Tiger gets his kicks en route to 66
By Blaine Newnham
The Seattle Times
(KRT)
REDMOND, Wash. - A Tiger who kept his driver in his golf bag
has replaced the cougar as the most stalked species east of Lake
Sammamish.
Tiger Woods, who had an afternoon tee time today, held the
lead in the 80th PGA Championship after breaking Jack Nicklaus'
course record at Sahalee Country Club with a 4-under-par 66 in
the first round yesterday.
Woods took only 27 putts in a seven-birdie, three-bogey round
that broke the mark of 67 Nicklaus shot in a 1984 exhibition match
that included Arnold Palmer.
Woods started today with a two-stroke lead over eight golfers
bunched at 68 - Bob Estes, Glen Day, Frank Lickliter, Paul Azinger,
Bill Glasson, Shigeki Maruyama, Billy Andrade and Scott Gump.
Eleven golfers, including Masters and British Open champion
Mark O'Meara, shot 69s. Twenty-five players were at 70, including
defending champion Davis Love III.
Some skeptics had predicted Woods would struggle at Sahalee
because the tight course doesn't fit his power game, but he said
his length off the tee remains an edge.
"I think my length is definitely a huge advantage on this
golf course because I'm able to hit 2-irons and 3-woods where
guys are sometimes having to hit driver," he said. "I'm
able to carry the ball out there and land it softer because I
don't have a club that's real hot, like a driver, landing on the
ground and running into the rough."
Woods began with a tee shot into the rough and was 1 under
after nine holes. He played the back nine in 3-under 32, sinking
an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th and a 35-foot birdie
putt on the par-4 17th. He played Sahalee's four par-3s in 3 under
par.
Tournament officials said more than 28,000 fans were at Sahalee
yesterday.
O'Meara is bidding to become the first golfer since Ben Hogan
in 1953 to win three majors in the same year.
"I'm very pleased with my position," O'Meara said
after his 69. "I have nothing to lose. I'm kind of in the
driver's seat. I've had a great year. To come out and win two
majors is great. I hope I can use the experience I gained there
and carry it over to this championship. But there's quite a bit
of golf left for me and the other players on the leader board."
The winner of this year's other major, U.S. Open champion Lee
Janzen, shot a 6-over 76. David Duval and Payne Stewart also had
76s.
Among fan favorites, Fred Couples three-putted the final green
from 25 feet to finish with a double-bogey 6 and a 74, and Australian
Stuart Appleby, whose wife, Renay, was killed in an auto accident
three weeks ago in London, shot 77.
"I certainly felt her presence, but trying to deal with
her not being here physically is tough," Appleby said. "It
would be nice to look up (in the gallery) and see her, but I have
to get used to doing things without her."
Woodinville resident Al Geiberger, the oldest player in the
field at age 60, shot an 81. His son Brent shot a 73. They are
the first father-son duo to play in the tournament.
Scott Williams, the assistant pro at Glendale Country Club
in Bellevue, shot a 78. Playing in one of the four major men's
golf tournaments only one mile from his home, Williams had tears
in his eyes on the first tee.
"My eyes welled up a little bit," he said. "You
can't prepare yourself for that. It was great. I'm kind of an
emotional guy. I'm not ashamed of that."
On a sunny day when Sahalee looked in national-park splendor,
golfers who teed off in the morning generally scored better than
those in the afternoon. The scoring average for the first half
of the field was 72.4. The second half averaged 73.3 as temperatures
soared into the 80s, firming the already slick greens and hardening
the fairways, through which balls skipped into the thick rough.
Woods will attempt to become only the 10th first-round leader
in 41 PGA stroke-play championships to win the tournament.
Recent history favors someone who hasn't won a major. The PGA
was the first major title for nine of the past 10 champions. The
exception is Nick Price, who won in 1992 and 1994.
The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties after today.
(c) 1998, The Seattle Times.
Visit The Seattle Times Extra on the World Wide Web at http://www.seatimes.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
|
