Bloemfontein – England’s Lee Westwood shares the clubhouse lead following the first round of the 96th PGA Championship, being played at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Westwood fired a 6 under par 65 share the top of the leaderboard alongside the American duo, Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer.
The 41-year-old Westwood, credited a tougher exercise regimen with helping him cope with the sweltering heat and humidity settling over Valhalla Golf Club.
Westwood said he gave himself a lot of chances despite a bit of bad luck during the round.
“I played well, I had a bit of bad luck out there with couple of divots that I finished in, but I rolled in a couple of putts I normally wouldn’t expect to make,” said Westwood.
“I gave myself a lot of chances, I hit a lot of fairways and I thought the flags were tucked with the PGA maybe wary of low scoring, but if you were in the fairway you could attack them,” said the Englishman.
Meanwhile, world number one, Rory McIlroy goes into today’s second round of years’ fourth and final with a lot of confidence.
The British Open champion overcame a wild double bogey on the par-five 10th hole by shooting four straight birdies to help him settle for an opening round of five under par 66.
The Northern Irishman who is attempting to become only the seventh player to win the last two majors of the year said the course in Louisville offers a lot of birdies.
“I think of the big things for me, especially in major championships is getting off to good starts and being right up there right at the start and I’ve been able to do that today,” said the worlds’ leading golfer.
“Hopefully I can continue to be up there for the rest of the tournament, but you see guys out there shooting five and six under par, so you know there are scores out there,” he added.
“There are opportunities, you’ve got the par fives, you’ve got a few shorter par fours and it’s still receptive, so there are definitely still birdies out there to be had,”
Ernie Els are Louis Oosthuizen, are the leading South Africans in the field. The Big Easy and Oosthuizen fired a round of one under par 70.
Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Richard Sterne and Tim Clark are the leading South Africans in the field. The Big Easy and Co. all fired rounds of one under par 70 to be tied in 35th.
Charl Schwartzel is one shot further back on one over par 72, while 14-time major winner, is on three over par 74.
