Tiger Woods happy with his play at PGA Championship

Reporting from Sheboygan, Wis. — 

Tiger Woods seemed to be in an upbeat, joking mood Tuesday, even as he answered questions about his personal life, his struggles on the course and whether the first had any influence over the second.

But he seemed baffled at his sudden decline in almost every facet of his game and said he didn’t know how he would fare this weekend.

Thursday might have given him a much-needed confidence boost.

Woods shot a one-under-par 71 and is three shots behind the leaders after the first day of the PGA Championship. It was a far cry from his nightmarish 18-over finish at the Bridgestone Invitational last week.

Woods birdied three of his first four holes and his final hole of the day, the ninth.

“I played too good not to shoot under par,” Woods said. “It would have been very disappointing and frustrating to end up at even par as well as I played today.”

Earlier this week, he worked on keeping his head straight during his swing. On Thursday, he had better command of his shots, hitting eight of 14 fairways.

Woods was especially happy with his putting. He said Tuesday he had lost his ability to judge the speed of his putts. He had 28 putts Thursday and several near misses.

“I had good speed on the greens again today,” Woods said. “If anything, I was leaving putts a little bit short.”

Waterlogged

To many players, Whistling Straits seemed much longer than its official 7,522 yards after receiving several inches of rain over the last few days.

“You’d hit it in some spots and [the balls] would just be plugging,” said Jason Day, who shot a 69. “On the plus side, however, it made life a little easier around the greens.”

“The greens were soft, a few tricky pins … but there were birdie opportunities out there,” said Luke Donald, who shot a 72.

A good ribbing

Paul Casey tore a rib muscle at last year’s PGA Championship, an injury that has plagued him for much of the last year. Casey, who shot a 72, only now is getting his swing back to normal. Well, almost.

“I have got the old swing back, but [I have] no clue where it is going to go right now,” Casey said. “The power is there, and I am releasing it for the first time since over a year now.”

chine@tribune.com