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| - Martin Laird reeled off four consecutive birdies to grab the opening-round lead Thursday at the PGA Championship as Kiawah Island's wind and sand swatted aside contenders. The 38-year-old Scotsman, never better than 20th in 22 major starts, sank a four-foot birdie at the par-4 13th, a 20-footer at the par-3 14th, a 12-footer for birdie at the par-4 15th and a 20-footer at the par-5 16th to stand atop the leaderboard at 4-under. Laird won in Las Vegas last October, his first US PGA triumph since 2013. American Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner, and England's Tom Lewis were on 3-under on the course while American Cameron Tringale, out in the opening group at the Ocean Course, had the clubhouse lead on two-under par 70. Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy, the 2012 PGA winner at Kiawah, world number two Justin Thomas and reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau were among those who struggled on the oceanside layout. McIlroy opened with bogey at the 10th, bouncing his tee shot into water, then birdied 11 and 12, only to bogey the par-5 16th after his second shot embedded in a sandy area. A tee shot into right rough and a poor chip brought bogeys at the par-4 first and par-5 second as well, and another at the par-3 fifth left him 3-over. DeChambeau began on the back nine and birdied 11 and 12 only to bogey the next four holes to fall back. Thomas, who can overtake Dustin Johnson for world number one with a victory, sank a 21-foot birdie putt at the par-3 14th but found sand at the par-3 17th and 18th and went bogey-double bogey, then added to the misery with a bogey at the par-5 second. Would-be leaders were smacked back once they emerged. World number 66 Tringale birdied three of the first seven holes but bogeys at 12 and 15 dropped him back. Defending champion Collin Morikawa, who captured his first major title last year at Harding Park in San Francisco, was at 2-under after a bogey at the par-4 third. Bradley, who was on 4-under until taking his first bogey at 13, hasn't taken a title in nearly three years. Henrik Stenson, the 2016 British Open champion, birdied the par-3 fifth and par-5 seventh but fell back with a birdie at the par-3 14th. The 45-year-old Swede hasn't won a US PGA event since 2017 in Greensboro. Four-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who opened at the 10th with a double bogey, battled back and went to 2-under with birdies at the fourth and par-3 fifth. Masters champion Hideki Matusyama of Japan, another back-nine starter, made bogey at 18 but answered with a birdie at the par-5 second only to stumble to double bogey at the third. A field of 156 seeks a $1.98 million (1.6 million euros) top prize on the longest layout in major golf history, trimmed back 216 yards Thursday from its 7,876-yard maximum. Johnson, who says he feels 100 per cent after withdrawing from last week's US PGA event with left knee issues, tees off on the opening hole at 2:09 p.m. (1809 GMT) alongside 2019 British Open winner Shane Lowry of Ireland and Spain's Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters champion. Johnson, the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters champion, yearns for one of the golf prizes that has eluded him and would love to claim it in his home state of South Carolina. "I've got a lot of support," Johnson said. "Definitely it would mean a lot." Jordan Spieth, who can complete a career Grand Slam with a victory this week, snapped a four-year win drought last month with a victory at the US PGA Texas Open. He begins off the first tee at 1:58 p.m. alongside fellow Americans Will Zalatoris, a runner-up at last month's Masters, and Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion. js/bb
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