Morning Report: The Open Championship, Round 1

TULSA, Okla. – Many consider Southern Hills’ 12th the best hole on the property. Its fairway turns left around a bunker before diving down to a green protected by the creek that runs throughout the course. The rolling topography and subtle, but scenic, hazard make No. 12 memorable. The PGA Championship’s headliners arrived there shortly before 9 a.m., while the weather was still cool and a gentle breeze rustled through the trees. Tiger Woods was already under par after an opening birdie that sent the swelling gallery’s collective imagination preparing for a historic Sunday. Woods, leaning on the formula that netted him 15 major championships, hit iron off the 12th tee to ensure he was in the fairway. Rory McIlroy, whose eight years without a major are full of frustrating first rounds, wasn’t interested in the safe play. Though he acknowledged Tuesday that Woods’ conservative approach cuts down on the costly mistakes that have marred McIlroy’s major scorecards in recent years, he wasn’t intent on emulating it. Not this week, at least. The reimagined Southern Hills gives McIlroy room to wield his greatest weapon. And he did. Despite the creek that runs down the left side of No. 12, McIlroy sent his drive sailing over the bunker that guards the corner of the dogleg. The 354-yard tee shot left him just 86 yards to the green on the 461-yard hole. McIlroy’s wedge play often ignites angst, but he stuffed this one to 2 feet. Not exactly the way Perry Maxwell drew it up. But such is the modern game. “I was playing to my spots, and those guys obviously have a different game plan. It’s just different,” said Woods, who parred 12 after hitting his 195-yard approach to 20 feet. “The game is played differently now, and it’s very aggressive.” Few use that strategy better than McIlroy, who seems capable of winning tournaments with his driver alone. Only a handful of players can keep up with him when he’s driving it his best, which he did Thursday, looking like the player who won four majors from 2011-14, including a couple of eight-shot routes. McIlroy shot 65 on Thursday to take the lead after the PGA Championship’s morning wave, averaging 331.6 yards on all tee shots to lead the field in that metric at the midday mark. His two measured drives traveled 369 and 378 drives. And, to top it off, he missed just four fairways. Throw in his final-round 64 en route to a runner-up at Augusta National and McIlroy is now 13 under par in his last two major rounds. It’s just the fifth time that a player has shot lower than 130 in consecutive major rounds. Front-runners have a good history at Southern Hills, as well. The eventual winner in each of the seven previous majors at Southern Hills (four PGAs, three U.S. Opens) has held at least a share of the lead after 26 of the 28 rounds. Every major winner at Southern Hills has held at least a share of the lead after 36 and 54 holes. McIlroy’s birdie at 12 was part of four in a row as he opened with a 4-under 31 on Southern Hills’ back nine. He added two more birdies at Nos. 2 and 5 to put some history within reach, but bogeyed two of the next three holes. He capped the round by holing a 19-foot birdie putt on Southern Hills’ ninth hole. The 65 was McIlroy’s lowest opening round in a major since the 2011 U.S. Open, which was his first victory in a major. “I think when your game is feeling like that, it’s just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world,” McIlroy said. “I did that really well today. It was nice to get off to that good start and sorta keep it going. “I feel like this course, it lets you be pretty aggressive off the tee if you want to be, so I hit quite a lot of drivers out there and took advantage of my length and finished that off with some nice iron play and some nice putting.” Southern Hills’ two par-5s each played more than 630 yards but McIlroy birdied both after reaching a greenside bunker in two shots. He was 4 under on the par-4s, as well. Both his bogeys came on the front nine’s pair of par-3s, but he also birdied the 221-yard 14th after hitting a 6-iron to 25 feet. When Woods won here 15 years ago, he tactically navigated his way around, leaning heavily on his 2-iron stinger to keep his ball out of the thick Bermudagrass rough. That was before Gil Hanse renovated the course to bring it back to its roots. Fairways were widened and trees were removed. The rough is a more manageable 2 inches this week, bringing the dreaded flyer into play while also giving players an opportunity to execute recovery shots. McIlroy’s play was the highlight of Thursday’s marquee group. Woods struggled to a 74 while Jordan Spieth, who’s trying to complete the career Grand Slam this week, shot 72. McIlroy said the wider fairways made the fans feel farther away but he was excited to perform in front of the day’s biggest crowd. “It’s always a cool group to be a part of,” he said. He put on a show Thursday.

