Stricker is Wisconsin's number one
The talk of the tournament after the opening day at the 92nd PGA Championship was undoubtedly Tiger Woods’s short stint atop the leaderboard after his opening round one-under 71. But Woods wasn’t the only player with a good start Thursday on the Whistling Straits course.
Wisconsin native Steve Stricker was greeted by a large ovation when he walked onto the tee at the start of his first round Thursday. Born and raised in Edgerton, Stricker currently resides in Madison, and has been living in Wisconsin his whole life. He was part of the second half of golfers to tee off, and subsequently in the group that was unable to finish after early morning fog delayed the start of play by three hours and ten minutes.
“Pretty nice welcome I got there on the first tee. That got me a little bit, it's pretty cool to come up there and get that sort of reception to start to play. You want to get off to a good start, too," Stricker said. "I hit a lot of quality shots early – all day, really."
Stricker played to one-under 13 holes before play was finished for the day because of darkness. He will finish his first round Friday morning. Fellow Wisconsin golfer Jerry Kelly wasn’t able to say his day ended as well as Stricker’s did. Kelly finished with three-over 75, a score he felt didn’t reflect his best side.
“I just threw it away, countless – just menial stuff," a disappointed Kelly said after he finished his first round. "Small mistakes I can't make if I expect to contend in a setting like this, so it's disappointing. I haven't shot myself out of the tournament yet by any means. But (I need) a great round tomorrow – and I'm going to need a great round on Saturday."
Stricker finished the day T24 with several others including Tiger Woods, Tim Clark, Carl Pettersson , Camilo Villegas and Ryan Palmer. Kelly finished T118 along with Padraig Harrington and several others.
Jason Day had an impressive first round; he finished T6 at three-under 69 though he continues to suffer from a chronic sinus infection he has battled with for eight months. Day is treating the symptoms with medication, though playing takes a toll on his stamina.
“I would maybe every couple of holes get a little shaky again. I felt lightheaded out there, but I try to not make that an excuse," Day said. Day will stay hydrated and munch on energy bars Friday because he doesn’t want the infection to impede his good start "I want to focus on playing well, even though it's a little frustrating out there."
Stuart Appleby the most recent golfer to shoot the low score 59 was T47 at even par 72 after his first round. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin was way back in the ranks at T150. Both will have to finish with good rounds Friday if they hope to make the weekend cut.
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