Easy does it

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – Tiger Woods broke par in the PGA Championship, cause for celebration Thursday.

It wasn’t as good as Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari of Italy, who handled the breeze and bunkers at Whistling Straits and wound up atop the leaderboard at 4-under 68 among those who finished the first round.

Then again, it wasn’t nearly as bad as what some were expecting.

Even after the fog lifted along the shores of Lake Michigan, no one was sure what they would see from Woods. The answer came early, with three birdies on his opening holes to – get this – put his name atop the leaderboard.

But only briefly.

There were enough errant shots, including one that went so far left it found a marsh he didn’t know was there, that Woods had to make an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 1-under 71.

“I’ve played too good not to shoot under par,” Woods said. “It would’ve been very disappointing and frustrating to end up at even par as well as I played today. To make that putt – to shoot under par – just feels like that’s what I should have shot the way I played today. And that’s a good feeling.”

The fog delay meant none of the late starters could finish the opening round.

Ernie Els, desperate to make sure another year doesn’t end without a major, played bogey-free through 14 holes and was at 4 under, making a 7-foot par save on the 14th shortly before the horn sounded. Also at 4 under were Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney, courtesy of eagles – Kuchar on the 13th early in his round by holing from the fairway, Watney on the par-5 11th, his last hole of the day.

The group at 69 included Charles Howell, Jason Day and Ryan Moore, the only player among the early starters to reach 5 under until dropping two shots over his last three holes into the wind.

Darren Clarke and Simon Khan also were at 3 under when play was halted.

With so much rain on Wednesday and in the week before the PGA, the course that looks like a links played more like a PGA Tour course with soft conditions. It was suited perfectly for Watson, one of the biggest hitters in golf.

Of all his birdies, none showed off his power quite like 587-yard fifth hole, the first one on the back nine with the wind at this back. Ignoring the bunkers and water to the right, Watson hammered his drive so far – 445 yards by his calculations – that he had only a lob wedge for his second shot and an easy two-putt birdie.

“It makes it a little easier, I guess, when you do that,” Watson said of his long game.

Molinari went about his work differently, relying on accuracy. He missed only four fairways and two greens, dropped only one shot along the way and worked his way into a share of the early lead with a birdie on the par-3 seventh, among the scariest of the par 3s that hug the shoreline.