Two Wisconsin golfers are leading the PGA championship, the 4th major of the year. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods went from leading the PGA at 3 under par to finishing 7 over par and 14 strokes behind Steve Stricker.
Steve Stricker who is from Edgerton and Jerry Kelly who is from Madison are first and second in the PGA championship.
From ESPN: On a sweat-stained Thursday at Atlanta Athletic Club, Stricker became the 11th player in PGA Championship history to shoot 63. He opened with three straight birdies and kept right on going until he stood on the cusp of history without even knowing it.
Only after his birdie putt for 62 slid by the cup did his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, tell him that it was for the record in a major.
"It never really registered," Stricker said. "I was just trying to make a birdie and finish 8 under, and I really was concentrating on the putt, but never thought about the history part of it."
He never thought he could be atop the leaderboard, either. After three days of practice on the 7,467-yard course -- the longest par 70 ever at a major -- Stricker didn't have a good feeling about his chances. His money would have been on his Wisconsin neighbor, Jerry Kelly, and he wasn't too far off.
Kelly had a career-best 65 in the PGA Championship and was two shots behind. Completing the American foursome atop the leaderboard was former PGA champion Shaun Micheel at 66 and Scott Verplank with a 67, perhaps the biggest surprise of the day because Verplank has been battling a wrist injury.
http://espn.go.com/golf/pgachampionship11/story/_/id/6853859/steve-stricker-shoots-63-pga-championship-grab-early-lead
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods, showing once again he is a has been, shot a 77, his worst opening round ever. Again, from ESPN: They call the PGA Championship, "Glory's Last Shot." But after what happened here in Thursday's opening round, it's really Tiger Woods' last shot.
If Woods doesn't learn how to put the biscuit in the basket between now and his Friday afternoon tee time, his second major appearance of 2011 will end after two rounds. And in all likelihood, his tour season will have its very own obituary, too.
Woods shot a 7-over-par 77, which is already 14 shots behind Ryder Cup partner Steve Stricker and 8 strokes behind New Albany (Ohio) Country Club pro Bob Sowards, who can now tell his kid that he kicked TW's rear on Aug. 11, 2011. Unless Tiger shoots something seriously red on Friday (hello, 65?), he's history.
Forget about winning his first major since 2008. That wasn't going to happen here. But miss the cut -- after leading the tournament through five holes? Now that could happen.
"I'm not down," said Woods. "I'm really angry right now."
He was angry because he forgot he was New Tiger, not Old Tiger. Old Tiger used to overpower majors and intimidate fields into submission. New Tiger is still trying to figure out his new swing.
According to Woods, Old Tiger and New Tiger crossed cart paths on the same day. Disaster ensued.
"I just thought, 'This is a major and you peak for these events. And once you get to a major championship, you just let it fly, let it go,'" said Woods. "And I did and it cost me … It cost me the whole round."
So after the fast start, he blew off the mechanics of his swing and now has a 77 to show for Thursday's round. By his own admission, it was a dumb thing to do.
http://espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&page=wojciechowski-110811&sportCat=golf
Watching Tiger Woods is like driving by a terrible accident. You don't want to watch, but you just cannot help yourself and you watch what is going on. Woods is just embarrassing himself and in reality, golf, by trying to play golf. It's like watching Brett Favre play football last year. He stunk by Brett Favre standards, but you just had to watch Favre just to see how bad he can play.
While it probably won't happen, it would be great to see Kelly and Stricker playing together on Sunday to determine Wisconsin's best golfer.
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