Gary Woodland, who has never cracked the top-10 in 27 major starts, fired a six-under par 64 to grab a one-stroke lead over fellow American Rickie Fowler after the opening round of the 100th PGA Championship.
On a day when Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy grinded out level par, unlikely Woodland -- who snapped a five-year PGA victory drought by winning in February at Phoenix -- unleashed the best putting round of his career at Bellerive Country Club.
"When I see putts go in, that just gets me going," Woodland said. "It's really starting to click. I thought I was putting well. It was nice to see them go in."
"Keep putting ourselves in position, get in contention. We'll just keep beating down that door."
"It was nice to get the jitters over early," Woodland said. "I really settled in. I played great all day."
"It kept me in the golf tournament," Woods said. "I could have easily gone the other way, but I hung in there and turned it around."
"I was able to grind out a score today."
"I gave myself a few chances. I finished off with nine pars. It could have been a little better."
"I'm definitely happy about the start and we'll see if we can keep that rolling," Fowler said. "I kept it very stress free. Just played within myself."
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