The Live Report: Quail Hollow Championship, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
QUOTE OF THE DAY (6:25 p.m.): "I'm 2-for-2 the last two times I've fainted and woken up in a pool of vomit I've won." -- Phil Mickelson after shooting a 70 on Thursday, talking about receiving medical treatment that forced him to withdraw from Wednesday's pro-am.
The other two times something similar happened to Mickelson were in Doral last year and San Diego in 2002. -- Brian Wacker
LOST AND FOUND (6 p.m.): Kenny Perry just wrapped up a round of 6-under 66 to get within one of the lead as the first round wraps up here at Quail Hollow.
Perry made six birdies, an eagle and two bogeys, but the most interesting thing about how he got there. Perry couldn't find the driver he won twice with last year -- he'd put the TaylorMade head in a drawer in a junk room in his house and had been using a different one on the same shaft. He found the head last week, though, and used it in the first round.
Perry also used a belly putter for the first time this season after breaking his regular Ping putter earlier at Kapalua earlier this year. He had the Ping re-shafted a couple of times, but he said he could just quite get the feel right, so he decided to go with one that was completely opposite. It worked. Perry took just 24 putts Thursday. -- Brian Wacker
DOWN THE STRETCH (5:30 p.m.): With the exception of the major championships, the Quail Hollow Championship has featured the most difficult finishing holes (Nos. 16-17-18) on the PGA TOUR six out of the last seven years. In 2004, the closing three holes at East Lake GC (The TOUR Championship) barely edged out Nos. 16-18 at Quail Hollow. -- John Bush
A LOT TO ASK (5:18 p.m.): The only first-round leader/co-leader to go on to win at Quail Hollow was Jim Furyk in 2006. The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win three of 17 stroke-play events on TOUR in 2010 (Ryan Palmer/Sony Open in Hawaii, Dustin Johnson/AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Jason Bohn/Zurich Classic of New Orleans). -- John Bush
MICKELSON CONTINUES TO MOVE UP (5:08 p.m.): It's been a contrasting day for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods finished with a 74 earlier, while Mickelson continues to climb the leaderboard. He just made his second straight birdie to get to 4 under with three holes left in his round.
Mickelson has made just one bogey all day, despite hitting just 30 percent of his fairways. His iron play has been terrific, though, and as a result he's just three back of Bo Van Pelt's lead. -- Brian Wacker
REWINDING TIGER'S ROUND (4:50 p.m.): Tiger Woods characterized his pro-am round here as "scratchy." What was Thursday's 74 then? "Worse," he said.
Despite an opening birdie, Woods could never get things figured out on his way to a four-bogey-four birdie day that also saw him make a double bogey on the par-3 17th, where he found the water off the tee.
"It wasn't the driver, it was everything," Woods said. "I had a two-way miss going all day."
What's it going to take for Woods to fix his swing problems? Click here for more. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH FINISH (4:35 p.m.): Remember that hot start that Anthony Kim got off to early Thursday? Well, in case you're wondering why his name is nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, it's because he gave all five of his birdies back over his last 10 holes.
After making five birdies over his first eight holes, Kim bogeyed Nos. 9, 11 and 12. He also made just a par on the par-5 10th, so that might as well have been a bogey. Kim then hit his tee shot into the water on the par-3 17th, where he made double bogey. -- Brian Wacker
ANOTHER BIG NUMBER (4:18 p.m.): Parker McLachlin at least has company, sort of. As mentioned earlier, McLachlin shot an 88. Well, Omar Uresti also went well north, shooting an 81 that featured eight bogeys, one double bogey and one birdie.
That's the highest score for Uresti, who hit just 29 percent of his greens Thursday, since an 80 in the third round of the 2000 PLAYERS Championship. -- Brian Wacker
AFTERNOON MOVERS (4 p.m.): Among those making a push up the leaderboard here in the afternoon wave are Camilo Villegas and Kenny Perry, both of whom are at 4 under through 12 and 10 holes, respectively.
It's been a quiet year for Perry, who hasn't finished in the top 25 since a tie for sixth at the season-opening SBS Championship. Quail Hollow sets up perfectly for him, though, with Perry being one of the longest and straightest hitters off the tee.
