Gary Woodland rose out of the pack and grabbed the PGA Championship Round 1 lead Thursday at Bellerive Country Club.
Woodland erased Rickie Fowler's early-morning lead, which looked like it was going to hold up most of the morning, with a 6-under 64. Woodland birdied seven of his last 11 holes to jump ahead of Fowler.
We've got a new leader!
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) August 9, 2018
Gary Woodland takes the outright lead with this birdie putt on 17. pic.twitter.com/sXA6nF98Iy
Still without a top-10 finish at a major championship, Woodland has set himself up for a career-changing week.
Fowler took the early lead with a 5-under 65. He, too, found his best form late, birdieing five of his last 11 holes. With the course playing soft early in the morning, Fowler was able to roll in four birdies on the tough front nine.
"I think it's fairly simple. It's fairly straightforward out there as a golf course," Fowler said after his round. "It's got some length. It's not obviously playing short. You don't have a bunch of wedges. You get some mid irons. You get some long irons on the par 4s. You've got to ball strike your way around."
South African Brandon Stone, who enjoyed a breakthrough victory at the Scottish Open earlier this year, shot a 4-under 66 after finishing the day with five birdies and one bogey.
"I think Quail Hollow chewed me up and spit me out quite quickly last year. But, yeah, it's all experience," Stone said after his opening round. "It's all being a part of this atmosphere and being with the spectators, how incredible they are, and there's just so many people out here today. It's not something we're typically used to.
"But having those two past previous experiences at the PGA Championship really built on that, and I really engaged with the fans out there today. It kind of kept me at ease, kept me nice and loose. Yeah, it seems to have worked."
Two-time major champion Zach Johnson joined Stone at 4 under. Johnson had a nice run in the middle of his round, birdieing four out of five holes on either side of the turn. He made a bogey late in his round to fall back to 3 under, but rebounded with a birdie on his closing hole.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson led a host of players tied at 3 under. Johnson reached 5 under at one point, but two late bogeys derailed his momentum. Jason Day, Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Kevin Kisner were among the players who also shot 3-under 67s.
Belgian Thomas Pieters also shot a 3-under 67. The former University of Illinois star broke out with his impressive performances at the 2016 Ryder Cup, but he is on the outside looking in of the competition this year after a rough season.
Hideki Matsuyama, Kyle Stanley and reigning Open Championship winner Francesco Molinari led a group at 2 under.
Defending champion Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood headlined a group at 1 under. Thomas won last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
"It was pretty wild out there for a Thursday," Thomas said. "There was a lot of people. Very respectful. It was a fun day. It was very, very benign conditions there for the first 14, 15 holes. We got a little breeze like this, 10 miles an hour. So the last bit. But, yeah, it was a fun one out there."
Tiger Woods shot an even-par 70. He started his day with a bogey and a double-bogey, but regrouped to remain in the mix. Woods played his last 10 holes bogey free at 3 under, so he may have figured Bellerive out along the way.
"Just hung in there," Woods said after his round. "I was trying to grind away at it, pick away at it, and trying to get to maybe 1-over par at the turn and ended up being 2 where it was. Just trying to chip away at it. A par 5 and a couple short par 4s on the front nine. Just keep hanging in there. I was hitting the ball alright. If I could somehow get myself in the right sections, I could hole a few putts.
"I was able to grind out a score today."
Rory McIlroy, who played alongside Woods, also shot an even-par 70.