Tiger Woods was happy with his opening round of 69 that launched his bid for a fifth victory in the US PGA Championship.
The former world No 1 had to battle hard for most of the day at Kiawah Island but felt his start was a positive one as he sat three shots off the early pace set by Sweden's Carl Pettersson.
Woods made a move around the turn with birdies at the 18th, 1st and 2nd holes having started on the back nine, but his score owed much to some brilliant scrambling that stopped him running up big scores on three occasions.
“Anything in the 60s is a good start in a Major championship," said Woods, the 6/1 joint favourite with Rory McIlroy at
Paddy Power. "I'm right there.
“You look up at the board and some guys are four under through six, a bunch of guys three under through five. It was one of those days when everyone can shoot six, seven, eight under.
“But the wind kicked up a bit and it changed things quite a bit. If it had stayed pretty benign, I'm sure you would have had to probably shoot five under to be in the top 10."
Woods played with defending champion Keegan Bradley, who carded a 68 to be two shots off the lead and is 14/1 with
Paddy Power to retain the title.
Bradley said: “I was announced as the PGA champion and it gave me chills.
“The whole day was really fun and I love playing with Tiger. I felt very good and any time I get to play with Tiger I really enjoy it.
“It was great, a little surprising almost. The shot I hit on the 11th hole, our second, was pretty good. And that was big to help calm me down maybe a little bit and focus.”
