Aug 10, 2007, 1:10 GMT
Tulsa, OK - The talk of Southern Hills, other than a surprising round from John Daly and the question of will Tiger Woods win a major in 2007, was the heat.
With temperatures in the mid-90s most of the day and the dreaded heat index easily eclipsing 100, the searing heat took its toll on every single player in the field.
The temperature did get over 100 degrees late in the day.
'It's warmer than Florida but nowhere near as humid, which is nice,' said Woods. 'That's one of the reasons why you run all those miles out here in the heat and stay in decent shape.'
Tell that to Daly, who admitted to drinking absolutely no water on Thursday. He's more likely to be seen with a diet Coke in one hand and a Marlboro in the other and certainly does not resemble Woods in the waist department.
'I light up a cigarette and drink some caffeine and it actually works,' said Daly. 'It does bother me but I'm used to it, let's put it that way. Only had three heat strokes out there.'
While most acknowledged the heat and humidity after the round, not all believed it played that big of a role.
'It is definitely warm, but we play in hot conditions a lot of the time,' said Ernie Els. 'I think this is a bit extreme. I don't think it's affecting the guys too much.'
ANOTHER MAJOR TRY
When last we saw Sergio Garcia in a major championship, he missed a 20-foot birdie putt on the fourth and final playoff hole to give Padraig Harrington the British Open Championship.
The Spaniard had a shot to go wire-to-wire at Carnoustie, but missed a six- foot par putt on the 72nd hole. Harrington overcame going in the burn twice on that same hole to prevail in the playoff, and afterwards Garcia blamed almost everyone.
He was unhappy with the raker in the group ahead on the final hole. Garcia claimed he had to play against more than the field and that sometimes others get breaks he does not.
While he did not entirely back off the statement this week, he played well.
Garcia birdied three in a row from the 11th, his second hole. He dropped a shot at 17, but it was a pair of bogeys in his final two holes that gave him an even-par 70.
'It's just a shame, those last two bogeys on the last two,' said Garcia. 'But overall, not a bad round. I got off to a great start and could have been easily four- or five-under through seven.'
And is Carnoustie and the final-round press conference/blame session over?
'I think the British, even though I didn't win, it's going to be good for me in the future, just getting in that position and holding the lead for three days at the biggest tournament we have,' he said. 'So that definitely is going to help me throughout my career.'
THE ACTUAL WINNER
Harrington posted a one-under 69 on Thursday and is one of a handful of players under par at Southern Hills.
'I'm in good position,' he said. 'But it's how I play the next three rounds. That will have no bearing on whether I win the tournament or not.'
Harrington reached two-under par with a 20-foot birdie putt at the 15th, his third birdie in a row. At the 17th, Harrington missed the green, then could not save par.
Still, the last major champion on tour is only four off the lead and what he learned at Carnoustie could prove invaluable since Harrington, Daly and Geoff Ogilvy are the only players under par who have won major championships.
'You feel like you've won one, you can win two; you can move on from that,' said Harrington. 'So there's a certain level of confidence. And I also feel that there's a certain level of adrenaline coming on from having won in a certain level and a certain high from it.
'I haven't hit a wall as of yet. That may happen in time, but at the moment I'm knocking it down well and I'm working hard, working through it.'
* Reigning U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera made a complete mess of the par- three sixth. He hit two out of bounds and one in the water but when he missed a seven-footer, Cabrera walked off with a 10 and immediately fell out of contention.
* Jim Furyk withdrew from last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a back injury. He played on Thursday, but struggled to a five-over-par 75 and did not say the back was an issue in round one.
* Jyoti Randhawa and Anthony Wall both withdrew due to illness.
* Senior PGA Champion Denis Watson got an invitation to play this week and made the most of it on Thursday. He posted a four-over-par 74 and is tied for 70th place.
* The low Club Professional in the first round was Brad Lardon, the PGA Director of Golf at Miramont Country Club in Bryan, Texas. He shot an even-par 70 and is tied for 13th place.
* The easiest hole Thursday was the par-five 13th, which played to an average of 4.70 shots.
* The most difficult hole in round one was the par-four 18th. The closing hole played to an average of 4.49.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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