Tiger Woods at PGA Championship 2013: Round 1 Performance Grades at Oak Hill

The pressure to win is always there any time Tiger Woods tees it up in a major. While that pressure can feel vise-like at times, Tiger often embraces it.

That's because he is the No. 1 player in the world. With that ranking come expectations. It's a fact of life for Woods in every tournament he enters, especially the majors.

Woods wanted to start the PGA Championship the way he ended the Bridgestone Classic—in first place. However, the opening round did not go according to form. After playing the opening nine fairly well, he lost momentum as he came home.

Still, it's early in the tournament, and Tiger still has a chance. He'll have to pick up the pace after a double bogey on the final hole and a one-over round, but he still has every chance to win his 15th major and his first since 2008.

Putting

Tiger Woods knows he is going to have to make his birdie putts if he is going to win his 15th major. He was two under through his first nine holes, and he seemed to be in good position to make a run as he finished the round.

After a par on the hole No. 1—they played the back nine first—Tiger attacked the second hole, and his second shot on the par four was four feet from the pin. Instead of draining that putt, Tiger hit it tentatively and pushed it to the right. He settled for a par, and his putting seemed to suffer from that point forward.

Woods took 27 putts during the round, and that's a good total. He made some tough par putts, but he missed most of his birdie opportunities.

Grade: C

Driving

Tiger did not take out his driver very often in the first round of the PGA Championship. He only used it once, but his 3-wood and 5-wood both served the purpose.

The round did not feature particularly impressive work off the tee for Woods. Few of his tee shots were struck crisply. He did not make the kind of solid contact that he is known for, and quite a few of his tee shots were hit "fat," meaning he hit the ground well before the ball.

That's not the way Tiger hit the ball at the Bridgestone Invitational or the British Open last month. Tiger has some work to do to get his tee shots to where he wants them to be.

Grade: C-

Iron Play

Tiger's iron play has been stellar throughout the year, and his accuracy with his irons is one of the primary reasons he has won five tournaments this year.

He may have been at his best in his win last week at Bridgestone, but he did not carry that part of his game with him in the first round at Oak Hill. He hit nine of 18 greens, as many of his iron shots were not struck crisply.

As he did with his tee shots, he hit many of his irons fat, and that caused him to lose distance and touch.

Grade: C

Course Management

The Oak Hill Country Club setup rewards players who hit the ball with length and accuracy. Tiger knew this and did a decent job of avoiding some of the long rough that punishes golfers who don't hit the ball accurately.

Woods found some trouble on the back nine. He was able to scramble successfully throughout most of the holes, but not on his last hole. He was in the rough on his second shot, and he attempted to hit a flop shot out of the mess, but he did not hit it well, and his ball ended up in the bunker.

He got out of the bunker and then missed a bogey putt. He understood the nuances of the course, but he was not able to stick to his game plan.

Grade: C

Mental Makeup

You may have noticed a rather dour expression on Tiger's face throughout the second half of his round. That was likely the result of his missed birdie putt on the second hole, a shot that reversed his momentum after a solid front nine.

Woods said he and his playing partners were put on the clock on the prior hole for slow play, and perhaps that changed his demeanor.

He was not able to get his game back on track after that. Normally, Woods can put a bad shot or a disappointment behind him, but that was not the case in the first round.

If he doesn't change his mental makeup in the next three rounds, he could have big problems if he is planning to contend for the title.

He was especially ticked off after closing his round with a double bogey.

"

Not sure what word best describes Tiger after gakking on his shirt on his 18th hole and making double. But it's either sulking or seething.

— Steve Elling (@EllingYelling) August 8, 2013"

Grade: D

Overall

Tiger's ball striking was not up to his normal standards in his opening round at Oak Hill.

He was under par throughout the round, but he gave it all back when he closed with a double bogey on the final hole.

He wasted an opportunity to finish under par at Oak Hill for the first time in his career. Still, despite the disappointment, he will have a shot to cut into Jim Furyk's lead in the second round.

Few golfers know how to put a poor round behind them like Tiger, and that means he should have an excellent frame of mind for the second round.

Grade: C