Graeme Storm stole the thunder of a number of top names at the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills with a five-under-par 65 to lead by two after the opening round.
Playing in his first PGA Championship, Storm was bogey-free as he coped superbly well with the searing temperatures on a baking hot afternoon in Oklahoma.
As a result the Hartlepool golfer was the surprise first round leader from former champion John Daly, who carded a three-under-par 67 to be second on his own with Arron Oberholser, Woody Austin and Stephen Ames another shot back.
Open champion Padraig Harrington carded a solid one under par 69 to stand four shots behind the leader.
Storm started his round on the back nine with consecutive birdies and was four under at the turn after birdies at 13 and 16.
‘It was just one of those rounds where I never really thought about anything,’ Storm said.
‘I did get off to a fast start, so two under through the first two holes is always nice.’
Getting through a round at Southern Hills without a bogey is also pretty nice, even if Storm did miss a few opportunities to extend his lead.
He had one birdie on his back nine - at the par-four second - and missed a five-footer for birdie on his closing hole, the ninth.
‘I just kept trying to do the things that I was trying to do, which was just enjoy myself,’ Storm said.
‘It was a great round. Obviously, this is quite a buzz.’
Daly, who is only in the field because of his victory at Crooked Stick in 1991, started steadily with three pars and then birdied three of his final six holes on the front nine.
He added a birdie on 13 and carded his only bogey at the par-four 16th after hitting his tee shot into the trees.
Daly had a similar start at the Open but that ended much worse than with a single bogey.
At Carnoustie, he was five-under through 11 holes but finished with three bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey on the last seven and went on to miss the cut.
‘It was one of those rounds, I was aggressive off the tee. I didn't know what else to do,’ Daly said of his latest round.
‘I hit the driver real well and putted good.’
Defending champion Tiger Woods was three under par through six holes and tied for the early lead but he had just one more birdie the rest of the way with five bogeys for a disappointing one-over-par 71.
‘I felt like I hit the ball better than my score indicates which is good,’ Woods said.
‘That's a good sign heading into the next three days. I just need to clean up my round a little bit.’
Starting at the 10th, the world number one wasted no time making his presence felt with a 10-foot birdie putt at his opening hole followed by another at the par-five 13th.
Woods then grabbed a share of the lead two holes later with another birdie but he was unable to maintain his momentum.
He bogeyed 18 to close his front nine and dropped shots at the second and fourth before a birdie at the par-five fifth got him back to one under.
However, consecutive bogeys at seven and eight saw him fall back.
Only 12 players finished the first round under par with seven of them at one under after 69s.
Harrington, Mark Wilson, Camilo Villegas, 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, Markus Brier, John Senden and Lee Westwood all finished the first round four shots off the lead.
‘I'm in good position but it's how I play the next three rounds,’ Harrington said.
‘My missed were in good spots and I did a good job getting the ball around.’
Retief Goosen, who won the US Open here in 2001, is at level par after a round with two birdies, two bogeys, an eagle and a double-bogey.
Sergio Garcia was as low as three under at one point but settled for a 70 after bogeys at the eighth and ninth.
‘Just a shame about the bogeys on the last two but overall, not a bad round,’ Garcia said.
Among the big names who struggled were Phil Mickelson (73), Masters champion Zach Johnson (74), Jim Furyk (75), Vijay Singh (75) and 2007 US Open winner Angel Cabrera (81).
Cabrera's struggle included a 10 on the par-three sixth, where he hit two tee shots out of bounds, a third in the water and saw a putt for a nine lip out.
‘His whole tournament finished on one hole and he was playing lovely golf up to that,’ Harrington said of Cabrera.
‘That's the nature of major golf. It is on a knife edge out there sometimes. It's a very fine line between keeping yourself in the tournament, blowing yourself out or doing well and winning the tournament.’
