ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kansas-bred Gary Woodland felt right at home in enemy territory and delivered his best performance in a major Thursday at the PGA Championship.
Woodland used his power to birdie the two par 5s on the soft turf of Bellerive, and he relied on a new grip and new confidence in his putter for everything else on his way to a 6-under 64 for a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler in the opening round of the year’s final major.
Woodland recognized close to 100 friends and family among thousands in a gallery that withstood the sweltering weather, and his only fault was trying too hard. He made a careless bogey on the opening hole, had to make a 15-foot par putt at No. 5. And then he settled down and was on his way.
“This week is as close to home as I’ve been,” Woodland said. “I snuck over here about a month ago and played the golf course. Really enjoyed the layout. The turf is very familiar to me. It’s so hot here during the summer, so the greens are soft and slow. You can be more aggressive, which suits my game.”
Fowler played in the morning, when the greens were slight smoother, and made five birdies over his last 11 holes for a 65. It was an important start for Fowler, who turns 30 this year and already is regarded as among the best without a major.
The closest he has come to such a trophy is celebrating those won by his friends.
“It’s not something I necessarily worry about,” Fowler said. “Keep putting ourselves in position, get in contention … we have had plenty of runner-ups. Jack (Nicklaus) had a lot of runner-ups. We’ll just keep beating down that door.”
Bellerive allowed for low scoring, provided the ball stayed in the short grass. Woodland had an 18-foot birdie attempt on the 18th hole that would have tied the PGA Championship record, and it stopped just short. It was one of the few he missed.
Two-time major champion Zach Johnson and Brandon Stone of South Africa were at 66.
Dustin Johnson reached 5 under until a few wild drives on the back nine cost him. The world’s No. 1 player had to settle for a 67, along with Jason Day, Justin Rose and eight other players.
It was more of a struggle for Tiger Woods, drenched in so much sweat that he changed shirts after 12 shots — that was only two holes and a tee shot. He had to make an 8-foot putt to escape with bogey on No. 10, and then dumped a wedge into the water for double bogey on No. 11. Woods was 3 over through seven holes, and then clawed his way back to even par for a 70.
“A lot of things could happen. Not a lot them were positive,” Woods said. “But I hung in there and turned it around.”
Defending champion Justin Thomas let a good start slip away. He didn’t make a putt outside a few feet over the last 12 holes and shot 69. Jordan Spieth, in his second crack at the career Grand Slam, opened with a double bogey and finished two bad swings off the tee that sent him to a 71.
The secret was simple: Avoid the rough.
Woodland, who played college basketball for one year at Washburn as a freshman before switching to golf at Kansas, is among the most powerful, athletic figures in golf. He had 145 yards to the front on No. 5 and couldn’t get it to the green.
“Pretty nasty,” he said.
That’s how it was for Woods at the start, when his opening tee shot found the rough and he could only pitch it back to the fairway with a creek at bottom of the hill. That’s why Fowler thrived. He missed only three fairways and putted for birdie on all but two holes.
Fowler’s biggest change was the wardrobe, switching to a yellow shirt for Thursday in memory of Jarrod Lyle, the Australian golfer who died Wednesday. On the course, he looked like he was ready to give this major business — he had his third runner-up finish in a major at the Masters this year — another try.
For Woodland, success in the big events has been hard to find. He still hasn’t registered a top 10, and he hasn’t contended in any tournament since winning the Phoenix Open more than six months ago.
The frustration was in the short game, and Woodland finally had enough at the British Open. He sought out putting specialist Phil Kenyon, who worked with him at Carnoustie, and a little more at Akron, trying not to overload Woodland with too much information.
Then, he switched to an oversized putting grip on Tuesday, and it all came together.
His longest putt was from 45 feet down the hill at No. 11, followed by a 25-footer on the next hole. He finished off his round with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th, and then a pitch-and-run to tap-in range after reaching the front of the green in two on the 591-yard 17th.
“It’s nice just to see the results,” Woodland said. “You work so hard and you want to see results to back up the work that you’ve done and today was just a step in the right direction.”

