Karlsson is calm in storm

OAKLAND HILLS, Mich. -- Don’t be surprised that Robert Karlsson is leading the PGA Championship.

Karlsson doesn’t have much name recognition beyond his native Sweden, but outside of Tiger Woods he has been the most consistent player in majors this year. Karlsson tied for eighth in the Masters and fourth in the U.S. Open and was seventh in the British Open.

Karlsson now is poised to make another run, opening with a 68 during the first round Thursday in Oakland Hills.

At two under, he is tied with Jeev Milkha Singh in a round that was delayed by storms in the late afternoon.

Andres Romero was two under through 16 holes when play was suspended for the night.

Karlsson credits his steady golf this year to, well, remaining steady. A calm golfer is a better golfer, he says.

“There are things I’ve been working on, on how I feel on the golf course, and they are starting to feel very comfortable,” said Karlsson, who double-bogeyed the first hole Thursday, then birdied five of the next eight. “Before I had a bit of a problem. I tried too hard playing the big events and I sort of pushed it too much. So I always made a lot of mistakes. But this year the swing is better, and I feel a lot calmer.”

Give a birdie to Karlsson. Let’s see whether he can remain calm through Sunday.

Birdie: Singh. You can be sure when golf fans saw Singh on the leaderboard, they assumed the first name was Vijay. Nope, it was the other Singh, who hails from India. Vijay didn’t fare as well, shooting 76.

Birdie: Sergio Garcia. Opened strong with a 69. He could make this an exciting weekend if he makes a run.

Birdie: Phil Mickelson. Considering he opened with two bogeys and ended with one, he was happy with his round of 70. That puts him in decent position.

Birdie/bogey: Steve Stricker. The Ryder Cup bubble boy opened with a 71. Currently, he is eighth on the Ryder Cup points list. The top eight through the PGA receive automatic bids for the U.S. team. Stricker could use a good showing this week to secure his spot.

Birdie: Anthony Kim. How about this to make virtually every golfer feel inadequate? Kim reached the par-five, 529-yard second hole with a 370-yard drive and a knockdown eight-iron. He then made the putt for an eagle. Doesn’t seem fair.

Bogey: Colin Montgomerie. A 76 for Monty. Not the way to make a good impression on European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo if he wants to be a wild-card pick.

Bogey: Lee Westwood. After a strong showing in the U.S. Open and the Bridgestone last week, Westwood was a popular favorite coming into the tournament this week. It didn’t work out that way Thursday, as he stumbled with a 77.

The native of England said, “Standing on the 17th tee I asked my caddie if he could hear the sea as I am sure I could hear my holiday calling.”

Translated, Westwood doesn’t fancy his chances of making the cut.

Bogey: Kenny Perry. After taking flak for skipping the British Open, he shot a 79, then withdrew because of an eye injury related to Lasik surgery. He has already clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team.

Bogey: The rain. Gummed things up for more than an hour, making for a very long day.

Birdie: TNT. What did the network show during Thursday’s rain delay? Naturally, they went back into the archives and showed a replay of Woods’ 63 at Southern Hills last year. That’s one way of getting Woods into the telecast.