By Rahul Banerji
Canada’s Corey Conners took a two-shot lead on the opening day of the PGA Championship, the year’s second Major, at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island on Thursday.
Conners was two ahead of a group of six that included four-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, FedEx Cup no. 2 Viktor Hovland Keegan Bradley. Aaron Wise, Cam Davis and Sam Horsefield.
Defending champion Collin Morikawa was a further shot back in shared eighth place.
Koepka’s 69 meant he opened the PGA Championship with a score in the 60s for the sixth consecutive year, the longest such run at the Majors since 1934.
Pre-event favourites Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson struggled to a 3-over par 75 and 4-over 76 respectively.
Johnson’s 76 ended a nine-year active streak of rounds in the 60s at the PGA Championship, the longest on record.
Special invitee Phil Mickelson was alongside Morikawa on 70, his third under-par first-round score in his last 15 appearances at the PGA Championship with a back-nine surge that saw him pick up four shots.
No bogey-free cards were recorded on a day the scoring average was 74.781 on the par-72 course.
Asian push
Of the Asian challenge, reports pgatour.com, Koreas’ Sungjae Im produced a battling 2-under 70 for tied eighth place to keep the continent in the hunt for back-to-back major triumphs.
A month after Hideki Matsuyama’s historic victory at the Masters, the 23-year-old Im rallied with an eagle and birdie over his closing three holes at to bounce back from an outbound 37.
Matsuyama signed for a 73 which featured three birdies, two bogeys and one double to end in a share of 41st place with amongst others, Korea’s Byeong Hun An.
Three-time PGA Tour winner Si Woo Kim, Takumi Kanaya and Y.E. Yang, Asia’s first male major champion when he won the 2009 PGA Championship, were T77 with 75s.
An off week at home in Atlanta was the tonic Im needed to clear his head after missing a rare cut at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago when he shot his career worst round on Tour with an 82.
In his fourth PGA Championship and tied second in the 2020 Masters Tournament, Im had a mixed bag on his outward nine from the 10th tee.
However, he eagled the seventh from 13 feet and then rolled in a 14-footer at the next to haul himself into contention.
Tough run
Matsuyama made birdies on holes 11, 2 and 7 but dropped a couple of bogeys and one double.
“It is a very difficult golf course, and the scores may be even higher later on in the week. So we just have to hang in there and do our best,” said the 29-year-old.
“Actually my energy level is good. I’m really not tired, but my game isn’t where it should be. All my focus is on that right now,” said the six-time PGA Tour winner.
“Playing the last five holes, four holes in 1-over isn’t really that bad, but that three-putt at 18 kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.
“Before becoming a Major champion, you’re always grinding, pushing, and have never done it before.
“But since I’ve done it, like today, it was a little bit easier to play tournament golf.”
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond shot a 77 while last week’s winner of the AT&T Byron Nelson, K.H. Lee opened with a 78 to leave himself in danger of missing the cut.
Also read: Rory McIlroy overcomes some demons in third Wells Fargo victory
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