Europeans struggle in Atlanta

Paul Casey collapsed to his highest score in the USPGA Championship for eight years today – and eight of them came on one hole.

In danger of missing out on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup play-offs like Tiger Woods, Casey went from four over par to 12 over with a 78.

But he was not the only European to struggle. Rory McIlroy turned in 40, Ian Poulter dropped five strokes in the first four holes and Padraig Harrington bogeyed three of the first six.

Out first with a non-competing marker – a local professional – after making the cut with nothing to spare, Casey ran up a quadruple bogey at the 467-yard eighth.

After pulling his drive into the lake he then found a bunker, failed to make it onto the green at the first attempt and then three-putted from the fringe.

“You don’t need to do too much wrong to have a score like that on this course,” said England’s former world number three, who has been battling with a foot problem all summer.

He is currently 147th in the play-off standings, but unlike Woods is entered for next week’s final qualifying event.

“I’ll probably need a top-10 finish, maybe even top five,” he said, adding that if he fails to make it he could well return to Europe to play for Britain and Ireland in the Seve Trophy in Paris on September 15-18.

McIlroy, with less bandaging on his right arm today after his injury hitting a tree root on Thursday, resumed three over, but missed the opening and three-putted for a double-bogey six that left him 10 behind surprise halfway leaders Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley.

And that gap became 13 when he bogeyed the third, sixth and eighth.

Poulter, two over overnight, also double-bogeyed the first and then dropped more shots on the next three.

He did birdie the fifth and seventh, but in between came another bogey to leave him six over.

Going much better, though, were Italian Francesco Molinari and Florida-based Londoner Brian Davis.

Molinari birdied three of the first four, turned in a brilliant 32 and with another birdie on the 442-yard 10th was up into a tie for 14th on one under with Lee Westwood, yet to resume.

Davis birdied the first and fifth, meanwhile, to improve to level par and joint 18th spot.