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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly at the PGA

The Good

Tiger Woods picked up where he left off on Sunday at The Bridgestone Invitational. As a matter of fact so did Padraig Harrington and Robert Allenby. It seems like we just finished watching these three take the top three spots at The Bridgestone on Sunday. Woods was hitting fairways and putting like he means business. Tiger’s bogey free 67 put him in front by one, and he is usually unbeatable when he is ahead. Paddy played well and said he and Tiger were a little more relaxed than on Sunday, they chatted and Paddy even watched a few of Tiger’s shots. Allenby continued his excellent play and if it wasn’t for a double bogey on fifteen he would be tied with Tiger.

Spanish sensation, Alvaro Quiros, was killing the ball and impressed the marquee group when he hit driver from the deck for his second shot on eleven. His ball rolled up on the green as Woods, Harrington and Rich Beem were lining up their putts. That’s two shots that carried 606 yards, uphill into the wind and hit the green. Tiger was so impressed he called it “stupid long.” However the longest drive of the day was 383 yards on number fifteen by Marc Turnesa.

The easiest hole of the day was the par five seventh. It played slightly under par at 4.7

Cheers to the Club Pros playing in the PGA. Only twenty PGA Professionals get in the Championship. These guys work too hard and there should be more slots allocated to the Club Pros. Tied at 72 for low Club Pro were Keith Dicciani, Scott Herbert and Mike Miles.

The Bad

Philly Mick’s putter was working overtime, 34 putts. That’s not how you want to start a major. Phil was showing some rust as he flopped a shot into a bunker and missed three short putts. His two over 74 isn’t a death blow, but he’ll need to go low in round two if he wants to make a run at the lead. Retief Goosen takes a triple bogey seven on number ten on his way to a five over 77. The Goose was supposed to contend; now he’s ten back of Tiger. It’s a long way back. Adam Scott shoots 82 and continues his free fall. Fourteen months ago Scott was the number three player in the world. He is now 46th and dropping. He needs an intervention.

The hardest hole of the day was the par four twelfth, it played half a shot over par at 4.5.

The Ugly

It’s not the pants that John Daly wears that were ugly here. It was another poor, unsettling performance by Big John. He shoots 78 and withdraws claiming a back injury. He posted on his twitter account “flash camera back injury from 3 yrs ago still haunting me–pain is just unbearable making it tough to play.” Daly indeed may have a legitimate injury, but based on his past performance you have to wonder. There has to be some doubts about Daly’s commitment lately. He withdrew here, shot 88 at the Buick to miss the cut and missed the cut at the Canadian Open. Daly has had a difficult time since he has returned from the European Tour where he appeared to flourish. He has said his health is suffering due to the drastic weight loss. It is obvious he needs help. He should have skipped the PGA and taken some time to get healthy, physically and mentally. John still hasn’t got it all together yet and he could use some more help.

It’s too bad that Daly wasted a spot in the field when he probably never should have started. His spot would have been taken by local hero Tim”Lumpy” Herron. Herron grew up minutes from Hazeltine and would have been awarded Daly’s slot if John had not played. That would have been some special rounds of golf if Herron could have played in front of his hometown fans.

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