Share

Pettersson seizes PGA lead

Kiawah Island - Carl Pettersson, who had never broken 70 before in the PGA Championship, birdied three of his first four holes on Thursday to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the season's final major.

Pettersson is chasing his first major championship title but he already has one victory this year in South Carolina, taking the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head in April. He would like to make it two wins in the Palmetto State after shooting a six-under 66 at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

"There is a long way to go but I am thrilled with my start," Pettersson said. "I haven't contended much in majors. I think I have two top 10s. But I would love to have a chance to see what happens."

Former US Open winner Rory McIlroy heads a group of four players that are one shot back. American Gary Woodland, Spain's Fernandez-Castano Gonzalo and Swede Alex Noren all shot five-under 67.

Australians Adam Scott, Aaron Baddeley and Geoff Ogilvy, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, defending champion Keegan Bradley and his fellow American player Scott Piercy, Joost Luiten of the Netherlands and 1991 PGA Championship winner John Daly are all tied for sixth two shots back of the leader.

The 34-year-old Pettersson, of Gothenburg, hit 12 of 14 fairways on Thursday and 15 of 18 greens in regulation.

"Getting off to a good start was the key to the round," he said. "The wind started blowing a bit on the back nine but I carried my solid play, hitting a lot of fairways, a lot of greens and making a few putts. It was a great day for me."

McIlroy, who is chasing his second major championship title, got his PGA Championship off to a solid start as well, rolling in five birdies in a bogey-free round.

He started on the back nine and began his day with a birdie on the 447-yard, par-four 10th hole. He also had birdies on holes 14, 16, two and six.

"It is a great way to start a tournament," he said. "I thought I had to take advantage of the conditions. I am very happy."

McIlroy has a shot at overtaking Luke Donald as the top ranked player in the world if he plays well this week. In order to do that, the young Northern Irishman needs to win and have Donald finish worse than a two-way tie for second place.

The conditions were ideal at Kiawah Island as there was just a light wind and plenty of sunshine in the morning after several days of rain leading up to the first round.

Weather forecasters were predicting rain in the morning but the early starters were met with hot and humid conditions with temperatures of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).

McIlroy said the blue skies were unlikely to last all week.

"I am expecting this to be the best day of the week," he said. "I am just happy I got off to a great start."

Tiger Woods also got off to a sound first round with a three-under 69. His round featured three bogeys and six birdies, including three-straight birdies at the turn.

"I played well today and anything in the 60s is going to be a good start in a major championship and I am right there," Woods said.

British Open champion Ernie Els shot an even-par 72 while American Phil Mickelson struggled with a 73. Englishman Donald shot a two-over 74.

One of the strongest fields ever put together for a tournament is tackling this week the Ocean Course, which at 7 676 yards (meters) is the longest course in major championship history.

A total of 102 of the 103 top ranked players in the world are competing this week at Kiawah Island.

First round scores in the 94th PGA Championship at par-72 Kiawah Island Resort (Ocean Course), Kiawah Island, South Carolina (USA unless stated, all times Local):

66 - Carl Pettersson (SWE)

67 - Gary Woodland, Rory McIlroy (NIR), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Alexander Noren (SWE)

68 - John Daly, Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Keegan Bradley, Joost Luiten (NED), Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Adam Scott (AUS), Scott Piercy, Graeme McDowell (NIR)

69 - Pat Perez, Ben Curtis, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Tiger Woods, Cameron Tringale, Peter Hanson (SWE), Jamie Donaldson (WAL), K.T. Kim (KOR), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Justin Rose (ENG), K J Choi (KOR)

70 - Greg Chalmers (AUS), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Ian Poulter (ENG), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Padraig Harrington (IRL)

71 - Matteo Manassero (ITA), Martin Laird (SCO), Ken Duke, Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP), Dustin Johnson, Trevor Immelman (RSA), Ryan Palmer, Tim Clark (RSA), George McNeill, Brendon De Jonge (ZIM), Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Vijay Singh (FIJ), Blake Adams

72 - Marcel Siem (GER), Toru Taniguchi (JPN), Jim Furyk, David Toms, Shaun Micheel, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT). John Huh (KOR), Jason Day (AUS), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN), John Rollins, Matthew Every, Sang-moon Bae (KOR), Anders Hansen (DEN), Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els (RSA), Zach Johnson, Davis Love, Matt Kuchar, Rich Beem, JJ Henry

73 - D.A. Points, John Senden (AUS), Rory Sabbatini (RSA), Michael Thompson, Darren Clarke (NIR), Ryan Moore, Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Chris Stroud, David Lynn (ENG), Jonathan Byrd, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker, Bo Van Pelt, Y.E. Yang (KOR), Paul Lawrie (SCO), Nick Watney, Simon Dyson (ENG), Retief Goosen (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA), William McGirt

74 - Branden Grace (RSA), Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP), Robert Garrigus, Scott Stallings, Jason Dufner, Robert Karlsson (SWE), Stewart Cink, Steve Stricker, Jeff Coston, Alan Morin, Seung-yul Noh (KOR), Rickie Fowler, Luke Donald (ENG), Chez Reavie, Jeff Overton, Marc Leishman (AUS), Ted Potter

75 - Johnson Wagner, Lee Westwood (ENG), Bill Haas, Brian Davis (ENG), Sean O'Hair, Brian Cairns, Bryce Molder, Bob Sowards, Darrell Kestner, Marcus Fraser (AUS), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Scott Verplank, Paul Scaletta, Robert Allenby (AUS), Kevin Na, Rod Perry

76 - Kelly Mitchum, Charles Howell, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Mike Small, Robert Rock (ENG), Angel Cabrera (ARG), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Mark Wilson, Brian Gaffney, Brendan Jones (AUS)

77 - Spencer Levin, Lucas Glover, Tommy Gainey, Danny Balin, Brandt Snedeker, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)

78 - Mark Brown (NZL), Corey Prugh, Mark Brooks, Roger Chapman (ENG), Michael Hoey (NIR)

79 - Michael Frye, Paul Casey (ENG), Martin Kaymer (GER), Webb Simpson, Charlie Wi (KOR), Mitch Lowe

80 - Bud Cauley, Marty Jertson, Kyle Stanley

81 - Matt Dobyns, Charley Hoffman

82 - Bill Murchison

83 - Doug Wade

84 - Frank Bensel

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
25% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1471 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2250 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE