Snarling Tiger slumps again

DARREN CLARKE, Justin Leonard, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh were just some of those who brought the so called “unplayable” Whistling Straits course to its knees in yesterday’s first round of the US PGA Championship.

But don’t look for the name of Tiger Woods at or near the top of the leaderboard. The slump - and surely it can be called that after such a long run of indifferent form, especially in the majors - continues and without any sign of abating. Woods shot 75 in yesterday’s relatively benign conditions and with so many good players already miles ahead of him, it is almost impossible to see him redressing the imbalance. Indeed, it could even become a battle for him now to be here for the week-end.

Not for the first time, he snarled at a photographer although on this occasion at least his feisty caddy Steve Williams refrained from manhandling the errant snapper.

Woods accepts he is already in big trouble. “I wanted to shoot under par but didn’t do it,” he murmured.

With John Daly crashing to an 80 and delivering his US Ryder Cup team hopes a potentially ruinous blow, it must have been extremely difficult for Vijay Singh to maintain his focus. To his credit, the Fijian did so in style as he signed for a five under par 67.

“There was a huge crowd out there, it was intense and there was a lot of cheering,” Vijay said diplomatically. “JD didn’t play that well but hopefully he comes back well tomorrow. It was a fun group and I enjoyed playing with the guys.”

Daly lamented how a new two iron that had clicked in practice let him down when it mattered most and cost him dearly at several holes and especially the 4th where he took a double bogey six. “I could kick myself in the ass right now for not hitting driver there like Tiger and Vijay did.” Then followed a comment one had never expected to hear from The Wild Thing: “I’m just going to have to get a little more aggressive tomorrow”

As for the grouping itself, Daly said: “It’s great to play with those two guys. We thought we could feed off each other. It’s a major. I just hung in there. I tried on every shot. I didn’t pay attention to the Ryder Cup coming in here. My preparation was perfect. I would never try to lobby Hal 1/8Sutton, the US captain3/8. Whoever he picks, we are going to have a great team. I’m just trying to do the best I can.”

In many ways, of course, there are two tournaments taking place, the PGA and the battle for places in the Ryder Cup teams. Fifty-year-old Jay Haas is 10th in the US points table and in the last of the automatic places. He certainly has stolen a march on those behind him with yesterday’s 68.

“It’s been in my mind since I got into a good position at the end of last year,” he said. “It’s been my goal. But I don’t go into each round thinking I need to play well because of the Ryder Cup or if I make a bogey, well, that’s going to cost me the Ryder Cup, or if I make a birdie, think that I’m now in good shape.”

A top ten finish should clinch it for Haas who will, however, be aware that Scott Verplank, currently in 14th place, is a shot better off after yesterday’s 67 while cheered that Stuart Cink (12th) could do no better than 73. Over on the European side of the equation, there was a strong nudge from England’s Luke Donald, the recent winner of the Scandinavian Masters, when he got to five under after 12 holes, while Paul McGinley, three under after eight but back to two under through ten holes, was also maintaining his recent impressive run. Paul Casey, 74, Ian Poulter, 73, Joakim Haeggman and Fredrik Jacobsson, have a lot of work to do after yesterday although in the European case, the team won’t be a done deal until two weeks next Sunday in Munich.

Ernie Els doesn’t have any of these distractions. His 66 was a masterful effort that leaves him ideally poised to pounce for the last major of the year having gone so close in the Masters and British Open and to a lesser extent in the US Open. He proved himself yet again to be a class act in coping with a course of such an unpredictable nature. Els said: “I wasn’t sure what to expect scoring-wise because the practice rounds were pretty difficult. It’s a very tough course but if we have decent weather, we can cope. It was a fair set-up. As for making up for previous disappointments this year, I’m fine. It’s been a funny season. I had a chance to win all three but I can’t bring back what happened.”