Villegas, meanwhile, is bogey-free so far and looking for his fifth top-10 of the season. -- Brian Wacker
HELLO, MISS AMERICA (3:30 p.m.): Among those in attendance today? Miss America Caressa Cameron.
The 21-year-old Cameron, who is currently a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, is here as a guest of Wells Fargo and part of the Reading Above Par program, which stresses the importance of childhood literacy to Charlotte-area children.
Earlier in the day, she met with a group of students before taking in what was her first golf tournament. Players Jason Bohn and J.J. Henry also joined a group of kids on Wednesday and former Carolina Panthers linebacker Mike Minter will on Friday.
As for her thoughts on golf, Tiger Woods and being Miss America, there will be an upcoming Q&A on PGATOUR.COM. -- Brian Wacker
SHOWMAN (3:15 p.m.) Phil Mickelson has just made his first bogey of the day at the ninth hole -- and it certainly was an entertaining one.
The Masters champ hit his drive on the 504-yard par 4 deep into the trees on the left side of the fairway. And then he seemed to channel the final round at Augusta National, threading a driver low off the pine straw and back into the fairway.
Unfortunately for Lefty, though, he couldn't pull off the miracle finish this time like he did when he birdied the 13th hole from between two trees on Sunday at the Masters. Mickelson wedged onto the green but couldn't negotiate a 38-footer for par so he turned in 1 under. -- Helen Ross
LOW SCORES STILL OUT THERE (2:44 p.m.) Quail Hollow is still being generous on this breezy, sunny Thursday afternoon.
J.J. Henry, who has missed the cut here in his last two starts, is 3 under for his first eight holes. Also on the course at that number are Kevin Streelman (through seven holes), Camilo Villegas (through eight), David Toms (through six) and Nick O'Hern (through five).
Toms won the inaugural Quail Hollow Championship. He tied for 17th and 18th the last two years, respectively. -- Helen Ross
PHIL ON THE MOVE (2:47 p.m.) Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who became dehydrated and had to leave the course after just six holes of Wednesday's pro-am, is showing no ill effects in the first round.
Lefty has just birdied the fifth and sixth holes to move to 2 under. He two-putted the par 5 from 12 feet and then staked his tee shot at the par-3 sixth to 6 feet for another birdie. -- Helen Ross
EAGLE LANDED (2:38 p.m.) Paul Goydos was "puttering," he said, "meandering," even. He'd played his first seven holes in 1 over before that wedge from 75 yards at the par-4 eighth hole found the cup for an eagle and turned the day around.
"Eagles are always nice," said the man they call 'Sunshine.' "That's probably what kick started the round. ... It gave me just a little bit of a spark, and then I made a good par on 9 after an indifferent chip, and then played pretty solidly on the back nine. A couple squirrelly shots, but for the most part played pretty good.
"And then capped it off chipping in on 16 for another birdie. So it was a combination of some pretty good play but also a lot of good breaks."
Goydos finished with a 68 that left him three strokes off the lead. It's his best score since the second round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open the last week in February, which was six starts ago.
"I scored very well today," Goydos reported. "I haven't been doing that. I've probably shot 70 or 71 and haven't been scoring, but today some good things happened, and hopefully that will continue. I like it when I don't have to putt."
Goydos says any time you break par at Quail Hollow "you've done your job for the day." Even with Tuesday's rain, the course is still playing firm and fast with green speeds Goydos called "Augusta-like -- if not quicker.
"I would say by the weekend birdies are going to be a well earned commodity." -- Helen Ross
GREAT START (2:15 p.m.) The bogey at the 18th hole notwithstanding, Billy Mayfair couldn't be too disappointed with his performance Thursday during the first round of the Quail Hollow Championship.
Mayfair had shot 65 on Monday just to get into the tournament and followed with a 68 that left him three strokes off the lead. "I just kind of let that momentum keep going," he said.
Mayfair hit all but five fairways and 12 of 18 greens while using just 26 putts. He opened with a birdie on No. 1 and made his seventh of the day when he rolled in a 14-footer at the 17th hole.
A drive that strayed right toward the trees at the 18th hole produced Mayfair's third and final bogey of the day. But Mayfair escaped the treacherous "Green Mile" in even par so he couldn't be too disappointed.
