Tiger Woods at PGA Championship 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Reaction
Tiger Woods failed to take advantage of early birdie chances before his play took a turn for the worse during Thursday's first round of the 2015 PGA Championship. The end result was a three-over 75, leaving him in a tie for 94th place as he walked off the course.
His status could have been far more promising if he drained some putts during the first handful of holes. The putter that won him so many tournaments in the past is no longer nearly as reliable, however, and it cost him an opportunity to build confidence at the outset.
Let's check out how his journey around Whistling Straits played out in Round 1 and take a look at the current leaderboard. It's followed by a recap of Woods' first day at the season's final major.
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Round 1 Scorecard
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 |
| Score | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 37 |
| Overall | E | E | E | E | +1 | +1 | E | E | +1 | - |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 |
| Score | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 38 |
| Overall | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | - |
Tournament Leaderboard
Day 1 Recap
Woods entered the tournament with uncertain expectations. He was coming off a strong start at the Quicken Loans National, where he finished 18th after three rounds of 68 or better. However, his performance in majors has been poor recently, with three missed cuts in his past four starts.
As he's struggled to rediscover top form over the past few years, he's watched the next wave of superstars, led by Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, take over the spotlight. He talked about witnessing their rise while he's still trying to compete for titles, as noted by Steve DiMeglio of USA Today:
"This is the next generation. I'm kind of caught right in between. This is the generation that grew up watching me play and win tournaments, and the guys that I used to play practice rounds are all gone. They're all on the senior tour. I'm not even that old yet. ... You see all these new fresh faces, and you look down the range, you don't recognize a lot of the guys. But I go watch a Champions Tour event, I know every guy.
"
Now the question is whether he'll ever get back to a level where he can compete with those rising stars on Sunday afternoon at a major. It would be great for golf, but he still has plenty of work to do.
The latest example of that came Thursday as he played merely average golf throughout the opening round. Every flash of vintage Woods—the occasional club twirl or brilliant up-and-down par to save a stroke—is still getting offset too frequently by wasted opportunities.
He hit for par on his first hole, No. 10, something that's become far too uncommon this season, as Justin Ray of Golf Channel explained:
Alas, as the current story of Woods frequently goes, one piece of his game simply couldn't keep up with the rest as he traveled the back nine. Thursday, it was the putter—driver accuracy issues now being a constant—letting him down despite some nice approach shots.
He was one over par through the first six holes (bogey on No. 14) in large part because he failed to capitalize on chances on the greens. Dan Jenkins of Golf Digest joked about the struggles:
Woods got back to even par with a birdie on the par-five 16th. It's another area of his game that's faded in recent years. He used to dominate the competition on the longer holes to pick up a lot of easy strokes, but missing the fairway so often has eliminated that advantage.
Then on No. 17, Woods showcased one of the aforementioned glimpses of the shot-making that made him so good in his prime, as PGA.com highlighted:
Any positive vibes from the sand save didn't last long. He bogeyed three of the next five holes to begin sliding down the leaderboard in rapid fashion. After one of those dropped shots on the third, Chris Fallica of ESPN passed along a sobering stat:
He picked up his second birdie of the day on the fifth, but he proceeded to give the shot right back with another bogey before finishing his round with three straight pars.
It continued his stretch of poor play out of the gate in majors, which Jason Sobel of ESPN.com spotlighted:
That's not the only troubling trend, per Ray:
All told, Woods had an opportunity early on to make a surge toward the top of the leaderboard. The putts wouldn't fall, and things started to get away from him in the middle of the round. Now, he'll be stuck simply trying to make the cut in the second round once again.
The talent is still there, and he's been able to avoid the injury issues that plagued him throughout the 2014 campaign. Finding the consistency that's necessary to win trophies, especially the four most coveted in the sport, is an ongoing battle, though.
Woods will tee off with playing partners Martin Kaymer and Keegan Bradley at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday for Round 2.
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