Tour News

4 things to know from Round 1 of the PGA Championship

Published

10 years ago

Aug 7, 2014

The first round of the PGA Championship didn’t disappoint if strange story lines and low scores are what you’re into.

The Bubba Watson saga, which started with his refusal to compete in the PGA Championship’s long drive content, continued on Thursday. And Rory showed why he’s… well, three-time major champion Rory McIlroy.

In other news, the U.S. Ryder Cup continued to wither, and Steve Flesch jumped out of the announcers booth with an off-the-rack driver when he found out that he was first alternate. Here are the top stories from Round 1 at Valhalla.

No. 1: Bubba Watson has a problem with just about everything

According to reports, Bubba told his caddy not to tell on-course reporters what club he was hitting, which meant viewers at home could only guess what iron Bubba was hitting into greens. This came after Watson hit a 3 iron in protest of the PGA Championship’s long-drive contest on Tuesday.

The kids want to know how far your 7 iron goes, Bubba. C’mon, it’s for the kids!

No. 2: Rory McIlroy stays hot

McIlroy, who was cruising through his round at 3-under par after his first nine holes, hit his second shot way out of bounds as he tried to reach the par-5 10th hole in two. He then hit an oddly rushed provisional ball without a practice swing. When that one went left as well (but stayed in bounds), he proceeded to hit himself with his club.

Rory double-bogeyed the hole and three-putted the next hole for a bogey, but none of it seemed to affect him. The mid-round, mini-disaster proved to be a minor hiccup in a round that included eight birdies, however. McIlroy ended the day shooting a 5-under-par 66 and is tied for fourth place, one shot behind leader Kevin Chappell.

No. 3: The U.S. Ryder Cup team is falling apart

At this point in the season, many golfers are undoubtedly playing through fatigue or injuries, but Tom Watson could never have anticipated just how banged up his Ryder Cup squad would be as of the PGA Championship. Matt Kuchar (back spams) withdrew before he teed off, and Jason Dufner (herniated discs in his neck) withdrew after he holed out at No. 11. He was 8-over for the day.

Tiger Woods‘ hopes of qualifying through the points standings is now out of reach, and he’s not giving the captain much reason to waste a captain’s pick on him. In fact, the 64-year-old Watson beat Woods by two strokes in today’s round, shooting a 1-over 72. Maybe he should pick himself?

Add in the Dustin Johnson situation, and it’s a mess on the U.S. side of the Ryder Cup.

No. 4: Steve Flesch almost plays an off-the-rack set of clubs at Valhalla

Golf Channel Analyst Steve Flesch was first-alternate at Valhalla after John Huh got in the tournament due to Matt Kuchar’s WD. The problem was that Flesch didn’t have his golf bag or any clubs with him since he was in the booth announcing the action. He hopped out of the booth into a local golf store in case he got the call up from skipper.

Eventually, Flesch found his way to the range with a White TaylorMade SLDR driver that still had the price tag ($300) on it.

“Grabbed whatever we could from a local golf shop,” Flesch told GolfWRX on Twitter. “Lefty stuff was a challenge.”

Flesch usually plays a 12-degree SLDR, but the shop didn’t have one in that loft or his usual X-flex. He made due with a 9.5-degree model, which he set to 11.5 degrees, and an S-Flex shaft. Despite the mismatch, Flesch said he was “ripping it” on the range.

“I was ready to roll,” he said.

Unfortunately for Flesch, no one else withdrew, so he didn’t get a spot in this year’s championship.

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Andrew Tursky

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

21 Comments

Frank Garrett

Aug 8, 2014 at 2:25 pm

I hope Watson gets cut..I don’t mean the tournament; I mean in the parking lot after he doesn’t make the cut

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TM way

Aug 8, 2014 at 11:56 am

I want Lee to win!

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TM way

Aug 8, 2014 at 11:56 am

You mean a 9.5 degree set to 11. It only goes 1.5 degrees.

Reply Report comment
IH8

Aug 8, 2014 at 10:48 am

What is up with Bubba Watson? Off the course he’s extremely charitable, he’s fun on Twitter and in his casual type interviews he seems down to earth and interesting. But put the guy on the golf course and he seems to go bonkers. Petty, angry, whiney and loads of other negative descriptors. What is up with this guy?