"I think if you play them even par through the week, you're probably going to have a pretty good week," Mayfair said of Quail Hollow's three finishing holes. "I probably should have hit 3 wood off of 18 instead of driver just to get it in play and get a shot and a look at a birdie putt.
"You live and learn, and I was trying to play aggressive. One of those deals. I had a great day, drove it real well and a lot of good iron shots, and I played very well." -- Helen Ross
HOW YOU ARRIVE (1:45 p.m.) Hard to imagine anyone finishing stronger today than Geoff Ogilvy did. He birdied four of his last six holes and played the difficult "Green Mile" in 2 under.
Ogilvy was well-rewarded, too, in a 68 that left him three strokes off the lead held by Bo Van Pelt. The round of 4 under was only his fifth in the 60s in the 19 he's played since winning the season-opening SBS Championship.
"It was nice; we had the course gentle this morning," said Ogilvy, who birdied three of the par 3s Thursday but none of the par 5s. "It was really, really cold; it was only 40 degrees when we teed off, but it warmed up pretty quick. You hit nice shots out there and you've got putts from under the hole, you can make a lot of putts. The greens are perfect.
"If you miss a few shots and you're missing them above the hole, it's a really, really tricky golf course. It's the sort of course that if you're playing well it doesn't seem too hard, and if you hit a couple of loose shots, all of a sudden it seems really, really hard.
"It's kind of a bit like a major in that respect. It separates the field pretty quickly, I think." -- Helen Ross
WHAT WILL PHIL DO? (1:04 p.m.) Phil Mickelson hopes to do something that the previous two Masters champs have failed to do -- make the cut at Quail Hollow.
Here's a look at how the Masters champion has performed at the Quail Hollow Club in the same year he won at Augusta National.
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CROSSING PATHS (12:49 p.m.) Tiger Woods just capped a round of 74, making a bogey on the ninth hole, where his approach missed long and his flop shot came up 18 feet short of the hole.
As one fellow scribe just said to me, though, Woods has turned a round of about 79 into a 74. Meanwhile, as Woods made his way to the scoring room, Phil Mickelson made his way to the first tee across the putting green. -- Brian Wacker
LAST BLAST (12:44 p.m.) On No. 9, Tiger Woods' final hole of the day, Woods finally hit a good drive after backing off the shot initially -- he seemed uncomfortable with his grip. Woods outdrove both his partners on the hole by at least 30 yards, and Stewart Cink and Angel Cabrera aren't exactly short. -- Brian Wacker
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SCRAMBLING MAN (12:32 p.m.) Angel Cabrera has been channeling his inner Seve today. He's hitting it all over he place, much the same way Tiger Woods is, but he's also hitting some ridiculous recovery shots. On No. 8, Cabrera hit his approach into the gallery only to rattle the flagstick and save par. -- Brian Wacker
GOOD REBOUND (12:30 p.m.) On his tee shot on No. 8 Tiger Woods hit it dead straight. The problem is the short par-4 is a slight dogleg right. Woods called for the ball to bite, but it wen well through the fairway. He neatly holed his next one, though, to set up an easy birdie attempt. -- Brian Wacker
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ANOTHER BOGEY (12:15 p.m.) After a lengthy wait for the group in front of them -- Nick Watney, Jason Bohn and Bill Haas -- on No. 7, Tiger Woods finally got to hit his tee shot, pushing it into the right rough and nearly into the creek. His approach wasn't much better with his second missing left and short after another wait of about 10 minutes. Woods wasn't able to get up and down and made par after missing from about 12 feet.
Meanwhile, Angel Cabrera's ball almost landed in a drain on his approach. He wasn't able to save par either. Stewart Cink had a nice two-putt from across the green for par, as well. -- Brian Wacker
BUCKING THE ODDS (12:14 p.m.) Billy Mayfair had to survive Monday qualifying to earn his spot in the Quail Hollow Championship. He made the most of the opportunity, too, with a first-round 68.
