Tiger Woods in Contention at 102nd PGA Championship, Todd & Day Lead

TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, CA — August 6, 2020

Everyone wants to know, where did Tiger finish today? His score of 2 under par left him in contention after round 1 of the PGA Championship, but it was a crowded leader board. The TPC Harding Park, the municipal course in southwest San Francisco hosting this year’s tournament, yielded a large number of sub-par scores on Day 1.

The course is playing at 7,251 yards today with a par of 35 on the front, 35 on the back for a total of 70. There are only two par 5 holes on the layout, the 607-yard 4th hole, and the 562-yard 10th. The shortest hole is the 17th hole a par 3 listed as 171-yards.

Take an aerial tour of the golf course and follow along on the scorecard.

Early Rounds

Jason Day teed off at 10:38 am Eastern, that’s 7:38 am Pacific time with Martin Kaymer and Jason Dufner. The group started on the 10th hole and the early time provided little wind and softer greens than the afternoon starters would face. Day took advantage of the conditions. Two birdies on his first nine and three on the next nine for a 65 gave him the early lead at -5 in the clubhouse.

Bud Cauley got to 5 under after birdies on 4, 5, & 7, he started the day on the 10th hole, but a bogey on number 8 dropped him to 4 under in a tie for 3rd with eight other golfers.

Tiger Woods teed off almost an hour later and posted his 68 to trail by three strokes. Gray Woodland and Tony Finau came in at 3 under in another group of nine golfers.

Nine players tied for second at -4, including Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose, Paul Casey, and Brooks Koepka, who’s round was a little more exciting, six birdies and two bogies. Koepka, who is trying to become the first person to win three-in-a-row since Walter Hagen won four straight in 1924-1927.

Other early risers did not fare as well. Rory McIlroy and Jason Duffner came in at even-par 70. Brandt Snedeker and Steve Stricker scored 2 over par 72’s. Jordan Spieth ended the day at a disappointing 3 over par.

Morning Highlights

Afternoon Rounds

The course did indeed get more difficult as the day went on, with afternoon rounds starting at 3:25 pm Eastern, half past noon on the west coast. Bryson DeChambeau got it to 4 under when he birdied four of the first 10 holes. His next five holes he scored bogey, par, birdie, bogey, and bogey to drop him back to -2 and out of contention for the 1st Round lead. His 68 tied him for 20th along with Tiger.

DeChambeau broke the head of his driver off the shaft on the 7th tee. Fortunately, local rules allowed him to replace the club rather than play the remainder of his round without it.

Don't see that everyday. pic.twitter.com/NFZ1UPYQab

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2020

Brendon Todd’s three birdies on the front nine put him in a position to make a run at the leader. Birdies on 10 and 11 tied him with Day, but a bogey on 14 dropped him back to -4. Birdies on 16 and 17 shot him into sole possession of the lead at 6 under. Then on 18, his drive found the right hand rough. Todd’s approach shot missed the green on the par 4. After chipping on, two putts resulted in a bogey and a tie with Day at 5 under.

Wind In the Afternoon Rounds

Windy conditions played havoc with many afternoon players. A total of 20 golfers could only manage rounds of even par. They included Kevin Na, Bubba Watson, Tommy Fleetwood, and John Rahm.

Jim Furyk, last week’s Ally Challenge winner, shot 1 over par on the day. As did Webb Simpson and Matt Kuchar. Phil Mickelson scored 2 over and tied for 90th. Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia were at -3 to tie Jordan Spieth’s morning round 73 in a tie for 109th.

The Complete Leaderboard for Round 1 of the 2020 PGA Championship