Is a Ryder Cup Captain’s duel breaking out at the 107th PGA Championship?
Team Europe captain Luke Donald turned back the clock on Thursday afternoon and orchestrated a delightful opening round 4-under 67 to grab the early clubhouse lead. His American counterpart in the Ryder Cup — U.S. captain Keegan Bradley — also put together a sizzling round of 3-under 68 in the early wave to get his name into contention on Day 1.
The 47-year-old Donald looked calm and in complete control of his game during Thursday’s morning round with former European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington and past PGA Champion Martin Kaymer.
At one point while he played the middle of his back nine, Donald held the solo lead as a number of players escalated up and then back down the leaderboard.
Donald was steady and his body language reflected a player at ease and comfortable in the situation. On the last hole he was short-sided in the bunker and made a brilliant up-and-down to close a flawless card without a bogey.
In all four starts this year on the the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, Donald has yet to make a cut.
Donald’s European Ryder Cup captaincy duties are so much the focus with him of late that even in his press conference on Wednesday there was not a single question asked about his own game.
For Bradley at his Tuesday presser, it was definitely more of a mix of questions about both his captaincy and his own play. On Thursday, he let his play do all the talking.
“I played as solid of a round of golf today as I've played all year. I just hit one bad drive on 9, which is a brutal hole,” Bradley said after the ronnd. “But I played really well. Just a few wacky little mud balls that affected some of the shots, but really proud of the way I played.”
The 38-year-old was excited to see his dueling captain, Luke Donald playing so well.
“I was pumped to see Luke up there. I know how hard he's been working back home. Luke is an all-time great player. Doesn't surprise me,” Bradley said. “But, as I've said, when I'm inside the ropes, I'm focusing on myself as a player.”
Donald shared a similar appreciation for Thursday's play by his captain counterpart.
“If it's tied 14-14, are you talking a playoff? I'll grab the trophy and go back to Europe,” Donald joked. “Keegan is top 20 in the world. He can have one good week out here, win, which he's very capable of, and he's absolutely in the conversation of being a playing captain. I don't think that's quite in my future, but Keegan, we live very close together. I see where he practices, and he practices very hard. He's still one of the top players in the world.”
Donald was asked the last time he played as well as he did in Round 1, and he had to give it some thought.
“Testing my memory. Can hardly remember what I did last week let alone this week,” Donald smiled. “You know, again, I only hit nine greens today. So, I wouldn't say it was amazing but there was definitely highlights today that were an improvement on previous events.”
