LATEST ACTION (all times BST)  | 606: DEBATE |
To get involved use 606 or text us your comments on 81111. (Not all contributions can be used; texts charged at your usual rate)  0130: That's all for round one, folks. See you same time, same place on Friday for round two. 0115: American Ben Crane ends with a par for a round of two-under 70. 0110: Apologies, Cink's was a one-over 73 (see 0030) 0054: Luke Donald finishes with a 71 for one under. The highest placed player left on the course is American Ben Crane at two under after 17. 0035: Phil Mickelson ends with a two-over 74, seven shots adrift of Woods. Lefty only found six fairways on day one. Playing partner David Toms, the 2001 USPGA champion, ends with a 69 to tie for third on three under. 0030: Open champion Stewart Cink was five over after five holes, including a shank out of a bunker, but fights back admirably to card a one-over 71. Luke Donald birdies 16 to get to one under. 0023: Big-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros took just two blows to reach the green on the 606-yard par-five 11th. His approach gave the group in front the hurry-up - and they were Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem. Here's their reactions. Woods: "It's just absolutely phenomenal. You know how big a hit that is? I said, 'Nothing to apologize for. That's a hell of a shot. That's just stupid long." Beem: "We were all like, 'Holy ...' Put a couple of asterisks in there. Just unbelievable. I can't believe how far he hit those two shots. I killed a driver and killed a 3-wood, and I had 86 yards to the hole." Harrington: "We were all greatly amused by the fact that there was a player out there who can actually hit a ball like that." 0018: Impressive Dane Soren Kjeldsen ends with a 70 for two under. Ian Poulter bogeys 18 to end level par for the day. Shame, he was going well. 0011: So that's Vijay Singh back home with a round of 69 for three under and a share of third place at three under. Best round of the afternoon starters in stiffer breeze. From Simon Haddaway on email: "Do you think Daly is having a crisis of form, or do you think he has lost his love for the game?" Unfortunately, I think Big John is a troubled character and there's a host of things going on with him. He did, though, complain of a back injury before the round, moaning that he never got injured when he was fat. 0008: Colin Montgomerie ends with a bogey five for a round of 75, three over. England's Brian Davis, a former columnist for the BBC Sport website, finishes four over. 0000: England's Luke Donald is battling hard and picks up a shot on the 14th to edge to level par. Alastair Forsyth bogeys the 6th, his 15th, to fall back to one over. Ian Poulter mars a good round with a bogey at the 17th to slip back to one under. 2351: John Daly, who was looking disinterested after wasting a handful of shots in the last few holes, has apparently withdrawn, citing a back injury. 2348: From Matthew O'Shea on email: "Was just curious as to how long this golf course took to be built and who the designer was, any ideas on this question?" Well, here's the official USPGA website on the course. Hope that helps. 2332: We could be in for a big finish here as Vijay Singh and David Toms edge to three under after 16 and 14 holes respectively. Leaderboard:-5 T Woods -4 P Harrington -3 R Allenby, M Goggin, H Mahan, A Quiros, V Singh, D Toms 2327: "What's the latest on Monty?" asks Rev Andy Rich from Thailand/England on email. Well, the big man is hanging in there at two over after 16 holes. 2320: A group of players is massing on two under, but none of them can get to three under and make it stick. On two under out on the course are Geoff Ogilvy (after 15), Vijay Singh (15), Ian Poulter (14) and David Toms (13). Meanwhile, John Daly makes a hash of the 8th with a double-bogey five. He's in his "give-up mode" according to Butch Harmon. 2310: Now then, team. Because 606 has closed for the night, you can get in touch via the email form on the right of this page. To find it, just hit refresh. See you on the other side. 2300: England's Oliver Wilson slams his putter in frustration as he misses a short one for birdie on the 7th to stay two over with two to play. John Daly gets a good break when his approach to the long 7th misses the water by a foot. He holes the putt from 30-odd feet for eagle to rocket back to two over. The Wild Thing has lost about six stone since having a gastric band fitted in February. 2251: Come on Hodgetts, keep up. Fernandez-Castano misses a short one at the 7th, his 16th, to slide to one under. Colin Montgomerie holes a good one from about 20 feet at the 5th to get back to two under. 