Woods with work to do

Tiger Woods has not given up hope of challenging for a 16th major in the US PGA championship but knows he needs to improve (Woods 50/1 Outright Betting).

The Masters champion opened his assault on glory with a two-over-par 72 on Thursday to trail leader and defending champion Brooks Koepka by nine shots.

It could have been worse for Woods who had two double bogeys in his opening eight holes including one on his opening hole – the 10th.

He said: “We’ll see what the golf course offers up. It changed quite a bit from when we played this morning to this afternoon. The greens got a lot faster, and we’ll see how it dries out over the next few days.

“I don’t see them cutting the rough down, so it’s just going to place another premium on driving the ball in the fairway to get at some of these flags.”

Koepka looks to be in total control of his game after he carded seven birdies in an opening round of 63 and is one shot ahead of New Zealander Danny Lee (Koepka 13/10 Outright Betting).

England’s Tommy Fleetwood is leading the European attack and is third after a three-under 67 but it was another disappointing display from Rory McIlroy who, like Woods, opened up with a two-over-par 72, picking up just one birdie on the 18th.

But that birdie has given him a shot in the arm going into the second round and he is now looking to go under par.

He said: “The birdie at the last was great and if I make a few more putts and get myself into red numbers going into the weekend, I’d be pretty happy.”

Odds subject to change