How golf’s biggest names fared against Kiawah’s Ocean Course in PGA first round
If Thursday is an indicator, the 103rd PGA Championship will feature more ups and downs than delegates at a yo-yo convention.
Players in the field of 156 could be up one minute and down the next. Or, down and then up.
Look no further that Brooks Koepka, a two-time PGA champion who is experiencing knee problems so severe he had difficulty bending to read his putts.
He stared the first round on the Ocean’s Course 10th hole, which played downwind Thursday. He made an ugly 6 and said afterward, “I deserved every bit of that (double bogey).
By round’s end, he signed for a 3-under-par 69 and shared the lead Thursday afternoon with Keegan Bradley, Viktor Howland and Aaron Wise. Later, Corey Conners shot 5-under par in the afternoon and was all alone in first place..
Koepka rallied from his rough start. His playing companions, tourney favorites Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, did not. Both staggered home with 3-over-par 75s
In fact, that trio played their first hole, the 10th, like a weekend threesome — double-bogey (Koepka), bogey (McIlroy after driving into the penalty area) and par (Thomas, one-putt par).
McIlroy responded with two birdies, then played the final 15 holes in 4-over par. Thomas dropped four shots in three holes — bogey, double, bogey _ and neither capitalized on the four more scoreable downwind holes to finish their rounds.
Add Bryson DeChambeau to those who went on a roller-coaster ride of ups and down.
Starting on the back nine, he collected two early birdies despite wayward tee shots, then bogeyed four in a row. Undeterred, he racked up three birdies along with one bogey on his final eight holes to finish at even-par 72.
“Three-putted 13, then 14 kind of came about from just not making a good first shot,” DeChambeau said. “Fifteen, hit two good shots, just misaligned the drive on 15, hit it too far left, didn’t get it up and down. Sixteen, misjudged the wind on the first shot, and there you go.
“It’s a quick four bogeys and off and running after a good start.”
But he came back to salvage his round and finished within shouting distance of the lead.
“For the most part, I stuck my head up high and kept it high and was able to finish strong on the front nine. Played really well,” he said. “Mentally, you have to show a lot of resolve out there.”
And there’s Dustin Johnson, ranked No. 1 in the world. He started with a bogey. Down. He followed with a birdie. Up. A couple of holes later, double-bogey for 2-over after four holes. Down.
Indeed, the Ocean Course does play mind games with the players. On days like Thursday, holes 1-4 and 14-18 played into the 15-20 mph wind and Nos. 6-13 played downwind.
“When (the wind) is at your back, you don’t mind as much when it’s howling,” said Cameron Tringale, an early starter who posted a 2-under 70. “So, I didn’t really notice until we turned there on 14, and we’re hitting into the wind. Those last five (into the wind) are pretty tough.”
Keeping in the moment matters, Tringale said.
“I was trying to just keep making birdies when we were downwind, knowing it would be tough coming in,” he said. “But I didn’t start preparing myself until I got to that hole. It’s kind of in the back of your mind, but I did my best to try and focus on one hole at a time. I think everyone going out there knows that par is going to be a good score with the wind that we’ve had in the practice rounds.”
A key ingredient, the players agreed, is patience.
“We know we’re in for a tough week,” Tringale said. “Even getting up and down when you’ve short-sided yourself or you’re in a difficult spot and making par when it looks like you’re probably going to make bogey. Those are big moments where you can kind of build a bit of momentum from that. So it’s going to be tough week. It’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint.”
DeChambeau’s round illustrated that point.
“You barely miss it in the rough, and you’ve got no chance to get it onto the green,” he said. “Some holes, where you just hit a bad shot, and it kind of comes off the slope with the rest of the hole. It’s all up in the air right now, and whoever stays the most patient out there is going to do really well.”
Leaderboard: PGA Championship scores
PGA Championship leaders through Thursday:
- Corey Conners was 5-under par and in the lead through Round 1.
- Multiple golfers were tied for the second at 3-under-par, including Keegan Bradley, Viktor Howland, Brooks Koepka Sam Horsfield, Cam Davis and Aaron Wise.
- Defending PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa shot a 2-under-par 70.
- RBC Heritage winner Stewart Cink shot a 1-under 71
- Bryson DeChambeau shot even par on the day.
- Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas each shot a 3-over 75. Dustin Johnson had a 4-over par 76.
Friday viewing schedule: PGA TV coverage, where to stream
There will be television coverage on either ESPN, ESPN+ online or CBS from the first tee shot Thursday through the last putt on Sunday.
ESPN+ has live coverage of the opening two rounds from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, leading into on-TV ESPN coverage from 1-7 p.m. — longer if play goes later.
CBS will air additional coverage on CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports HQ and CBSSports.com.
Kiawah Island Golf Resort Ocean Course map
PGA highlights Round 1
PGA tee times Round 2
Starting on 10th hole
7:05 a.m. — Frank Bensel Jr., United States; Robert Streb, United States; Kurt Kitayama, United States.
7:16 a.m — Alex Beach, United States; Daniel van Tonder, South Africa; Wyndham Clark, United States.
7:27 a.m. — Abraham Ancer, Mexico, Max Homa, United States; Sam Burns, United States.
7:38 a.m. — Tony Finau, United States; Matt Fitzpatrick, England; Corey Conners, Canada.
