PGA Championship 2018 Bellerive looks to be a career-changer plus nine Round 1 takeaways

Mickelson not a fan of Le Golf National

5. Wait, who is Brandon Stone?The South African has had an interesting summer. He hadnt places in the top 20 anywhere in the world since the Dunhill Links Championship in 2017 before going out and winning a loaded Scottish Open the week before the Open Championship. He followed that with a T61 at The Open that included a surrender cobra for the ages before shooting a 4-under 66 on Thursday with five birdies and just one bogey. Does he have staying power? I dont know about that, but I do know winning the Scottish Open — with a 60 (!) in the final round, no less — is a big deal.

Brandt Snedeker maintains Safeway lead

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Youve got to drive it on the fairway, said McIlroy after shooting 70. Even when you do, with how soft the greens are and theyre up on these little ledges … you have to be so accurate with your irons.

Mickelson in the hunt at Safeway Open

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Z. Johnson (5.4 strokes gained): 34th tee to green 3rd putting

Who knows, maybe somebody like McIlroy (70) or Spieth (71) comes from deep to capture the tournament like Thomas did last year, but for now, it seems as if somebody without a long major championship resume is probably going to win the golf tournament. Thats awesome in a way that only golf can be, and as a result, we kind of get the best of both worlds here — a really great board but also the opportunity for a life-changing win come Sunday.

Lefty started rolling on Thursday, but can he keep it up?

What I find fascinating about this group when you attach it to the top four on the board is that the entire top 31 on the board — everyone at or within four of the lead — has just eight total majors (and Zach Johnson has two of them!).

– This player fits that criteria, & also leads all players in the PGA Champ since 13 in birdies, scoring avg & Rds in the top-10

Fowler (6.4 strokes gained): 1st tee to green 71st putting

PGA Championship 2018: Bellerive looks to be a career-changer, plus nine Round 1 takeaways

Woodland (7.4 strokes gained): 17th tee to green 1st putting

– 13 of the last 14 were top-35 entering the week in SG Tee To Green

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PGA Championship 2018: Bellerive looks to be a career-changer, plus nine Round 1 takeaways

Mickelson did not think hed compete at the Safeway Open, but hes only three strokes back

Brandon Stone on his first-round 66: To have 40,000 or 50,000 people here supporting you and cheering you onevery birdie you made, there were huge screams. Im a kid from South Africa. I have nothing to do with St. Louis. The spectators have obviously been incredible.

There is just one multiple-major winner within five of Gary Woodlands lead

Kyle Porter began his sports writing career with CBS Sports in 2012. He covers golf, writes poetry about Rory McIlroys swing, stays ready on Tiger watch and loves the Masters more than anyone you know….Full Bio

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Gary Woodland made 152 feet of putts today, his most in any round in his PGA Tour career.

It is playing fairly long and you kind of have to pick and choose which holes you kind of maybe play aggressive on, hit driver, take on some of the corners or bunkers and where you lay back, said Fowler after his 65. You start driving it in the rough and missing greens, start scrambling, I feel like thats where kind of the bogeys come.

ST. LOUIS — On a muggy, thick day in the midwest (arent they all, though?), Gary Woodland took the first-round lead at the 2018 PGA Championship by one stroke over Rickie Fowler.

6. A Tiger circle:The atmosphere on a Thursday morning was pretty stimulating for the Tiger-McIlroy-Thomas group. Tiger talked openly after the round about how he feels everything has come full circle.

Among those within three or four of the lead are Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose and Thomas Pieters — all at 67 — along with Webb Simpson, Francesco Molinari, Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama and Marc Leishman at 68.

.@JustinThomas34broke the tracer. ?

Find out when and how to watch the 2018 Safeway Open live this week

7. Shot of the day:This was honestly my favorite shot of the entire day. I cannot stop watching it.

Snedeker carries a three-stroke lead into Sunday in Napa

8. Day lurks:Of the guys at 3 under, I think Day is the most dangerous. He only made one bogey on Thursday, and when he starts grooving like he is right now, it can sometimes be like trying to tackle a runaway freight train. Also, these stats would have been nice a few days ago when I was trying to make my picks!

I told the story the other night at the Champions Dinner when I played with Jack [Nicklaus] at Valhalla, 18 years ago, that was his last PGA. He was telling me the story that he played with Gene Sarazen in his last PGA. Its interesting what this game of golf can do, how we can basically last for so many different generations.

The reason why I was telling the story is because J.T. invited me to speak on behalf of himself and PGA of America a little bit, and J.T. was 7 years old when we were at Valhalla,. He was in the clubhouse when I made that putt on 18. So kind of trying to tie in Gene Sarazen, Jack, and little J.T. there, and now hes PGA champion for the last year, 17 years later. So its pretty neat.

Phil Mickelson two back to open Safeway

McIlroy: My shot of the day? I dont think I had one. I dont know. They were all okay.

Reporter: What was your best shot of the day?

4. Rory McIlroys woes:As always, everything is on a curve for a four-time major winner. Shooting a 70 on Thursday was hardly an abomination, but I think we all expected more from McIlroy. I followed him for much of the morning, and his swing just doesnt look as taut as it has in the past. Even still, hes putting himself in position to score a little bit and not taking advantage. He missed putts of 7 feet, 9 feet, 10 feet and 14 feet on Thursday and summed up his day nicely afterwards.

When we talk about loaded leaderboards, often we talk about heavyweight major champs — the Jordan Spieths, Rory McIlroys and Phil Mickelsons of the world. It seems like this tournament, though, has a chance to be a career-changer for somebody with no major wins (Woodland, Fowler or Matsuyama) or even somebody who has just one (Rose, Day and Dustin Johnson). Going from the one major club to the two major club is a huge deal — especially since there are currently just 82 folks who have won two or more … in the history of golf.

Mickelson unconvinced of own success

1. Sustainability of scores:Not all low scores are created equal so lets take a look at the top three. I get nervous when guys are posting scores by putting out of their minds. If Im looking purely at what is more sustainable over the course of an event, I think Fowler is in the perfect spot.

Stone (5.4 strokes gained): 24th tee to green 5th putting

2. Course is kind of tough:Bellerive is playing tougher than I initially thought it would. The scoring average on Thursday was about a stroke and a half over par, but I fully expected a modest PGA Tour event to break out at this final major of 2018. Instead, guys went to war for something under par.

9. If I had to re-pick:Id go with Day or Fowler. Day feels like the right choice here, but Fowler has to win one of these at some point, right?! My confidence level in him is not super high consider how he ping-ponged around the Bridgestone leaderboard last weekend, but when hes on, heson. Well see if it holds.

Mickelson is even surprising himself with how well hes playing in Napa at the Safeway Ope…

– 12 of the last 14 PGA Champs had already won that year worldwide

3. How close should you be?I love going back and looking at how many years in a row a given event has produced a winner from inside the top 10 or top 15 after the first round. In other words,how important is is to shoot a great score in Round 1 at an event?You dont have to go back many PGAs to realize that the recent answer here is not very. Justin Thomas won last years tournament after being six back and outside the top 40 after 18 holes. It feels like everyone is still in it.

Woodland fired a stunning 6-under 64 in the slightly tougher afternoon wave that included a bogey at the first hole but a 30 on the back nine. Fowler (65) trails him by a stroke, and Brandon Stone and Zach Johnson (66) sit just behind him. Following that group of four is a set of 27 players at 2 under or 3 under. Those are the ones I want to discuss.