes off
the lead.
“I just need to make a few more putts,
eliminate a couple of mistakes and I'll be right back in it,”
Woods said.
Most of the early starters took advantage
of a 7,213-yard layout softened by rain early in the week. Thick
clouds hovered over the Highlands Course in the morning, but the
afternoon starters played in sunny, muggy conditions.
Fifty-three-year-old Larry Nelson, a two-time
winner of the PGA Championship and now a member of Senior Tour,
was one of the biggest surprises with a 68. Another of the game's
elders, Tom Watson, had a 69.
By late afternoon, 71 players — nearly
half the field — were still at even-par or better.
Woods wasn't among them. Starting on the
back nine, the tone was set when he knocked his first shot in
a bunker, leading to a bogey.
It got worse.
At par-3 15th, Woods took a double-bogey
when he followed an errant tee shot by chipping over the green
and into the water.
After making the turn, he birdied No. 2
but lost more ground with a double-bogey 6 at the next hole. A
perfect drive was negated by a 9-iron pulled to the left.
Still, Woods wasn't all that discouraged
by his performance.
“If I play a good round tomorrow, I
should get right back in the tournament,” he said. “That's
the good thing about a major tournament. If you play well, you'll
be rewarded for it. I've just got to play well.”
Duval was brilliant with the irons —
he didn't have a birdie putt longer than 5 feet on the first three
holes. He also chipped in a shot to save par.
A shaky putter was the only thing that prevented
Duval from taking his score lower. Playing with Woods and U.S.
Open champion Retief Goosen, Duval missed a 10-foot birdie attempt
at No. 15 and wasted a great shot from the bunker at the 18th,
sliding a 5-footer past the right lip of the cup.
“I don't think you ever walk off the
golf course having thought you got everything out of your round,”
said Duval, who wore his wraparound sunglasses on the back of
his cap much of the round.
Nelson, of nearby Marietta, got as low as
4 under before bogeying two of the last four holes. Still, he
had no complaints.
Nelson won his first PGA Championship in
1981 at this same course. He became a two-time winner in 1987
at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., but hasn't finished higher than 28th
in the event since then.
“I birdied the first hole and in my
mind and went, 'Yeah, here we go,'” Nelson said. “The
only time I thought about 1981 was when I was on 18 walking around
the lake. I remembered how nice it was with a four-shot lead walking
around that lake.”
The marquee group featured the three major
winners this year: Woods, Duval and Goosen.
Woods won the Masters in April to complete
an unprecedented sweep of all four majors. Goosen broke the streak
in June, capturing the U.S. Open at Southern Hills in a playoff.
Duval won his first major at the British, perhaps signaling the
start of a true Arnie-vs.-Jack sort of rivalry with Woods.
Goosen got to 4-under, then had a disastrous
four-hole stretch that included two bogeys and a double-bogey.
He finished with a 69, just three shots off the lead.
Woods is trying to become the first player
to win the same major three consecutive years since Peter Thomson
in the British Open from 1954-56. Duval can become only the fourth
player to win the final two majors of the year.
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
