Rusty Woods off pace but refuses to give up hope

Tiger Woods neatly summed up his opening round of the 96th US PGA Championship in four words on Thursday.

“It wasn’t very good,” Woods said after a three-over-par 74 at Valhalla which featured four bogeys and just one birdie courtesy of chipping in on the 16th.

All eyes had been on Woods after he declared himself pain free and said he was targeting a 15th Major title this week, despite getting in just nine holes of practice on Wednesday after withdrawing from the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a back injury last Sunday.