2248: No sooner do I say that than Phil Mickelson birdies 11 and is back to two over. Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano climbs into the top 10 at two under after 15. 2245: Correction on Phil Mickelson's score - he took a double-bogey six on 10 and is three over. Apologies. 2241: Young master Poulter raps in a confident six footer on the 12th to climb to two under. 2236: Vijay Singh watches as his par putt on 12 hangs agonisingly over the cup without dropping in and he slips back to two under. 2232: In-form Dane Soren Kjeldsen birdies 11 to join the group on three under. From FlyingScotno1 on 606: "Good to see Alistair Forsyth on one under following his 9th place last year. Not much cheer in Scottish golf at the moment." 2225: How about we remind ourselves of the leaderboard. -5 T Woods -4 Padraig Harrington -3 R Allenby, M Goggin, H Mahan, A Quiros, V Singh (after 11). Further back, Phil Mickelson chips into the bunker from short of the green on 10 and takes three to get down to drop another shot and fall back to two over. 2220: Phil Mickelson appears to be having problems off the tee and finds the thick grass again on 10. He bashes out but leaves it short of the green down below him at the edge of the lake. 2115: Vijay Singh edges to three under with a birdie at the 606-yard par-five 11th. There's another major in the 46-year-old Fijian, I reckon. (He won the Masters in 2000 and USPGA in 1998 and 2004). 2210: Phil Mickelson drives under the trees on the left of the 9th fairway and squirts his second into the right greenside bunker. He splashes out to about 10 feet but misses to drop a shot and slip back to one over. At the 10th, Ian Poulter makes a good putt for birdie to get to one under. 2142: A little light rain falls on the Hazeltine course, though there's no sign of the deluge that marred the US Open at Bethpage. Phil Mickelson leaves his eagle putt a few feet short on the long 7th but taps in for birdie to get back to level par. 2138: Vijay Singh, the 1998 and 2004 USPGA champion, joins those on two under with a birdie on the 9th. John Daly and Colin Montgomerie are two over after nine. 2130: Australian John Senden and American David Toms are the big movers from the afternoon starters as they climb to two under after seven and six holes respectively. By the way, Davis Love III always looks like he's going to topple forward as he walks. 2126: Phil Mickelson bogeys the 5th and saves par with a 10ish footer at the 6th as he scraps to stay in touch. 2120: England's Oliver Wilson makes a little step in the right direction after beginning with a double bogey at the 10th. After a birdie at the 11th and a bogey at 15, he birdies 16 and 18 and is level at the turn. 2115: The afternoon starters are struggling to make inroads into the lead of Tiger Woods, with American John Merrick the best at one under after 10. Spain's Fernando Gonzalez-Castano and Fiji's Vijay Singh are also in a group one under out on the course after nine and seven holes respectively. 2106: Colin Montgomerie is staging a little recovery and picks up shots at the 14th and 16th to climb back to one over in his front nine. 2100: Here's some thoughts from Padraig Harrington on being paired with Tiger Woods again: "The great thing when you play with Tiger is that you know you're going to have to play the shots. It puts you under more pressure and you feel like you might as well go after it rather than hang back. It actually helps you focus and you know you have to be on your very best form. It motivates you to play well." 2045: A quick round-up of some notable early strugglers - Oliver Wilson is one over after seven, Ian Poulter is one over after four, as is US Open champ Lucas Glover, Luke Donald is one over after two, Chris Wood ended two over, Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie are two over, Masters winner Angel Cabrera is club-throwing at two over after four, John Daly is three over after six and Open champion Stewart Cink is three over after four. 2037: Phil Mickelson begins to warm up by holing a six-foot birdie putt on the 4th to edge to one under. 2030: Let's have a little update on the leaderboard shall we: -5 T Woods -4 P Harrington -3 R Allenby, M Goggin, H Mahan, A Quiros -2 P Goydos, T Jaidee, G McDowell, L Westwood, M Bradley. 