Whistling Straits Golf Course: Woods at -1, Mickelson Won't Finish Today

Whistling Straits, WI -- A three-hour fog delay was one of many surprises in the first round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Course.  What does it mean?  Half the field of 156 golfers will play until the mosquitoes bite at dusk.  Then get up early Friday and hope that fog is not a problem then.  The other interesting developments were better play by Tiger Woods and a resurgence by Charles Howell III.

Tiger Woods posted a one-under par 71 and said, “ To shoot something under par, that was the goal today.” 

He had better speed on the greens than in recent showings. “ I was leaving the putts just a little bit short,” he added.

Woods will have a long rest before teeing off for his second round which will likely come in the middle of the afternoon on Friday.

Howell was at -3 and said, “ I had never gotten up at 5:30 for a 12 o’clock tee time before. Had breakfast three times.”  You would never know it to look at him.  

Highlights on Thursday included Matt Kuchar’s hole out at the 13^th, which put him at -3.  But Kuchar will not finish his first round today.  Nor will fan favorite Phil Mickelson.

Topping the leaderboard were Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari, both at -4.

For those looking to find a new personality, someone with a different way of looking at life, Watson may be your guy.  He has a self taught swing. No swing coach. He has a lime green Lamborghini when he graduated from college, even though he only kept it for about three months. He likes bright colors.  His 4-wood has a lime green shaft and his driver has pink, and he only gets mad about bad golf.

During the fog delay Bubba Watson said he, “played two more video games on my phone. Threw stuff at Rickie Fowler for a while, while he was trying to sleep.”  

At the Watson’s rented house, he and Fowler have been taking advantage of the kids’ toys. So far they have thrown the football, played catch with a baseball, cruised around the neighborhood on Razors. They road bikes and went for ice cream.  It’s what you might do if you were still 10 or 11.

Watson, though, had problems with his on course demeanor last season.

“For some reason pro athletes think they’re really at a sport.  I have all the confidence in the world, but inside the ropes, I let everything bother me,” he explained. “There’s nothing outside the ropes that bothers me.” 

His attitude got so bad last year that his good friend and caddie Ted Scott told Watson he would quit as caddie if Watson’s on course attitude did not improve.

Watson admitted he was getting upset with fans, cameras, everything was affecting him, but he was able to turn it around after Scott gave him the ultimatum.

“When one of your best friends tells you that you’re going at life all wrong, it’s obvious you’re doing something wrong,” Watson added.

As of now he has turned the corner. The on course anger that haunted him, he has let it go.

Italian Francesco Molinari hit 16 of 18 fairways on his way to a four-under par round. He had not seen the golf course before Tuesday. 

“It seems the same like courses in Europe, but obviously, it’s playing softer than what European courses are usually,” he said, adding that he liked the course.

Molinari agreed with US Open champion Graeme McDowell’s and Padraig Harrington’s theory that having golfers you know win a major gives you confidence you can win one.

“We play a lot of golf together back in Europe,” he said about McDowell,” so if  you see those guys winning majors, you know that you can do it.”

The Thursday delay will likely push the 36-hole cut to sometime Saturday morning, assuming nothing else occurs.

Question of the day: “ Is this a Pete Dye golf course?” – Bubba Watson