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BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Several big names lurked near the lead after round one of the 90th PGA Championship at Oakland Hills on Thursday.
But no one could catch early starters Robert Karlsson, an introspective Swede, and Jeev Milkha Singh, a short-game ace whose full swing is so unorthodox countryman Daniel Chopra has called him, "an Indian Jim Furyk."
"I made a lot of up-and-downs and I think that my putting helped me quite a bit today," Singh said after taking 29 putts. "My short game was sharp. Didn't drive the ball that good, but any time you shoot under par in a major championship I think you've got to take it and put it deep down in your pocket."
As with Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open and Padraig Harrington at the British, Singh's solid play is reinforcing an old chestnut: Beware the injured golfer.
He injured his right ankle at the French Open almost two months ago, and has severely limited his practice rounds, in some cases forgoing them altogether. So naturally he's won twice in the last seven weeks, once at the Euro Tour's Austrian Open (18 pars on Sunday) and again in Japan two weeks ago.
Players champion Sergio Garcia was a shot off the pace after an opening 69, along with Billy Mayfair, Sean O'Hair and Ken Duke. Anthony Kim, a two-time Tour winner in 2008, played with Garcia and Camilo Villegas (74) in the day's glamour threesome and shot even-par 70.
So did Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA champ, who bogeyed four holes on his first nine but rallied on his second nine, the front.
"I'm just happy to shoot even par today," Mickelson said. "I think that after the start, bogeying the first two holes, I thought it was pretty good to hang in there, fight and make some birdies, because there were a lot of holes that were tough to get to."
Angel Cabrera also was among the eight players at even-par 70.
Kenny Perry, who has three victories this year and would have been a candidate for Player of the Year with a victory this week, withdrew with a scratched cornea after signing for a first-round 79.
Several players noted that the greens were much firmer and faster than they were in the practice rounds, and in fact the PGA of America syringed holes 1, 9 and 18 in the afternoon due to what PGA managing director of championships Kerry Haigh called "dryness of and strain on the grass."
Shortly after that, however, a dark cloud blew in over the course, dumping rain and forcing a suspension of play at 5:33 p.m. By the time players resumed at 6:58, all the greens had been watered, and it was clear not everyone would finish the first round before nightfall.
Andres Romero, the Argentine who made a late run at the 2007 British Open, was one of 78 players on the course when play resumed. He birdied the par-5 12th hole to tie for the lead at 2-under with two holes remaining before play was called because of darkness at 8:39 p.m.
A total of 18 players failed to finish and were scheduled to resume the first round at 8 a.m. Friday. The second round will begin as expected at 7:30 a.m.
Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington were among the afternoon starters to finish; each shot 1-over 71, three back of the leaders.
"I felt like I played a lot better than 71," said Harrington, who birdied his first three holes. "I really struggled on the greens."
A large billboard near the new Detroit airport asks the question, "Who's Your Tiger?" It's meant to be a baseball question, but this week it's more relevant to golf. Mickelson was a natural pick to ease into the throne temporarily vacated by the injured Woods, but not Singh, the first Indian golfer to qualify for the European Tour and the first to play the Masters.