The score was Mayfair's lowest in seven previous first rounds at Quail Hollow. In fact, his first-round scoring average here is 73.68 and this is the first time he's shot in the 60s. -- Helen Ross
BIG NUMBERS (12 p.m.): A check of the PGA TOUR record book reveals that there have been a dozen scores higher than the 12 that Parker McLachlin posted at the seventh hole on Thursday -- and seven of those have come on par 5s like the 515-yarder that derailed the young Hawaiian on Thursday.
The highest is the 18 John Daly took on the sixth hole at Bay Hill during the fourth round in 1998. Daly also accounts for one of the other 11 with the 14 he took on the 18th hole of the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
McLachlin, who hit four balls in the water at the seventh hole Thursday, has plenty of company, too. A total of 29 other 12s have been recorded on the PGA TOUR -- including two by, you guessed it, Daly. -- Helen Ross
HUDDLED MASSES (11:40 a.m.) The crowds following Tiger Woods are their usual massive size -- 6 people or more deep on this sold-out day at the Quail Hollow Championship. But overall, the crowd has been pretty tame.
They been supportive, but they've been quiet. With good reason, though. On the par-3 sixth, for example, just now Woods came up short on his tee shot and had to chip up to the hole.
Standing in the fairway off No. 7 while waiting for Tiger's group to tee off -- they've seemed slower than usual -- boos started to echo from the sixth green. No, Woods wasn't being booed --fans were chanting for Boo Weekley, who is in the group behind Woods. -- Brian Wacker
LEFTY SIGHTING (11:30 a.m.): Phil Mickelson is on the property at Quail Hollow preparing for his first round after having to withdraw after six holes during the Wednesday pro-am. He has a history of playing well the day after being treated for dehydration, too.
In 2009 at the the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, Mickelson spent Saturday night hooked to an IV and shot a 69 on Sunday to beat Nick Watney. -- Helen Ross
FRUSTRATING DAY (11:30 a.m.) If golf is fun again for Tiger Woods, it sure isn't looking like it today. There obviously hasn't been a lot of positive reaction from Woods given the way he's played.
Woods just blasted a drive up the right side of the fairway on the par-5 fifth, where it landed in the first cut. Meanwhile, Stewart Cink and Angel Cabrera went left-right off the tee. Only Woods made the green on his second, however, to set up a run at eagle from about 40 feet. He ran it a few feet past and made birdie, which barely elicited a reaction from Woods. -- Brian Wacker
McAVOY KNOCKING? (11:19 a.m.) Parker McLachlin had something of a "Tin Cup" moment at the seventh hole on Thursday when he hit four balls out of bounds off the tee at the 515-yard par 5. His ninth shot finally found the fairway and his 10th landed to the right of the green. He chipped on and holed a 3-footer for par.
McLachlin eventually made the turn in 49 and shot 88, which is the high score of the year. The previous high was Sandy Lyle's 86 in the second round of the Masters. -- Helen Ross
BIG-TIME SHOT (11:11 a.m.) Tiger Woods just hit maybe his best shot of the day, stuffing it to 10 feet from 180 yards on No. 4. The shot drew a lot of reaction, too, with one fan yelling, "It's good to have you back, Tiger!" Another yelled, "Pin high, baby!" The shot actually was right over the top of the pin, but Woods missed it on the high side and had to settle for par. -- Brian Wacker
NUMBERS GAME (11:07 a.m.) The 39 Tiger Woods shot on the back nine at Quail Hollow Thursday is his worst since he shot the same score on the front at TPC Sawgrass in the third round of the 2007 PLAYERS Championship. Woods also had a 39 in the first round that week and went on to tie for 37th.
The last time he shot higher than 39 was the final round of the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational when he closed with a 43 en route to a 76 and a tie for 22nd. -- Helen Ross
RETURN OF THE CHAMP (10:55 a.m.) When Phil Mickelson steps to the first tee at 12:50 p.m. ET, he'll be competing for the first time since he won the Masters.
Mickelson took the first week or so off and spent time with his family before beginning to practice in earnest late last week. He didn't get much practice in once he got to Quail Hollow, though, after having to withdraw from the pro-am when he became dehydrated.
Mickelson played six holes before making his early exit on Wednesday. He was treated at the course but is expected to play today as scheduled. Mickelson has never won the Quail Hollow Championship but he does have four top-10s in seven previous starts, including a tie for fifth last year.
