PGA Championship Round 1 Wrap Up

Well well well, look who is leading after day one. Yup you guessed it Tiger. When you combine hitting all but 1 fairway solid iron play and great putting, you get a bogey free 67 and a one shot lead over Paddy Harrington. Vijay Singh also showed some of what a lot of people thought he would do all year with a solid round of 69. Allenby is also in the group at -3 and there are plenty of them. David Toms also showed he can still play oh and by the way the dude can putt. Sergio Garcia leads another group at -1 and a solid day 1. But lets get back to the guy that has won the last 2 events and looked like the Tiger we are used to.......flat out clinical, and if he continues to play like this the rest of the week he will be hard to catch. Impossible? NO, Paddy is plenty capable of going toe to toe with him and could get a 2nd Sunday battle with Woods in as many weeks. How about world #2 Phil Mickelson? Well his putting almost looked like the typical Saturday golfer with 3 putts and a missed 2 footer. Phil was clearly rusty but that doesn't mean he cant get a spark on day 2 and put himself right back in it. At +1 he knows he has to be aggressive and a round of -3 to -5 will put him in contention for the weekend. One thing is certain he will not putt that poorly twice and I fully expect him to be in contention over the weekend. How low will scoring be tomorrow....we can't really tell due to potential bad weather and the drastic change in morning and afternoon conditions. With the poana greens they get bumpier and firmer which means tough approach shots on the long Hazitline especially if the fairways are wet limiting roll in the fairways. Some key things to look at tomorrow...does Phil get in a grove on the front nine and if so look out for lefty over the weekend; also can Tiger put on another clinic tomorrow especially with the putter and if he does not many could compete with him; Finally can someone post a number to put them ahead or within a couple of Woods for the final group? So if we want to think scenarios picture this on Sunday: a battle for the title between Tiger, Phil, and Vijay and well Paddy looking for his 2nd PGA title in a row. One thing is a fact: whatever happens the crowds which were astronomical will be even larger and well louder. -Kyle