Medinah (Illinois): Ryder Cup hopeful Lucas Glover and fellow American Chris Riley took charge at the PGA Championship on Thursday while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson moved ominously into contention.
Glover, 14th in the standings with the 12-man Ryder Cup team to be finalised on Monday, and Riley fired six-under-par 66s to finish a benign day at Medinah Country Club one stroke ahead of the chasing pack.
Compatriot Billy Andrade, a late addition to the field on Tuesday after 1995 champion Steve Elkington withdrew for personal reasons, was alone in third after shooting a blemish-free 67.
Although Medinah's 7,561-yard No. 3 Course is the longest layout in major championship history, soft conditions and friendly pin positions exposed it to low scoring.
Glover birdied three of the last four holes to set the pace on a calm, clear morning before Riley joined him at six under with a seven-birdie display on a damp and overcast afternoon.
"It was a good opener," the 26-year-old Glover said. "I was real solid today, made all my short ones (putts) and made a couple of long ones for birdie."
On how much a Ryder Cup debut in Ireland next month had been preying on his mind, he said: "Well, let's see, every day, every minute, every second for the last six months.”
"But I decided to put that behind me this week and try to just play golf, have fun and not worry about it."
Briton Luke Donald, Americans Davis Love III, Stewart Cink and JJ Henry, Swede Henrik Stenson and Australia's Robert Allenby were on 68.
Love, the 1997 champion at Winged Foot, raced to the turn in a blistering six-under 30 and led the tournament at seven under before triple-bogeying the par-three 17th after needing two shots to escape thick rough to the left of the green.
"I hit a lot of good shots today, other than two swings," Love said. "I was just in one of those bad lies and I was trying to get too cute with it. But a 68 is a good start."
Most eyes were focused on the high-profile grouping of tournament favourite Woods, Masters champion Mickelson and US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy of Australia who all carded 69s.
Woods, chasing his 12th career major after winning last month's British Open at Hoylake, recovered from an opening bogey at the 10th with birdies at the 12th, 14th, 15th and seventh.
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"Overall, I thought I played pretty good today," the 30-year-old American said. "I hit the ball pretty solid all day and had a good speed on the greens. I didn't really do anything to put myself in jeopardy.”
"With the greens as soft as they were, the guys are going to aim at a lot of flags and that's indicative of the scores."
Mickelson, last year's winner at Baltusrol, made a red-hot start with birdies on his first two holes. Although he bogeyed the par-three second, he picked up further shots at the fifth and seventh to stay in contention.
"It was a fun day and we all played okay," the American left-hander said. "We all left some shots out there but we all put ourselves in a good position heading into the next three rounds."
Ogilvy, who won his first major by a stroke at Winged Foot after benefiting from late collapses by Mickelson and Colin Montgomerie, experienced a roller-coaster round.
The 29-year-old mixed seven birdies with two bogeys and a double-bogey at the treacherous par-four 16th.
"It was fun to play in that group," the Australian said. "The fans have been waiting to see those two play together in a major for a while and I got the best seat in the house."
The last time the heavyweight duo were grouped together in a major was in the final round of the 2001 Masters when Woods triumphed to complete the 'Tiger Slam'.
Among the other big names at Medinah, Sergio Garcia opened with a 69, Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk shot matching 70s, Ernie Els returned a 71 and twice champion Vijay Singh bogeyed the last for a 73.
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