Koepka to the fore as Tiger stalks
BROOKS KOEPKA made an ominous start to his bid for an historic third straight victory in the US PGA Championship as Tiger Woods kept himself firmly in the frame on a top-class leaderboard in San Francisco.
Koepka carded an opening four-under-par 66 at Harding Park to lie a shot off the early clubhouse lead held by former world number one Jason Day, the Australian carding birdies in a flawless 65.
Former Ryder Cup teammates Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer were alongside Koepka on four under, with Open champion Shane Lowry two strokes further back following a 68 matched by Woods.
The 15-time major winner was two under par after four holes, fell back to level par and then made three birdies in four holes before making a bogey on his penultimate hole at a venue where he won a WGC event in five 2005 and compiled a 5-0 record in the 2009 Presidents Cup.
“I mean, it’s only 18 holes right now,” Koepka said. “I feel good. I feel confident. I’m excited for the next three days.
“I think I can definitely play a lot better, and just need to tidy a few things up, and we’ll be there come Sunday on the back nine.”
Woods, who is using a slightly longer putter this week to ease the strain on his troublesome back, said: “I figured we were going to get the more favourable conditions today, [but] some of these pins were on the difficult side.
“This course is all about hitting fairways, if you are able to hit the fairways you can get after some of those pins.”
Meanwhile. Cormac Sharvin was the surprise leader after he carded an eight-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead at the English Championship in Hertfordshire. The 27-year-old Northern Irishman carded 10 birdies and two bogeys to nudge ahead of six players in a tie for second at seven under.
GOLF