Tiger Woods 9 shots behind Koepka in first round of U.S. PGA

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The PGA Championship began poorly for Tiger Woods. Although he got masterful in the middle of the round, things then fell apart down the stretch.

Woods was paired with defending champion Brooks Koepka, who shot a 63 Thursday on a somewhat benign Bethpage Black. A nine-shot deficit after one round was not exactly what the galleries cheering his every move projected for Woods as he comes off his Masters' victory, his 15th major championship.

Hardly what Woods expected, either, but when you don't stay in the fairway off the tee and miss a bunch of makeable putts, a 72 is what you get.

Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York, U.S., May 16, 2019. /VCG Photo

"It wasn't as clean as I'd like to have it, for sure," Woods said of his 6 on the par-4 10th hole.

"It was a good drive and ended up in a bad spot, and I compounded the problem with trying to use the backboard behind the hole there and missing a putt I should have made.

"I didn't take advantage of my opportunities there," he said, reviewing all of his bad holes in near-perfect conditions. "I thought I hit a good drive at 1 — or sorry, 10 ended up in — I had no lie. On 17, I hit it up against the face and it plugs, and we get down there and there's no sand but a lot of rocks (in the bunker). It was just bizarre."

Brooks Koepka hits his tee shot on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black Golf Course in New York, U.S., May 16, 2019. /VCG Photo

Compared to Koepka, Woods is not exactly in a good spot after the opening round. Woods, who skipped practice on Wednesday because he "felt a little bit sick," said he was fine on Thursday. His game was not.

That, of course, could change. Woods wasn't front and center in the picture at the Masters after the first round, though he certainly was in contention.

Source(s): AP