Reply Report comment
- JJK
  
  Aug 8, 2014 at 11:30 am
  
  I agree. I want to like him because of what he does off the course, but I’ve seen too many on course antics to be a fan.
  
  Reply Report comment
- steve
  
  Aug 8, 2014 at 11:47 am
  
  He is unbalanced, he needs to find some inner peace. The fun and games Bubba seems like a act. he is a lost soul, he looks so miserable playing golf
  
  Reply Report comment
Everett

Aug 8, 2014 at 4:09 am

Really sucks since Duff did withdraw later. Guess he felt obligated being the reigning champ.. Plus 8 though. Why even try and hurt yourself more?

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KK

Aug 7, 2014 at 10:53 pm

The tour issue guys would explode if he walked up to the first tee box of a major with a bag full of retail clubs.

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- MHendon
  
  Aug 7, 2014 at 11:34 pm
  
  Just goes to show there’s not really much difference between what the tour pro’s are fit with versus what you can buy at a golf shop.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - antonio
    
    Aug 8, 2014 at 3:42 am
    
    I think that only means if you have a pro tour swing you can hit almost anything decently
    
    Reply Report comment
    - don
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 7:35 am
      
      gotta agree with antonio on this one. like when TW first made the switch to nike and was playing “inferior” equipment as PM put it. but i will give the manufacturers credit as well, because they are definitely putting more tour available stuff out to the masses than ever before.
      
      Reply Report comment
      - MHendon
        
        Aug 8, 2014 at 11:05 am
        
        PM was referring to the ball and at the time everything was inferior to the ProV1.
        
        Reply Report comment
      - Jeff
        
        Aug 8, 2014 at 2:10 pm
        
        The ball, a pro v1, his shaft, Tiger played a steel shaft longer than anyone, Phil’s “inferior equipment” comment was actually a compliment about how good Tiger hit it with a steel shaft. Very misunderstood in the golf world.
        
        Reply Report comment
    - MHendon
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 11:19 am
      
      No just means if you have a good swing you can hit most any club decently, and if you have a bad one you can’t hit anything decently.
      
      Reply Report comment
  - John
    
    Aug 8, 2014 at 9:46 am
    
    There is a Huge Difference in tour equipment and retail equipment. Most tour products; especially irons, wedges, putters are all made with different materials. The Drivers available in store arent even close either. They have many different models of current woods on tour. Get yourself an actual tour head and the difference is huge. Thats why the sell for so much more on sites like this one, and ebay etc. The reason he had to go to the store is that tour trucks leave on wednesday afternoon.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - MHendon
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 11:17 am
      
      Tour clubs are made out of the same metals as anything you and I can buy. That’s just a bunch of BS and I guarantee you don’t have one bit of proof to back up your statement. Now are there prototype heads and shafts available on tour? Yes. Are they superior? In many cases No! That’s why they don’t make it to retail. Do they sell for ridiculous prices on sites like this and ebay? Yes because so many mostly low skilled golfers buy into the myth and want to brag they have tour equipment.
      
      Reply Report comment
    - steve
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 11:37 am
      
      And you have what facts to back up your statement? How many different types of titanium are there? Honestly I have no idea. Tour heads sell for so much more because people are willing to pay for it. Not because of performance, because of status. I have friends that caddy for some PGA tour players and I have never heard them say that. But if you have any type of proof I would love to see it.
      
      Reply Report comment
- steve
  
  Aug 8, 2014 at 8:12 am
  
  No tour vans there? Doe’s Flesch have a contract with any company? It is his fault, was he second alternate? If your on the alternate list and your going anyway with GC, why not take the clubs?
  
  Reply Report comment
  - nottingtom
    
    Aug 8, 2014 at 12:54 pm
    
    He was 93rd alternate afaik. Just the third who was actually on site.
    
    Reply Report comment
    - steve
      
      Aug 8, 2014 at 3:25 pm
      
      huh?
      
      Reply Report comment
      - Jeremy
        
        Aug 8, 2014 at 3:36 pm
        
        He was pretty far down on the alternates list. But only the first few alternates actually show up. He happened to be there for GC and they happened to *almost* need more alternates than showed up, so even though he was way down the list he nearly made it in.
        
        Reply Report comment

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