2026: Just heard a very downbeat Sergio Garcia interviewed after his first-round one-under 71. Said he putted OK, which is normally his Achilles heel, but reckons he has no confidence over the ball with the rest of his bag. Cheer up, Serge. Early days. 2023: Bad news for fans of a couple of popular young fellas - John Daly and Colin Montgomerie are three over after four holes. Oops. 2018:From JeremyFitch on 606: "Far be it for me to accuse you of stealing someone's idea (see 2000) but I heard a US commentator talk out the exact same 2010 Jack Nicklaus/St Andrews scenario about 20 minutes ago!" Not guilty, Sir! I've just legged it to get some food - I wasn't going to tell you - so I haven't heard anyone else say that. It came to me in the BBC canteen, as most of the world's great ideas have over the years. 2015: The afternoon pairings are going out and Phil Mickelson is the headline act, beginning with two straight pars. 2000: The great man has spoken after his round: "I hit the ball well pretty much all day. I didn't make many putts. If I had it could have been a really low number. I'm very comfortable with how I'm playing. The way the course is set up, you can be aggressive, make a few more birdies going at the flags." That's Woods, in case you didn't guess. Now, how about this. He wins here to get to 15 majors, and then wins the Masters and US Open next year. That means he'd go to St Andrews with a chance of equalling Jack's record, on the very course that the Golden Bear retired in 2005. It's written in the stars, I'm telling you! 1955: Justin, Justin, what have you done? The Rose-meister fights back from three over after 10 to two under after 16, only to drop three shots in the last two holes to end one over. 1940: Padraig Harrington cards 68 for four under, while Tiger Woods sees his final 12ft-er slide left to finish with a bogey-free 67 for the clubhouse lead at five under. From SuperGunner07 on 606: "Another TW, Paddy duel bubbling, hopefully no ignorant ref this time." 1932: Lee Westwood birdies the 5th and 7th and is now two under with two to play. 1923: Tiger Woods misses from 10ft and has to settle for a par at the par-three 8th to stay five under. Padraig Harrington makes par to stay four under. Hunter Mahan drops a shot on the final hole to slip back to three under. Graeme McDowell ends with a two-under 70, while Sergio Garcia cards 71. 1910: Now, would it surprise anyone if I said Tiger Woods was leading on his own? He is you know. A birdie at the 7th, his 16th, takes him to five under. Leaderboard: 5 T Woods (16) -4 H Mahan (17), P Harrington (16) -3 R Allenby, M Goggin (17), S Hansen (14) 1908: Hazeltine is the longest major course ever at 7,674 yards, but check this out - Tiger Woods hit his second shot on 15 - at 642 yards, the longest hole on the course - over the green and into a bunker. Officials have sought to reduce the length a touch, though, moving the tee up 30 yards at the par-three 13th to reduce it to 218 yards, and shortened the 518-yard par-four 12th to 501 yards. But they have pushed tees back at the other par threes, the 4th, 8th and 17th to leave the aggregate reduction at just 26 yards. 1905: Lee Westwood edges back to one under with a birdie at the 448-yard par-four 5th, his 14th. Fellow Englishman Ross Fisher ends one over after a 73. 1858: I mentioned him earlier and I'm going to do it again. Justin Rose is hot at Hazeltine. He was three over after 10, birdied his 11th (the 2nd) to get back to two over, and has now had four straight birdies from the 4th to get to two under. 1850: Three-way lead time and it's the Tiger and Paddy show once again. They're both four under after 15, alongside feisty American Hunter Mahan (after 16). Robert Allenby, Soren Hansen and Michael Bradley are three under. 1845: Rory McIlroy finishes with a round of 71 for one under. He was three under after six but dropped two shots before ending with eight straight pars. 1840:From Bighangers on 606: "Rollercoaster round of the day award: Camilo Villegas - birdie, par, par, bogey, birdie, birdie, birdie, bogey, bogey, birdie, par, bogey, bogey, bogey. To leave him +1 and he's still got four holes left! Any idea what he'll do?" This is like Play Your Cards Right - higher than a par, it's a bogey... 1830: Don't forget team, that this week's USPGA venue Hazeltine has significance for British players. It's where Tony Jacklin won the US Open in 1970, where Luke Donald won US college golf's NCAA Championship and where Richie Ramsay won the US Amateur. Could that mean something? Could it? Er, no. 1825: Justin Rose has launched a back-nine recovery and has climbed from three over after 10 to level after 14 with three birdies in four holes. 1818: Padraig Harrington is proving he has "bouncebackability" as he adds a second straight birdie at the 3rd, his 12th, to edge back to three under, one off the lead. 1815: Lee Westwood news, and everyone's favourite Worksop professional called Lee is keeping station at level par after 11 having traded two birdies with two bogeys. 