Westwood sets early pace

While his wife attended the funeral of Darren Clarke’s wife Heather in Northern Ireland, Lee Westwood set the early pace in the US PGA championship in Chicago today.

Westwood, encouraged by his Ryder Cup partner Clarke to compete in the event rather than return to Britain, went to the turn in a four-under-par 32 to lead by one from a group which included fellow Englishman Kenneth Ferrie.

Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington were only two back – and so were Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, whose head-to-head had thrills and spills right from the start.

Westwood’s last trip to Medinah Country Club was for the same event in 1999 and he was in contention until wilting in the heat and humidity of a third round played in the company of eventual winner Woods.

The Worksop golfer was close to collapse on the back nine that day and had to be put on a drip by medics afterwards, but on his return to the same holes he was in sparkling form.

Striving to retain his Ryder Cup place as much as win a first major title – he is only 26th in the race with just two more weeks to come – Westwood chipped to two feet on the long 10th after slightly pulling his second into the rough.

He did follow another birdie at the short 13th with a bogey six, but then came a hat-trick of birdies to complete the inward half.

Ferrie was doubtful on the eve of the event because of a recurrence of the back trouble which forced him out of the Open championship four weeks ago.

The Northumberland 27-year-old, who jointly led the US Open with Mickelson with a round to play in June before slipping back to sixth, was also having to play with a replacement set of clubs after his own were lost en route to America at the weekend.

Ferrie, taking pain-killers before he teed off, opened with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th, three-putted the 12th, but then holed from 12, 10 and five feet on the next three greens.

The eagerly-awaited duel between Open champion Woods and defending champion and Masters champion Mickelson – with US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy as the third in the group – did not begin well for the world number one.

Woods’ hooked drive down the 10th hit a tree and marshals had to search for it in the rough. He should still have been able to par, but from around 140 yards his third shot sailed over the green and after chipping 25 feet past and two-putting, a bogey six went on his card.

Mickelson, on the other hand, hit a 260-yard fairway wood from the edge of the rough onto the distant green and two-putted for birdie, then added another from five feet on the next while his great rival missed a nine-foot birdie chance.

Things then turned back Woods’ way, though. An enormous 350-yard drive down the 12th – he had already used the club more than he did the entire week of his Open triumph – almost reached the people crossing the fairway.

From there he spun his pitch to six feet and holed and, after saving par with a seven-footer on the short 13th, he birdied the next two to draw level with Mickelson.

With Ogilvy there the group contained the winners of six of the last seven majors, but the Australian, after birdies at the 10th and 12th, had a bogey six two holes later and then a double-bogey six on the 16th to be one over.

Before the first shots were hit a prayer service was held by the clubhouse in memory of Clarke’s wife, who lost her cancer battle on Sunday.

American Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, a committed Christian, was chosen to lead the service and he spoke eloquently to an audience of around 60 including players, wives and girlfriends, caddies, officials and media.

Thomas Bjorn, a near neighbour of Clarke, was among those very emotional. The Dane, joint runner-up to Mickelson last year, had to tee off an hour later and he struggled to the turn in a two-over 38.

Harrington, also present, is donating his prize money this week to breast cancer research and after an opening bogey he had birdies at the second, fifth and seventh.

The event was not four hours old when news came of another death, Ernie Els’ father-in-law at the age of 87 after a short illness. Els’ wife Liezl left to fly home to South Africa.

Westwood bogeyed the first to be three under and Ferrie dropped a shot on the 474-yard sixth to stand two under.

Donald, like Bjorn dressed in all black, birdied the short second to join Westwood, but by then there was an American one-two at the top.

Billy Andrade led at five under after 14 holes, having been called in as a reserve on the eve of the event following the withdrawal of Steve Elkington, joint second with Bjorn last year.

One behind was Brett Wetterich, the man in the 10th and last automatic spot in the American Ryder Cup standings going into their last event.

Woods and Mickelson remained two under after 10.