Tiger Woods updates: PGA Championship, Round 1

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):

Click here to read the full article…