All we know at this point is that there will be a new winner crowned at the 2014 PGA Championship after Jason Dufner withdrew on Thursday because of a neck injury. Rory McIlroy is leading the pack at seven-under after a rain delay at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
McIlroy shot a 66 yesterday despite recording a double bogey on the tenth hole. The No. 1 golfer in the world bounced back and holed five birdies and two pars in the final seven holes to put him atop the leaderboard with Lee Westwood, Ryan Palmer, Kevin Chappell, Jim Furyk, Edoardo Mollinari, and Henrik Stenson after day one. He's currently two-under through 15 holes on Friday, putting him at -7 for the tournament and tied for first place with Ryan Palmer.
Unfortunately, Jason Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner, will be unable to defend his title after he withdrew from the event yesterday because of a lingering neck injury. He was +8 through ten holes and at that point realized it was senseless to continue trying to play through the pain. He's not sure how long it will take him to return to full strength.
"I won't play golf again until I'm healthy," he said in this ESPN article. "That could be at The Barclays. That could be next year. That could be 2016. I refuse to be out here and not be healthy. You're not giving yourself a chance to be competitive."
This year's PGA Championship will have a new champion, but some big names might not make it to Saturday. The projected cut is even par right now, and those on the fringe include Justin Rose (-1), Adam Scott (E), Jordan Spieth (E), Sergio Garcia (E), Martin Kaymer (E), Miguel Jiminez (+1), and Bubba Watson (+1). Tiger Woods is going to have to improve upon his first round 74 (+3) if he wants to climb back into contention and play through the weekend. He will tee off at 2:35 p.m. with Phil Mickelson (-2) and Padraig Harrington (+2).
You can keep up with the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky on ESPN's PGA leaderboard page.
UPDATE: Rory McIlroy birdied his sixteenth hole of the day (number seven) to make him the sole leader at -8.
