Tiger Woods Shoots 5-Under, Leads PGA Championship After First Round

Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and Rich Beem have seven Wanamaker Trophy among them. They're playing together the first two days of the 91st PGA Championship, and midway through the first round, Tiger is alone in first place after a 5-under, 67, Paddy trails by one, and Beemer is tied for 13th at 1-under.

Apart from Woods, who is the story whenever he tees it up, Harrington arrived at Hazeltine after a demoralizing loss at last week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. But any doubts about his mental state were quickly erased on the front nine Thursday.

Paddy went out in 34 strokes, matching Tiger shot for shot (as did Beem, who won the PGA Championship the last time it was at Hazeltine in 2002, but hasn't done much in the seven years since). On the back, Woods separated himself, needing only 33 strokes to get to the clubhouse. Harrington was steady and efficient, shooting a 34 on the way in, and Beem, save a double-bogey on No. 3 (his 12th hole), looked like he belonged, carding a 36.

Tiger, who has been wildly inconsistent off the tee all year, missed just two fairways Thursday. (It's almost impossible to fathom that the world's best player could miss his target by 40 yards at the shortish Buick Open two weeks ago, only to find the narrow landing strips passing for fairways at the PGA with astonishing regularity.) Meanwhile, Paddy played his game, finding the short grass and giving himself birdie looks all day long.

Despite concerns that the way Harrington lost at Firestone might linger this week, it's clear he's over it one round into the PGA Championship. You don't become a cornerstone of the European Ryder Cup team, or a three-time major winner if you're mentally unable to move on. See Sergio Garcia, for example.

More amazing than Harrington's ability to live in the moment is the focus with which Woods brings to every tournament. That was again evident as Tiger talked to the media following last Sunday's victory. He suggested that the decision by the rules official to put the group on the clock on the 16th hole -- one in which Paddy would eventually card an 8 -- played a critical role in the outcome.

"Like I was telling [Harrington] out there, 'I'm sorry that John got in the way of a great battle,' because it was such a great battle for 16 holes," Woods said. "And unfortunately, [getting put on the clock] happened."

It's not often that someone wins one of the biggest non-majors on the schedule and their first act after the fact is to complain that the runner-up didn't have a fair shot to compete down the stretch. Usually, a guy wins, kisses his wife and kids, takes a few photos with the trophy, says something about "grinding it out" and "never giving up," and makes his way to the airport.

Nope, not Tiger. He thrives on competition. So much so, in fact, that it sounds like he'd rather lose on the level than win due to an ill-timed, overzealous rules official's decision. You don't hear that everyday. But for Woods, it's nothing new; he's been like that his whole life.

Prior to Firestone, the last time Woods and Harrington had a final-round battle was at the 2006 Dunlop-Phoenix on the Japan Tour. Paddy eventually won in a playoff, and days after the victory he told the Irish Times (via the New York Times' Larry Dorman): "When it was all over, I found myself remarking that Tiger really wants to be pushed, no matter what. After hitting a great chip to save par on the 17th, I could sense his excitement, his focus. Sure he wanted to win, but he also wanted to be pushed. He wanted the competition."

That's exactly what we saw last week. Frankly, it's an incredible story. In a time when professional athletes are known as much for their off-field entanglements as their on-field achievements, Tiger further sets himself apart from everybody else.

His critics will point out that he's cold and self-absorbed (and he curses after he hits poor shots, too!) and that's fine. Tiger will continue to outwork everyone else on tour, continue to earn everything he gets, and when we look back on his career we'll talk about him in revered tones. There are worse legacies.