Ready the place loads of Cameron Smith’s opponents would have felt misplaced, the Australian was proper at house — not that he wished to be there within the first place.
It wasn’t precisely preferrred that Smith, aiming for one in all two fairways on the seventh — his sixteenth gap of the day — as an alternative ending up within the stream in between the 2.
So, with footwear and socks off and pants rolled up, a barefoot Smith entered the mud with no fuss, ready for his caddie handy him a wedge earlier than nonchalantly making par.
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Schauffele equals course report with 62 | 01:08
Whereas the crew from No Laying Up, whose commentary was accessible on ESPN2’s alternate stream of the opening spherical, was joking that Smith the fisherman was in all probability used to wading via streams they have been rapidly caught without warning because the unfazed Australian bought the ball again in play.
“Holy crap,” Chris Solomon mentioned.
“No delay,” added Neil Schuster.
“Didn’t give it some thought. Didn’t take any waggles. That’s nice execution.”
It was only one spotlight on a strong first day for Smith, who carded a three-under-par 68 to steer the Australian contingent and sit six photographs behind record-setting chief Xander Schauffle.
“I truly hit the ball fairly properly in all probability the primary 12 or 13 holes there,” Smith mentioned, having recorded 4 birdies in his first 13 holes to place himself properly in competition early earlier than an errant drive on the par-4 fifth noticed Smith bogey for the primary and solely time on Friday.
Scheffler sinks wild eagle on 1st gap! | 00:49
“Sort of let go of it a bit bit on the finish, however every little thing felt actually good. I managed to get a couple of good par saves and sort of maintain the momentum going for tomorrow,” Smith added.
“It’s going be an extended week. I feel you recognize that initially of the week anyway. It’s a serious week. It’s all the time extra demanding.
“So loads of relaxation this afternoon, possibly hit a couple of balls, clear some stuff up and get a superb sleep tonight.”
Smith’s LIV teammate Lucas Herbert, who acquired a particular invitation to the PGA Championship, additionally impressed and is positioned properly after a two-under 69.
Herbert recorded two bogeys in his first 5 holes earlier than recovering with four-straight birdies, telling PGA of America after the opening spherical that he was happy along with his response to the robust begin.
“I feel every little thing was sort of first rate however nothing was wonderful,” Herbert mentioned.
“I feel I holed out very well, holed some good 5 footers, some kind of eight footers simply to maintain my momentum via the spherical.
“I clearly bought off to a poor begin there however then caught that again up with 4 birdies so simply to maintain that momentum going via the again 9 and never drop any photographs after I possibly struggled a bit to get some beauty at birdie undoubtedly helped me end with the rating I did.”
The information isn’t pretty much as good on Adam Scott, who completed with a one-over spherical of 72 whereas it was even worse for Cam Davis, who began the day with 5 bogeys and a double on his technique to a nightmare opening spherical seven-over 78.
Min Woo Lee, in the meantime, like Scott completed one-over after a blended day which noticed him report two early bogeys (and 4 general) however considerably get better with three birdies, together with one on the ultimate gap.
Elsewhere, Jason Day additionally birdie on his closing gap to shut out an even-par opening spherical which was a rollercoaster early on, recording three bogeys and simply as many birdies on the entrance 9.
AUSTRALIANS AT PGA CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
T18: Cameron Smith -3
T32: Lucas Herbert -2
T65: Jason Day E
T85: Adam Scott +1
T85: Min Woo Lee +1
T150: Cam Davis +7