Tiger’s hole-out eagle leads to match-play win

The golf gods giveth, the golf gods taketh away. Just four days after reclaiming his position as world No. 1 with a victory at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Justin Thomas (1-over 71) lost his ball in a tree at the par-4 seventh hole at the 102nd PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Nine things to know about Harding Park | Woods opens with solid 68 Thomas was in the marquee group of the morning, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, which started on the back nine. Thomas had double-bogeyed the third hole, but steadied himself with three straight pars to remain at even par as he stood on the seventh tee. He lost his tee shot right. Then he literally lost it. The ball soared into the lush greenery of a cypress tree, and lodged there. “It’s going to be a test, with the overhang of these cypress trees and the ball – there may be a couple lost balls here,” Woods said before the tournament. “Cut a corner and ball hangs up there, that could happen very easily here and has happened and I’m sure will this week as well.” It did. Thomas stood in the rough, looking forlornly up at the tree, recalling a similar moment in the first round of the 2014 John Deere Classic, when he also lost a ball in a tree. He later tweeted: Well, it wasn’t the last time. And it wasn’t funny this time, either. When his ball never came down at TPC Harding Park, Thomas was forced to trudge back to the tee and hit three. It was unlucky, and with the stiff penalty he made another double-bogey. He did well just to salvage a 71 with a birdie at the difficult ninth hole. McIlroy shot even-par 70, Woods 68. To Woods’ point, the incident was somewhat predictable. Lee Janzen saw his ball get stuck in a tree at neighboring Olympic Club at the 1998 U.S. Open, but it fell out just before the five-minute search limit and he went on to win the tournament. Lee Westwood lost his ball at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic. Even Woods, who attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, just down the peninsula from TPC Harding Park, admitted to having lost golf balls to the cypress trees. “Well, not here,” he said. “I’ve had a few at (nearby) Lake Merced. That’s one of the tightest golf courses and most claustrophobic places that I’ve ever played. Yeah, I’ve lost a few there.”

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The Wells Fargo Championship offers plenty of notable names to watch this week at Quail Hollow, including two-time champion Rory McIlroy and a past champ who’s making his long-awaited return to this event — Tiger Woods. Both are former FedExCup winners. In fact, there are five FedExCup winners in the 156-player field, including reigning champ Justin Thomas, who’s also the current FedExCup standings leader. This week’s event offers players the last chance to grab a spot in next week’s THE PLAYERS Championship. Players who are not yet eligible can secure a place at TPC Sawgrass by either winning the Wells Fargo Championship or moving inside the top 10 of the FedExCup standings after the completion of play Sunday. PGA TOUR LIVE will offer live streaming coverage of the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday starting with Featured Groups at 7 a.m. ET. Weekend coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET. Golf Channel’s coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET for the first two rounds and 1 p.m. ET on the weekend, with CBS carrying weekend coverage starting at 3 p.m. PGA TOUR Radio’s coverage begins at Noon ET for the first two rounds and 1 p.m. ET on the weekend. Here’s a look at the Featured Groups this week at Quail Hollow, with current FedExCup position in parentheses: Justin Thomas (1), Rickie Fowler (17), Brian Harman (18) — Thomas, who could move to world No. 1 this week, is making his return to Quail Hollow after winning the PGA Championship there last year. Fowler also knows what it’s like to win at Quail Hollow — he won the 2012 Wells Fargo Championship. Harman is the defending champ, having birdied the last two holes to beat Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez by a stroke at Eagle Point Golf Club.  Tee Times: Thursday 12:40 p.m. ET, Friday 7:30 a.m. ET (off No. 10) Patrick Reed (5), Tiger Woods (53), Brooks Koepka (108) — Woods, making his first start in this event since 2012, won the 2007 Wells Fargo — it’s his only PGA TOUR win in nine career starts in the state of North Carolina. This will be his seventh start of the season as he continues his comeback after a year-long absence. The 14-time major winner will be joined by two reigning major champs in Koepka (2017 U.S. Open) and Reed (2018 Masters). Reed’s best result in five previous Wells Fargo appearances is a T-12 last year; Koepka is making his first start in this event.  Tee Times: Thursday 12:50 p.m. ET, Friday 7:40 a.m. ET (off No. 10) Phil Mickelson (4), Jason Day (16), Daniel Berger (70) — The Wells Fargo Championship is one of eight PGA TOUR events in which Mickelson has made 10 or more starts without a win. On the flip side, he’s made the cut in each of his 14 previous starts, the most consecutive cuts made by a player in this event, and also has nine top-10 finishes. Jason Day is making his first Wells Fargo start since 2012; since his last start, he’s won 10 times on TOUR. Berger’s best result in three previous starts is a T-17 two years ago.  Tee Times: Thursday 7:40 a.m. ET (off No. 10), Friday 12:50 p.m. ET Paul Casey (14), Rory McIlroy (32), James Hahn (40) — McIlroy, who won at Quail Hollow in 2010 and 2015, is the only multiple winner of this event; the 2010 win was his first on the PGA TOUR. Hahn also is a past winner at Quail Hollow, having won two years ago. Casey (Valspar Championship) and McIlroy (Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard) won during the Florida swing earlier this season.  Tee Times: Thursday 7:30 a.m. ET (off No. 10), Friday 12:40 p.m. ET

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Ryan Palmer surged into the lead with consecutive birdies midway through the back nine and was up two shots after two rounds at the Valero Texas Open.

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