M. Lee, Knight lead on LPGA; Zhang 2 shots back

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Tiger Woods is back. Today’s opening round of the PGA Championship is his first competitive round since his memorable victory at the Masters. Woods said he feels “rested and readyâ€� after taking four weeks to enjoy his first major victory in more than a decade. He’ll need all the energy he can muster to tackle a big and brawny Black Course at Bethpage State Park. The 7,459-yard layout is playing even longer because of cold, wet conditions. Penal rough will make finding fairways even more important, especially with so many elevated greens. RELATED: Leaderboard | Tee times | Tiger ‘rested and ready’ | Rethinking Tiger’s future | Tiger ‘welcomes’ playing in Olympics Woods is playing the first two rounds with Francesco Molinari and Brooks Koepka, a group that features the past three major winners. They’re accustomed to facing each other in golf’s Grand Slam events. Koepka and Molinari finished second to Woods at the Masters. It was Koepka who held off Woods at last year’s PGA, and Molinari played alongside Woods en route to victory at The Open. This may be a new date and new site for the PGA Championship, but it is familiar territory for Woods. He won the 2002 U.S. Open here. That’s the only year he won the first two majors of the year. Once again, he’s trying to start the season with major wins at Augusta National and Bethpage Black. History may be on his side. The last time the PGA was played in May, the winner was the same man who’d won the Masters a month earlier. That was Sam Snead in 1949. Woods can tie Snead’s record for PGA TOUR victories (82) this week. He’s also seeking his 16th major championship. Stay here for live updates of his round. ROUND 1: TIGER HOLE-BY-HOLE No. 10 (par 4, 502 yards): No. 11 (par 4, 435 yards): No. 12 (par 4, 515 yards): No. 13 (par 5, 608 yards): No. 14 (par 3, 161 yards): No. 15 (par 4, 484 yards): No. 16 (par 4, 490 yards): No. 17 (par 3, 207 yards): No. 18 (par 4, 411 yards): FIRST 9 STATS: No. 1 (par 4, 430 yards): No. 2 (par 4, 389 yards): No. 3 (par 3, 230 yards): No. 4 (par 5, 517 yards): No. 5 (par 4, 478 yards): No. 6 (par 4, 408 yards): No. 7 (par 4, 524 yards): No. 8 (par 3, 210 yards): No. 9 (par 4, 460 yards):

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Scottie Scheffler’s pursuit of a second major championship is off to a strong start. The Masters champion recently shot 64 in a practice round at Tulsa’s Southern Hills Country Club, which will host next week’s PGA Championship. It’s a course where Scheffler has been victorious before, having won the 2015 Big 12 Conference Championship at the historic Perry Maxwell design that has undergone a dramatic renovation by Gil Hanse. Scheffler, who holds a sizable lead in the FedExCup after winning four of his last six individual starts, made the trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his Zurich Classic of New Orleans partner, Ryan Palmer, to get a sneak peek at the new-look layout. Scheffler shot an “easy” 64 in last Thursday’s practice round, according to Southern Hills assistant pro Cameron Chhim, who caddied for Scheffler. “He played one ball the entire time, no practice putts, and made it look easy,” Chhim told Golf Oklahoma. “He’s No. 1 in the world and it was pretty easy to see why. It would be hard to say that he’s not going to win (the PGA) or at least be in contention. He hits it far enough and he has just incredible distance control with his irons. Ryan (Palmer) shot 2 or 3 under and looked like he was standing still based on how Scottie was playing.” Chhim said Scheffler’s round included six back-nine birdies. Scheffler, who is trying to become the first player since fellow Dallas resident Jordan Spieth (2015) to win the year’s first two majors, has said Southern Hills is one of his favorite courses, and it’s easy to see why. “His proximity on most was 6 to 8 feet,” Chhim added about the somewhat waterlogged round. “The greens weren’t slow, but they were wet. His speed control was good and just took the break out of a lot of them. He looked like he was converting them easily.” Chhim said Scheffler shot 1 under on the front nine before a rain delay. Then he ran off birdies on Nos. 10-13, 15 and 17. Scheffler is playing the AT&T Byron Nelson this week in his hometown of Dallas. The tournament was the site of Scheffler’s PGA TOUR debut eight years ago, as he made a hole-in-one and finished T22 while still in high school.

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Casey rejoins European Tour, eyes Ryder return

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