By Sarah Gwynn, europeantour.com
at Pinehurst
Graeme McDowell’s conservative approach paid off in the first round of the US PGA Championship as a two under par 68 left him in a share of second place, three shots behind the brilliant Martin Kaymer.
The Northern Irishman had an eagle, a birdie and a bogey in a round he admitted was not his best ball-striking display, but he took great satisfaction from the way he patiently plotted his way round Pinehurst’s infamously tricky No. 2 course.
“I positioned the ball great off the tee,” said McDowell, who won the title at Pebble Beach in 2010. “I played the golf course very conservatively. You don’t have to strike it amazingly well here, you just have to position the ball correctly at all times.
“I really felt like I got my head in the right place the last few days. It’s the old cliché of not waiting for the golf ball to make you happy. It was about trying to get the right attitude form the word go.
“This golf course is difficult and good shots are going to finish in bad spots and you've just got to really, really grind hard. It's not going to give you a lot of opportunities.”
One shot behind McDowell was reigning European Number One Henrik Stenson, who was surprised by the receptiveness of the course on Thursday morning.
“It was a lot softer, and that kind of threw me off at first, given how firm it was yesterday morning,” said the Swede, who could become World Number One if he wins here. “You feel like they're kind of throwing something out there for us that's somewhere in the middle, towards a little bit easier, to see what they get back. And then they can tweak it from there on. If there are too many red numbers, it's going to be a little harder tomorrow.
“It was just a solid round of golf on a tricky course. It's very early. You're not winning anything on Thursday. You can shoot yourself out of a tournament, but anything in red numbers at the US Open is always taken. And I'm happy with that.”
Also in the European charge was Francesco Molinari, who had four birdies against three bogeys for a 69. The Italian has been tipped to succeed on the North Carolina layout, given his accurate iron play and consistency off the tee.
“It was a good start – anything under par is good here,” he said. “I was two over after six holes, which wasn’t the ideal start, but I managed to fight back. I’m really happy but there’s a long way to go.
“I like the no-rough set-up. I’ve never played well in US Opens in the past because I don’t like playing with too much rough. A course like this suits me much better. There’s more creativity involved and you have to be very accurate with your shots into the greens. I think my short game has improved a lot so even if I miss my approaches, I’m more confident of getting up and down.”
