Jimmy dandy at Baltusrol
Walker breaks out of doldrums to lead PGA after first round
SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — A drab year for Jimmy Walker took a turn for the worse two weeks ago at the British Open, when he stayed in what was dubbed the ‘‘frat house’’ at Royal Troon with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson.
Walker was the only one of the group to miss the cut.
He still stayed the weekend. He just stayed away from the golf course and his clubs.
How does one kill time a small Scottish town?
‘‘When the first guy comes back and he’s ready for a cocktail, you have one,’’ Walker said.
In the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday at Baltusrol, the drinks were on Walker.
Walker matched his career-low score in a major with a 5-under-par 65 and wound up leading a major for the first time in his career. He had a one-shot lead over two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, Emiliano Grillo and Ross Fisher.
And for Henrik Stenson, a great year might get even better. Coming off his record performance at the British Open, he had three birdies on the back nine as the sweltering heat gave way to dark clouds and 20 mph gusts. That gave him a 3-under 67, leaving him two shots behind. He is trying to join Ben Hogan (1953) as the only players to win back-to-back majors at age 40.
‘‘It’s going to be a great season for me,’’ Stenson said. ‘‘At the same time, I want to give myself a chance to try to make it the best season.’’
It wasn’t the best of times for Dustin Johnson or Rory McIlroy.
Johnson, the U.S. Open champion with a chance to go to No. 1 in the world, was in the trees, in the water and couldn’t get out of a bunker. He managed only one birdie in a round of 7-over 77 that wasn’t enough to beat 15 of the club pros in the field.
He wasn’t alone in his misery. McIlroy took 35 putts and didn’t make a single birdie in his round of 4-over 74 that left him so frustrated that he returned to the course late in the day with only his putter.
Walker’s season has been so mediocre that he has finished within five shots of the winner only once. He is on the verge of falling out of the top 50 in the world ranking and hasn’t given much thought to the Ryder Cup with qualifying a month away from ending.
‘‘I feel like all year it’s just been real stale and stagnant,’’ Walker said. ‘‘It’s just ebbs and flows of golf. Just haven’t been scoring. It’s frustrating. I would have loved to have had a better year than I’ve had so far to this point, but I know there’s always time to play well at the end of the year.’’
Kaymer had the best score in the afternoon, when the poa annua and bent grass on the greens became a little more difficult to navigate.
Baltusrol still allowed for some good scoring, though. Twenty players were at 2-under 68 or better, a list that included defending champion Jason Day.
Day played in the morning group with McIlroy and Phil Mickelson, and he was the only player without much stress. Mickelson, just 11 days after his magnificent duel with Stenson at Troon, was 4 over through 11 holes before he rallied with a trio of birdies late in his round to salvage a 1-over 71.
‘‘It’s not the start I wanted,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s not indicative of how I’m playing. But I’m back to where tomorrow, if I play the way I’ve been playing, I should be OK.’’
Jordan Spieth only regretted one hole, the par-4 seventh. He lost his ball so far to the right that he had to chip back into thick rough and wound up three-putting for a double bogey. That was his lone mistake. He rolled in big putts on the 15th for par and 16th for birdie and closed with a two-putt birdie to get back to even-par 70.
Grillo had a chance to join Walker in the lead when he was at 4 under going to the last two holes — both par-5s — but he made par on both. Fisher made birdies on the two closing par-5s.
Kaymer started his afternoon round on the back nine and kept it together with two pars, including a 35-yard bunker shot on the eighth to within three feet.
‘‘There’s nothing easy on the golf course today,’’ Kaymer said. ‘‘I just didn’t miss many fairways. Therefore, you can create some birdie chances. But you still need to make the putts.’’