PGA Championship 2012 Leaderboard: Early Day 1 Analysis

The good news is that Rory McIlroy is playing very well early on.

The bad news is that you have to do some serious digging to find Tiger Woods' name on the leaderboard.

We're only a few holes into the PGA Championship action at Kiawah Island, but already we have a good indication of who's going to contend for the fourth and final major of the year and who could crumble once again under the pressure.

Here's a closer look at the progress of Rory, Tiger and some of the other favorites as the first round continues at the PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy

For once—finally—McIlroy's name is at the top of the leaderboard early on. McIlroy hasn't finished better than a tie for 40th in any of the 2012 majors, and he even missed the cut at the U.S. Open, but so far, so good at Kiawah.

Through nine, McIlroy is tied for second place at three-under, putting him one shot off Ken Duke's lead through 11. McIlroy birdied the 10th, 14th and 16th holes and is off to his best start in a major in a long, long time.

Though McIlroy has struggled during majors, his play in his last outing was an encouraging sign: In the Bridgestone Invitational, he finished in a  tie for fifth and shot a 68 or better in the final three rounds. It was his best finish since losing the Wells Fargo Championship in a playoff back in the beginning of May.

Not to get ahead of ourselves—but if McIlroy can build on his early momentum here, he could be in the running for his first major victory since the 2011 U.S. Open.

Tiger Woods

While McIlroy has embarked on a comeback, the odds-on favorite has been mediocre in the early going at Kiawah Island. For the fourth straight major, Tiger has been dubbed the favorite to win, and yet the best finish he's managed was a tie for third at the British Open.

Through seven at Kiawah, Tiger is even par, and his play has been just about as inconsistent as it gets. He birdied the 12th hole, then followed it up with two straight bogeys, then birdied the 15th.

Perhaps those bogeys were an aberration, and if that's the case, Tiger might be able to make magic happen here. But we all know that inconsistency has been his kryptonite in each of the 2012 majors, so this could also be an early sign of impending disaster.

Ken Duke

The cluster of American favorites stuck at one- or two-under—including Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson and Jason Dufner—is having trouble matching the efforts of Ken Duke.

And given the fact that many of the most recent major winners have come out of nowhere to steal the show, it's probably a good time to start talking about Duke.

Currently ranked 119th in the world and 39th in the FedExCup standings, Duke—at 43 years old—has six top-10 finishes and five cuts in 23 events this year. He hasn't registered a single PGA Tour victory, so getting his first at the PGA Championship would certainly be a statement.

But you know how these things go. The leaderboard is bound to undergo more than a few shuffles as the day—and the weekend—progress. Duke may not even be in the lead anymore by the time the TV coverage of this event begins.