Scott challenges US domination at PGA

Australian Adam Scott put himself in the hunt for his first major title on a US-dominated leaderboard at the 93rd PGA Championship on Friday while Tiger Woods was nothing but an also-ran. Scott, whose new caddie Steve Williams was fired by Woods last month after 12 years as his bagman, began with a birdie, added more at three and five and another at the par-5 12th before falling back to four-under with a bogey at 14. American Scott Verplank had back-to-back birdies at five and six and another at the eighth but ended the front nine with a bogey to stand on five-under, a one-stroke lead on Scott and four others. Scott, who won a World Golf Championships event last week and was runner-up at the Masters in April, was joined in second by Americans Steve Stricker, Brandt Jobe, Jason Dufner and D.A. Points, who fired a three-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead. Stricker, who opened with a 63 Thursday to match the low round in major golf history, took bogeys at the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to slide back as the tension mounted at Atlanta Athletic Club. Points, who won his first PGA title this year at Pebble Beach, produced five birdies against a single bogey to finish best among the early starters. "These first two rounds are the best rounds I've struck the ball all year," Points said. "But it's only Friday. There's so much golf left." Sweden's Anders Hansen was in the clubhouse on three-under and Aussie John Senden was on the back nine at the same score overall, but nine of the top dozen were Americans. No American has won a title in the past six majors, a record futility run that the home-country stars hope to end by hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy and taking the top prize of $1.445 million from the $8 million event. Woods, meanwhile, was enduring a nightmare round that saw him go from one bunker to another and then chip off the green and into a pond on the way to a double-bogey six at the 11th. Woods, coming off his worst opening round in any major and worst round at any US major with a 77, had ended the front nine with back-to-back birdies to offset earlier bogeys but it was far too little and too late. The former World No. 1, now ranked 30th after a four-month injury layoff, appeared doomed to miss a major cut for only the third time in his career after the 2006 US Open and 2009 British Open. Woods, chasing the all-time record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, has not won any title since his infamous sex scandal unfurled in November of 2009 and has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open. Reigning US Open champion Rory McIlroy, who questioned whether or not to even play Friday after suffering a strained right wrist tendon Thursday, fired a 73 but paid a price for hesitating to fully trust his bandaged forearm on swings. "It gets into your head," McIlroy said. "It was a rough feeling. Out of the rough or in the bunkers, I wasn't commiting to get through it." The 22-year-old Northern Irishman was injured Thursday when he struck a tree root with his second shot on the third hole, but played through the pain for an opening-round 70. "I wouldn't say it was painful. It was just a little uncomfortable," McIlroy said. "It definitely doesn't hurt as much as it did yesterday." A triple-bogey disaster at the par-3 17th was McIlroy's big setback. "It was very frustating," McIlroy said. "I was hitting the ball OK but I just didn't putt very well at all." While McIlroy and Woods toughed through troubles, three players withdrew, South African Retief Goosen and American J.B. Holmes due to illness and Rocco Mediate with an arm injury. Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA Championship winner, fired a 78 Friday after a first-round 66 had put him third. England's World No. 2 Lee Westwood shot a 68 Friday to stand on one-under after 36 holes and lead the charge for the "Chubby Slam", a potential sweep of the year's major titles by players managed by Andrew "Chubby" Chandler.