 

PGA tee times
PGA Championship Tee Times
At Bellerive Country Club
St. Louis
Purse: TBA ($10.5 million in 2017)
Yardage: 7,316; Par: 70
First Round
Gary Woodland 34-30 — 64
Rickie Fowler 31-34 — 65
Brandon Stone 33-33 — 66
Zach Johnson 33-33 — 66
Austin Cook 34-33 — 67
Ian Poulter 34-33 — 67
Pat Perez 34-33 — 67
Jason Day 33-34 — 67
Brian Gay 35-32 — 67
Stewart Cink 35-32 — 67
Ollie Schniederjans 34-33 — 67
Dustin Johnson 33-34 — 67
Kevin Kisner 33-34 — 67
Justin Rose 33-34 — 67
Thomas Pieters 34-33 — 67
Ryan Fox 33-35 — 68
Billy Horschel 33-35 — 68
Hideki Matsuyama 34-34 — 68
Yuta Ikeda 34-34 — 68
Webb Simpson 35-33 — 68
Branden Grace 35-33 — 68
Ross Fisher 34-34 — 68
Mikko Korhonen 33-35 — 68
Kyle Stanley 35-33 — 68
Marc Leishman 33-35 — 68
Francesco Molinari 37-31 — 68
Patrick Cantlay 34-34 — 68
Jon Rahm 35-33 — 68
Jason Kokrak 35-33 — 68
Joaquin Niemann 33-35 — 68
Chris Kirk 34-34 — 68
Andrew Putnam 33-35 — 68
Jim Furyk 35-34 — 69
Shane Lowry 34-35 — 69
Jimmy Walker 36-33 — 69
Keegan Bradley 35-34 — 69
Shubhankar Sharma 35-34 — 69
Ryan Armour 35-34 — 69
Justin Thomas 37-32 — 69
Ryan Moore 33-36 — 69
J.J. Spaun 34-35 — 69
Julian Suri 36-33 — 69
Kevin Chappell 34-35 — 69
Emiliano Grillo 35-34 — 69
Tommy Fleetwood 36-33 — 69
Brooks Koepka 37-32 — 69
Chris Stroud 34-35 — 69
Xander Schauffele 32-38 — 70
Rafa Cabrera Bello 33-37 — 70
Byeong Hun An 36-34 — 70
Rory McIlroy 35-35 — 70
Tiger Woods 33-37 — 70
Jhonattan Vegas 36-34 — 70
Chris Wood 35-35 — 70
Bubba Watson 33-37 — 70
Adam Scott 34-36 — 70
Sergio Garcia 35-35 — 70
Thorbjxrn Olesen 32-38 — 70
Charl Schwartzel 33-37 — 70
Kevin Na 34-36 — 70
Anirban Lahiri 36-34 — 70
Jamie Lovemark 34-37 — 71
HaoTong Li 33-38 — 71
Martin Kaymer 35-36 — 71
Adam Hadwin 35-36 — 71
Padraig Harrington 36-35 — 71
Vijay Singh 35-36 — 71
Bryson DeChambeau 35-36 — 71
Troy Merritt 34-37 — 71
Sungjae Im 37-34 — 71
Luke List 34-37 — 71
Matt Wallace 35-36 — 71
Alex Noren 36-35 — 71
Matt Kuchar 35-36 — 71
Satoshi Kodaira 38-33 — 71
Brice Garnett 36-35 — 71
Tyrrell Hatton 36-35 — 71
Jordan Spieth 36-35 — 71
Chez Reavie 35-36 — 71
Russell Knox 33-38 — 71
Kelly Kraft 37-34 — 71
Ben Kern 35-36 — 71
Eddie Pepperell 37-35 — 72
Shugo Imahira 34-38 — 72
Craig Hocknull 34-38 — 72
Alexander Bjvrk 36-36 — 72
Brandt Snedeker 37-35 — 72
Scott Brown 35-37 — 72
Kevin Streelman 36-36 — 72
Brian Harman 34-38 — 72
Matthew Fitzpatrick 37-35 — 72
Patton Kizzire 37-35 — 72
Danny Balin 36-36 — 72
Si Woo Kim 37-35 — 72
Patrick Reed 37-35 — 72
Jason Dufner 36-36 — 72
Charley Hoffman 37-35 — 72
Bill Haas 39-33 — 72
Justin Harding 37-35 — 72
James Hahn 36-37 — 73
Henrik Stenson 37-36 — 73
Danny Willett 35-38 — 73
Phil Mickelson 36-37 — 73
Peter Uihlein 38-35 — 73
Paul Dunne 35-38 — 73
J.B. Holmes 36-37 — 73
Dylan Frittelli 35-38 — 73
Beau Hossler 37-36 — 73
Ryan Vermeer 36-37 — 73
John Daly 37-36 — 73
Y.E. Yang 39-34 — 73
Shaun Micheel 35-38 — 73
Brendan Steele 37-36 — 73
Adrian Otaegui 39-34 — 73
Michael Kim 37-36 — 73
Daniel Berger 41-32 — 73
Mike Lorenzo-Vera 35-38 — 73
Andrew Landry 38-35 — 73
Ryuko Tokimatsu 35-38 — 73
Rich Berberian, Jr. 37-37 — 74
Sean McCarty 38-36 — 74
Tony Finau 34-40 — 74
Rich Beem 37-37 — 74
Jordan Smith 37-37 — 74
Scott Piercy 39-35 — 74
Cameron Smith 39-35 — 74
Charles Howell III 38-36 — 74
Jason Schmuhl 38-36 — 74
Russell Henley 36-38 — 74
Ted Potter, Jr. 38-36 — 74
Paul Broadhurst 35-39 — 74
Seungsu Han 37-37 — 74
Matthew Borchert 40-34 — 74
Michael Block 38-37 — 75
Davis Love III 37-38 — 75
Andy Sullivan 39-36 — 75
Kiradech Aphibarnrat 36-39 — 75
Craig Bowden 38-37 — 75
Chesson Hadley 38-37 — 75
Whee Kim 40-35 — 75
Nick Watney 35-40 — 75
Paul Casey 40-35 — 75
Omar Uresti 39-36 — 75
Yusaku Miyazato 38-38 — 76
Alexander Levy 41-35 — 76
Marty Jertson 37-39 — 76
Matt Dobyns 35-41 — 76
Jaysen Hansen 39-37 — 76
Aaron Wise 36-40 — 76
Zach J. Johnson 36-40 — 76
Shawn Warren 37-40 — 77
Johan Kok 40-38 — 78
Jorge Campillo 41-37 — 78
Brian Smock 42-37 — 79
Bob Sowards 39-41 — 80
David Muttitt 42-39 — 81