1809: Uh-oh. Hello there. Make that a four-way tie. You know who - and in case you don't I'll tell you, it's Tiger Woods - is now four under with a birdie on the long 3rd, his 12th. 1805: We've now got a three-way tie for the lead as Robert Allenby and Alvaro Quiros make up ground. Leaderboard: -4 R Allenby (after 14), A Quiros (11), M Bradley (10) -3 H Mahan (12), T Woods (11), S Hansen (10) 1800: Nick Dougherty fans may be dismayed to hear their man is now eight over after 14 holes. The likeable Liverpudlian began with a double bogey, had another on the 12th and has made four other bogeys. 1750: Padraig Harrington slipped to one under after a bogey at the par-four 1st, his 10th, but he has bounced back with a birdie at the 2nd. 1745: We have a new leader in Michael Bradley of the US at four under, through nine. Tiger Woods creeps to three under with a birdie at the 2nd, his 11th. Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell has edged to two under with a birdie at the par-three 13th, while countryman Rory McIlory, who reached three under after six holes, has steadied the ship with fours pars following bogeys at the 16th and 1st. He's now one under with four to play. 1740: From anonymous via text: "I'm tempted to bet on Steve Stricker to win. Your thoughts?" Not a bad shout, that. World number five, unsung player, a USPGA course would suit his type and the event often yields a first-major winner. 1730: Spain's big-hitter Alvaro Quiros climbs into the lead at four under with a fourth birdie at the par-three 17th, his eighth hole, but a bogey at the 18th drops him back into the leading pack alongside Robert Allenby, Dustin Johnson and Michael Bradley. Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington reach the turn two under. 1720:From Bighangers on 606: "Rob, who are you tipping to win? Sergio seems to be going along nicely, under the radar. Don't count out Harrington successfully defending. Please not Tiger." Do you mean you don't want Tiger to win, or don't want me to tip Tiger? I certainly wouldn't count out Harrington or Sergio and I might be tempted by Ross Fisher, if his mind is back on the job. Tiger is obviously the super-hot favourite and rightly so, but if it's not his week it really is wide open. Sorry to sit on the fence, but it's there for the taking if you are reasonably long, have a good short game and hole some putts. Like most weeks, really. 1710: So here's a brief rundown of the state of play: Leaderboard:-3 Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), R Allenby (Aus), D Johnson (US), A Quiros (Spa) -2 P Goydos (US), N Green (Aus), M Goggin (Aus), P Harrington (Ire), S Micheel (US), T Woods (US), S Hansen (Den), M Bradley (US). Woods and Harrington have played eight holes after starting from the 10th, while the leader is through 12. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlory is one under after 11, the same score as countryman Graeme McDowell and England's Chris Wood (both after 10) and Spain's Sergio Garcia (after nine). Ross Fisher is one over after 12, fellow Englishman Lee Westwood is one over after seven, while Anthony Wall and Justin Rose are two over and Nick Dougherty five over after 11. Colin Montgomerie, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Oliver Wilson and Phil Mickelson are among the later starters. 1700: Afternoon all and welcome to live text coverage of the USPGA, the year's final major, from Hazeltine, Minnesota. Padraig Harrington is the defending champion but world number one Tiger Woods is the scorching hot favourite to win after victories in his last two events, including last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Harrington, leading by one late in the final round at Firestone, imploded with a triple-bogey eight on the 16th to finish four shots behind Woods in second. The pair are grouped together again for the first two days at Hazeltine, along with 2002 winner Rich Beem. Woods criticised referee John Paramor for putting the pair on the clock for slow play at Firestone, and in the run-up to the USPGA he defended his actions. England's world number three Paul Casey was forced to pull out late on after failing to shake off a rib injury, while the other big news in the world of golf is that the sport is set to rejoin the Olympics in 2016 after a 112-year absence. I'll be guiding you through the action for the next four days, following the same pattern - a round-up of the early play before live action later. Updates will be regular and always up to date with the main action, but apologies if I can't describe every shot of all of your favourite players.
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