The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Woodland leads PGA with a 64
ST. LOUIS » Gary Woodland fell in love with Bellerive when he first played it a month ago. It’s a big golf course that would play into the hands of a power player. It would be soft from the stifling heat and humidity of summer, allowing him to be aggressive.
Woodland delivered his best performance in a major Aug. 9 at the PGA Championship. All because of his putter. Once he settled down while playing before so many family members and friends, the Kansas-bred Woodland ran off seven birdies and made five putts from 15 feet or longer for a 6-under 64, giving him a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler in an opening round that otherwise went as advertised.
Keep it in the fairway, and low scores were available.
Woodland led 47 players who broke par, with 15 players were separated by three shots at the top. Tiger Woods was not among them because he was in thick grass and at the bottom of a pond early on before rallying to salvage a 70.
“If you can ball-strike your way around this golf course, you’ll walk off thinking it’s pretty simple,” Jason Day said after a 67. “If you struggle a little bit off the tee, then it obviously makes it harder.”
Fowler missed only three fairways and putted for birdie on all but two holes for his 65 in the morning.
Woodland is built like a player who grips and rips it, but the grip that mattered the most was on his putter. After starting work at the British Open with European-based putting specialist Phil Kenyon, Woodland decided to put an oversized grip on his putter Tuesday at Bellerive.
The stroke suddenly felt easy. It looked easy.
He holed a 15-foot par putt on No. 5 — “It’s the first time I’d seen a putt go in,” he said — and Woodland was on his way. Even sweeter was playing in front of 100 faces he recognized from home in Kansas — playing in Missouri, of all places.
“This is as close as I’ll ever play to home,” he said. “So it’s nice to have the support.”
Fowler played i n the morning, when the greens were slightly smoother, and made five birdies over his last 11 holes for a 65. It was an important start for Fowler, who turns 30 this year and already is regarded as among the best without a major. The closest he has come to such a trophy is celebrating those won by his friends.