2009 PGA Championship Clippings, Round 1

Two things struck me from Thursday's stories.

One, there's a decidedly smaller media contingent in Minnesota, saving me the pain and agony of reading multiple notes about the great golf fans on the Midwest. Okay, I get it. They're cooped up all winter and so they're excited to be outside.

And two: there was really only one story Thursday. Rightfully so. Prayers may just be answered for a Tiger-Padraig showdown this weekend, with some nice names lurking to possibly hang around to cause problems.

Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian:

Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington got back yesterday to what they were doing last weekend in Akron, Ohio, before they were so rudely interrupted – leaving the best of the rest in their wake – on the opening day of the 2009 US PGA Championship

James Corrigan writing for The Independent:

On the day golf all but regained its status as an Olympic sport the two pros with the golden touch in majors once again showed their standards to be "higher" and their games to be "stronger" than their rivals.

Steve Elling, like many others, thinks it's hard to envision Tiger not winning this one after an unusually strong start:

The last four times Woods has held a lead at a major, he has marched to a victory. And we all know how he plays when he gets into the weekend with the lead -- like a Gila monster with lockjaw.

Gene Wojciechowski on Tiger's opening:

There were a couple of brief encounters with some Hazeltine foliage Thursday, but that was about it for drama. Woods nailed his irons, kept his drives in Minnesota and left a lot of scorch marks on the edges of cups. Do that three more times and he'll win this thing. I'm not saying it will be easy, but it could be.

Gary Van Sickle says Padraig Harrington is the only reason he hasn't declared this one over, and also writes about the highlight of the day.

It never hurts to have Rich Beem, among the funniest men on tour, as your third. With him in tow, there's a guaranteed giggle coming somewhere in 18 holes. The trio even laughed when a ball bounced onto the 11th green while they were still putting. The 606-yard par 5 was into a brisk wind today and thought to be unreachable, but the long-hitting Spaniard, Alvaro Quiros, had other ideas.

"I first thought somebody must have chipped out and hit his third shot up there," Harrington said. "When I inquired who was playing behind us and it was Alvaro, I said that's got to be two of the biggest hits ever in golf. There couldn't be anybody playing competitively who could've knocked it on in two today. It was phenomenal."

Michael Buteau on the incident:

Before putting on the 11th green, Quiros rushed over to the 12th tee to speak with Woods and playing partners Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem. It’s a breach of golf etiquette to hit onto a green when the group in front hasn’t finished the hole.

“To be honest, where I was, I can’t even see them,” Quiros said. “I knew that they were on the green but we thought that they were almost finishing.”

Harrington offered a “nice shot,” while Woods nodded his approval.

“Nothing to apologize for,” said Woods, who is seeking his fifth win at the PGA and his 15th major title. “I mean, that’s just stupid long, isn’t it? To hit it that far into the wind is phenomenal. It’s just absolutely phenomenal.”

Bob Harig does a nice job telling us the Padraig backstory leading up to this week, including some fun anecdotes from Tuesday's champions dinner.

Cameron Morfit touches on the setup, which didn't sound all that exciting in terms of nuance.

The longest course in major championship history at 7,674 yards, Hazeltine played shorter Thursday. PGA officials moved the tees to the front of the tee boxes on the seventh, 12th and 13th holes. More than one player called the wide fairways "generous."

That left the course playable not only for long drivers like Woods and Quiros, but also more modest-to-short hitters like Toms and Paul Goydos (two-under 70).

Jeff Babineau wrote about Tiger and shares this from outside the ropes:

Bob Wood, current VP at Nike who spent many years running and building the company’s golf division, knows Woods as few others do. On the days he walks in Woods’ thick gallery, as he did Thursday, he fills his time with a couple missions. One, he likes to people watch – specifically, to see what people are wearing (especially on their feet). Secondly, he likes to listen to people in the crowd, soak in the comments, the insights, especially in a down-to-earth, Middle America truck stop such as Chaska, which doesn’t regularly get a Broadway production to visit.

“In a place like this, or a British Open, it’s fun to hear the crowd talk about Tiger and how excited they are just to see him,” Wood said. “It’s like they’re watching Babe Ruth, or Michael Jordan ... they know they are getting to see something special. Very, very special.”

Golfweek posted some nice items on the blog but since they don't have permalinks, I can't send you to the best.

Mark Soltau posts his daily lipouts of the best quotes.

Sam Weinman and E. Michael Johnson with Birdies and Bogies. Excellent as always though I don't know who wrote this:

Birdie: Midwest golf fans -- Give 'em credit, Midwest golf fans are among the game's best. Sure, Tiger being out early helped, but fact is there were fans all over the golf course and they were vocal, too, making this Thursday at a major feel more like a Sunday. The PGA and USGA would do well to get to this part of the country as often as possible.

No...majors need to go to places where the courses are great and they don't have 5-inch thunderstorms. Sorry midwest. I know you're doing your best to produce some round 2 winds to dry the place out...

And finally, the Dan Jenkins Tweet of the Day...