98th PGA Championship: Jimmy Walker takes early clubhouse lead
By Sam Drury
Last Updated: 29/07/16 9:32am
Jimmy Walker insisted that finding the fairways is crucial at Baltusrol after his opening round of 65 at the PGA Championship.
The American shot a bogey-free 32 on the back nine, having started at the 10th, and a birdie at the first made it five gains in seven holes from the 13th.
His one and only bogey of the round came at the sixth after he had pulled his tee shot left into the rough but a 30-footer for birdie at the seventh got him back to five under.
"I made a lot of really quality shots on my front nine, the back," said Walker. "I made some good putts and hit a close couple of times. The birdies on 15 and 16 were nice and I made a good par on 17 - I had to pitch out in the fairway and lay-up again.
"I made a good par save on four. Hit some quality shots coming in on seven, eight and nine, so that was good.
"The rough is a challenge. You can either catch a nice lie or you can get one that's a pitch out. You really wanted to stay in the fairway so you can have control of the golf ball.
"The greens were very receptive. I felt like if you were hitting from the short grass, you could pretty much do whatever you wanted with the golf ball in the green."
Having set the pace early, Walker believes he has done everything he can to come give himself a chance of coming out on top come Sunday.
"It would be huge [to win a major]," Walker added. "The whole purpose and the goal in being here is to win.
"I feel like I've prepared and I'm ready to go this week. It's nice that that's what showed today. I felt like I was ready to go. So winning a major is huge. Three more days to go. There will be a lot more too."
Emiliano Grillo says he has taken inspiration from fellow Argentine Angel Cabrera after he shot a first round 66.
The 23-year-old got his round up and running with a 30-foot putt for birdie on the fourth and despite a bogey at seven, further gains at five, eight and nine saw him go out in 31 before he recovered from another dropped shot at the 10th with birdies on 14 and 15.
Chances for a seventh birdie came and went and both 17 and 18, but Grillo still finished four under and just a shot off the early clubhouse lead set by Walker.
"He won two majors when I was just a little kid," Grillo said of Cabrera. "Watching him win the Masters - well, the U.S. Open and then the Masters was unbelievable.
"Watching him win the green jacket back in Argentina, it's a lot of motivation."
As for his opening round at Baltusrol, Grillo was understandably pleased and, like Walker, stressed the importance of finding the fairways off the tee.
"I played well tee to green and made a few putts out there," he added. "It worked pretty well. The conditions are absolutely perfect.
"There's not a single grass out of place on this golf course. The greens were absolutely perfect this morning. It was hard and the ball was going far. So everything was good to post a good score there.
"You have got to play from the fairway. When you go in the rough, it seems short, but it's very tricky out there. If you miss the greens on the wrong spot, you are going to struggle for up-and-down. These greens are tricky."
Watch the PGA Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live coverage of the second round begins from 6pm on Friday. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV.