"It's a fun golf course with a lot of risk-reward," Mickelson said Wednesday. "There are a lot of holes you can make birdie on, and there are also some very difficult holes. ... The easy holes are pretty easy, the hard holes are very hard, and we get a lot of turnover on the leaderboard. Course management can be key to playing well here as well as aggressive play."
Should suit Mickelson to a tee. -- Helen Ross
ROARING BACK (10:42 a.m.) Finally, there was something for the masses following Tiger Woods to cheer about. Woods just rolled in a 14-footer for a birdie at the par-3 second. It wasn't the only roar, though. Stewart Cink canned a 35-footer for a birdie of his own. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH GOING (10:32 a.m.) Tiger Woods isn't the only one struggling. The other members of his group, Angel Cabrera and Stewart Cink are even and 2 over, respectively. Collectively, the three major winners are 6 over after Woods made bogey on the first hole to drop to 4 over on his round. -- Brian Wacker
EARLY EXIT (10:28 a.m.) Greg Kraft has withdrawn after playing nine holes. The veteran, who had made two double bogeys and three bogeys, was battling vertigo. -- Helen Ross
DIFFICULT TEST (10:22 a.m.) The final three holes at Quail Hollow have become known as "The Green Mile" and for the last six years, the stretch of two par 4s flanking that island par 3 have ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in terms of toughness on the PGA TOUR.
"The Green Mile" made Tiger Woods its first victim on Thursday. For his career, he is now 6 over on the par-3 17th and 4 over on No. 18 after finishing with a double bogey and a bogey. -- Helen Ross
NOT A HAPPY CAMPER (10:12 a.m.) Tiger Woods is clearly is frustrated as he makes the turn. He let out a loud sigh of discontent as he made his way to the first tee. Woods has the two-way miss going again and if Wednesday was scratchy, today is just bad.
Woods hit another poor drive on No. 1, too, losing it well to the right. -- Brian Wacker
WATERLOGGED (9:50 a.m.): Tiger Woods just walked away from the 17th hole with a double bogey after finding the water on the 218-yard par 3. He re-teed and this time found the green, then two-putted from 27 feet.
A round that began with such promise and a birdie at the 10th hole, Woods' first of the day, now finds him playing catch-up. The world No. 1 went to the 18th hole 2 over and promptly found the creek that winds down the left side of the fairway.
Woods took a drop, then hit his third shot short of the green. He chipped up and made a 4-footer for bogey. As he makes the turn, Woods is 3 over. -- Helen Ross
A.K. BETTER THAN O.K. (9:40 a.m.): At some point, Anthony Kim is going to have to have surgery to repair the torn ligament in his left thumb. For now, though, he'll just play through the pain, which probably isn't very bad right now -- Kim is already 5 under through his first eight holes and in the lead.
"When you're making birdies, it doesn't hurt as bad," Kim said on Wednesday, which now seems sort of prophetic. "And then when you make a bogey, it tingles a little bit more.
"I need to take care of it when the time is right, but I'm playing so well right now, I don't want to give that chance up."
How well is Kim playing right now? So far, he's hit seven of his first eight greens (click here to follow him live with Shot Tracker). A slight change in his approach has helped, too.
"I don't mind risking a double or a bogey to make a birdie," Kim said. "There's a fine line between fearless and reckless, and I'm starting to go more towards the safer side. I think that's the attitude that has let me make so many birdies. I know Tiger makes a lot of 20-footers, maybe a couple more than I do per week, so I need to obviously make a couple more putts from some distance and be willing to have those putts instead of trying to stuff everything in there within 5 feet." -- Brian Wacker
TRACKING TIGER (9:30 a.m.): Just like his Wednesday pro-am, Tiger Woods got off to an early start in the first round of the Quail Hollow Championship. It was another chilly start here for Woods -- temperatures were again in the 40s -- when he teed off at 7:40 a.m.
Woods wasted little time with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole, but he quickly gave it back with a bogey on No. 12, where his approach shot from the left rough came up about 50 yards short of the green. He pitched up to 12 feet, but missed the par putt. Through his first six holes, Woods is even par (click here to follow him live with Shot Tracker). -- Brian Wacker
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