7:49 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, United States; Jason Day, Australia; Padraig Harrington, Ireland.
8 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, England; Jon Rahm, Spain; Patrick Reed, United States.
8:11 a.m. — Gary Woodland, United States; Justin Rose, England; Cameron Smith, Australia.
8:22 a.m. — Steve Stricker, United States; Billy Horschel, Unied States; Daniel Berger, United States.
8:33 a.m. — Webb Simpson, United States; Will Zalatoris, United States; Jordan Spieth, United States.
8:44 a.m — Dustin Johnson, United States; Shane Lowry, United States; Sergio Garcia, Spain.
8:55 a.m. — Thomas Pieters, Belgium; Patrick Cantlay, United States; Matt Kuchar, United States.
9:06 a.m. — Chris Kirk, United States; Pete Ballo, United States; Cameron Davis, Australia.
9:17 a.m. — Dean Burmester, South Africa; Greg Koch, United States; K.H. Lee, South Korea.
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12:25 p.m. — Patrick Rada, United States; Adam Long, United States; Cameron Tringale, United States.
12:36 p.m. — Dylan Frittelli, South Africa; Larkin Gross, United States; Matt Jones, Australia.
12:47 p.m. — Byeong Hun An, South Korea; Derek Holmes, United States; George Coetzee, South Africa.
12:58 p.m. — Bernd Wiesberger, Austria; Tom Hoge, United States; Joel Dahmen, United States.
1:09 p.m. — John Daly, United States; Jimmy Walker, United States; Jason Dufner, United States.
1:20 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, United States; Martin Laird, Scotland; Hudson Swafford, United States.
1:31 p.m. — Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Danny Willett, England; Bubba Watson, United States.
1:42 p.m. — Keegan Bradley, United States; Martin Kaymer, Germany; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa.
1:53 p.m. — Harris English, United States; Stewart Cink, United States; Alex Noren, Sweden.
2:04 p.m. — Kevin Na, United States; Tom Lewis, England; Jason Kokrak, United States.
2:15 p.m. — Jason Scrivener, Australia; Stuart Smith, United States; Emiliano Grillo, Argentina.
2:26 p.m. — Brad Marek, United States; Peter Malnati, United States; Lanto Griffin, United States.
2:37 p.m. — Mark Geddes, England; Denny McCarthy, United States; Rikuya Hoshino, Japan.
Starting on first hole
7 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, South Korea; Danny Balin, United States; Jim Herman, United States.
7:11 a.m. — Sami Valimaki, Finland; Joe Summerhays, United States; Richy Werenski, United States.
7:22 a.m. — Sebastian Munoz, Colombia; Tim Pearce, United States; Sam Horsfield, England.
7:33 a.m — Y.E. Yang, South Korea; Shaun Micheel, United States; Rich Beem, United States.
7:44 a.m. — Joaquin Niemann, Chile; J.T. Poston, United States; Aaron Rai, England.
7:55 a.m. — Branden Grace, South Africa; Adam Hadwin, Canada; Rasmus Hojgaard, Denmark.
8:06 a.m. — Russell Henley, United States; Jazz Janewattananond, Thailand; Carlos Ortiz, Mexico.
8:17 a.m. — Andy Sullivan, England; Christiaan Bezuidenhuit, South Africa; Kevin Streelman, United States.
8:28 a.m. — Ian Poulter, England; Brian Harman, United States; Sungjae Im, South Korea.
8:39 a.m. — Antoine Rozner, France; Chez Reavie, United States; Brandon Stone, South Africa.
8:50 a.m. — Victor Perez, France; Omar Uresti, United States; Maverick McNealy, United States.
9:01 a.m. — Tyler Collet, United States; Brendon Todd, United States; Lucas Herbert, Australia.
9:12 a.m. — Ben Cook, United States; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada; Takumi Kanaya, Japan.
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12:30 p.m. — Ben Polland, United States; Talor Gooch, United States; Harry Higgs, United States.
12:41 p.m. — Rob Labritz, United States; Brendan Steele, United States; Harold Varner III, United States.
12:52 p.m. — Paul Casey, England; Garrick Higgo, South Africa; Marc Leishman, Australia.
1:03 p.m. — Rickie Fowler, United States; Adam Scott, Australia; Tyrrell Hatton, England.
1:14 p.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Scotland; Cameron Champ, United States; John Catlin, United States.
1:25 p.m. — Zach Johnson, United States; Francesco Molinari, Italy; Scottie Scheffler, United States.
1:36 p.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Ryan Palmer, United States; Thomas Detry, Belgium.
1:47 p.m. — Lee Westwood, England; Viktor Hovland, Norway; Xander Schauffele, United States.
1:58 p.m. — Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Justin Thomas, United States; Brooks Koepka, United States.
2:09 p.m. — Colin Morikawa, United States; Bryson DeChambeau, United States; Hideki Matsuyama, Japan.
2:20 p.m. — Charley Hoffman, United States; Matt Wallace, England; Erik van Rooyen, South Africa.
2:31 p.m. — Chan Kim, United States; Brett Walker, United States; Brian Gay, United States.
2:42 p.m. — Aaron Wise, United States; Sonny Skinner, United States; Kalle Samooja, Finland.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 4:50 PM.