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Nelly Korda was never flustered, not by a chasing pack or bad weather that stopped play in the final round of the Olympics. She just moved forward and continued a dominant year.

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Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is itching to get back onto the tee and reignite his PGA TOUR dream. Fuelled by an unprecedented sporting shutdown which saw him seek refuge in Orlando over the past two months, the 39th-ranked golfer in the world will be amongst the stars returning to action at the Charles Schwab Challenge when the TOUR resumes play June 11. Janewattananond, 24, is slated to feature in other tournaments including the RBC Heritage, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and World Golf Championships-FedEx St Jude Invitational, appearances he hopes will help him secure membership on the PGA TOUR. He can also look forward to starts in three of the four majors in the reimagined schedule. “These next few events, it’s going to be great,� Janewattananond said in a recent interview. “I won’t really care what I shoot honestly. I just want to play tournament golf again. … I’m lucky we get to play golf again as every tour around the world is closed.� Janewattananond has been away from his close-knit family since late February after opting to stay in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been living in Orlando, Florida, with former PGA TOUR winner Daniel Chopra and his family. “I’ve tried to keep the spirit up. It feels like you’re in a tunnel and I’m trying to get to the end of the tunnel. It’s tough when you’re far away from home,� he said. While he misses his family dearly, Janewattananond has found comfort through his ‘adopted’ family. Janewattananond and his caddie, Camp Pulit, have been staying with the Chopras since March. “When the shutdown happened, I didn’t want to go back to Thailand as we weren’t sure how long the break would last,� Janewattananond said. “And then, our country shut down and it was too late to get home. We had a hotel room booked for two weeks but (Chopra) made us stay with him. It was good to have some familiar faces around. It felt like family.� Janewattananond has enjoyed staying with Daniel, his wife Samantha and their two children. Janewattananond says he has found renewed vigor for the game and has so enjoyed Bay Hill that he took up a club membership. If he secures his PGA TOUR card, Janewattananond will not hesitate to consider setting up base near the iconic club. He’s spent his time with the Chopras playing basketball and wakeboarding. When golf facilities reopened, Janewattananond and Chopra participated in one-day events on local mini-tours to get the adrenaline flowing again. “I just miss the travelling and going out to play, meeting new people,� Janewattananond said. “One day, we got up at 5 a.m., drove for two hours to the course and teed up. I shot 1 ynder in the first event and didn’t make my money back and in the second one, I shot 2 under and tied Daniel for third place.� The 46-year-old Chopra, who is of Indian-Swede parentage, won his first PGA TOUR event at the 2007 Ginn sur Mer Classic and two events later claimed the season-opening 2008 Sentry Tournament of Champions, beating Steve Stricker in a playoff. “Daniel has a golf net at home and I’ve been grinding,� Janewattananond said. “We’ve played golf almost every day together and Daniel’s a great guy and a great golfer. He loves a side game and when he needs to make a putt, it just comes up for him. I guess that’s why he’s a PGA TOUR winner. Casper, who is 10, is a good golfer too. I wasn’t as good as him when I was his age and he would hit balls all day long. I consider myself a range rat but he’s out-practicing all of us. It kind of gives us a boost for our love towards golf. It’s a good reminder.� With international travel and requirements differing from one country to another, Janewattananond is looking at extending his visa to remain in the U.S. beyond its current expiration in August. With the U.S. Open slated in September and Masters Tournament in November, he is keeping his options open to staying on in the country for remainder of the year. “If I go back to Thailand, I don’t know if we’ll have to go through quarantine or if it’ll be easy to return to the U.S. I’m happy here so maybe it’ll be better to stay on. No one expected this to happen in our lifetime. You’re just moving along and then this happens. A lot of people are more united and helping each other out and I think humanity will come out on the better side of this. “For Daniel and Samantha to open up their home to me and my caddie, they have helped me out so much. You see the nicer part of people and the best of people coming out to help one another.�

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