Virtual PGA Championship Round 1: Saluting Sir Walter

Five-time champion Hagen fires a 63 to build an early three-stroke advantage during the first round of the virtual PGA Championship.

Walter Hagen won as many PGA Championship Titles as anybody in history, so his first-round showing in the 2020 Virtual PGA should be no surprise.

Hagen treated the 7,169 yards TPC Harding Park course in San Francisco as his personal playground Thursday. He reeled off seven birdies and an eagle for a round of 63, taking a three-stroke lead over two players.

Hagen birdied two of the first three holes and turned the front nine in 33 on the par 36-36-72 course. But he really got going on Harding Park’s back nine. He birdied the par 5 10th and stuck a five-iron within three feet at the 200-yard par 3 11th.

Hagen followed that with birdies at the 13th and 15th, then holed a wedge from the fairway for a deuce at the 336-yard par 4 16th to get to nine-under.

Hagen entered the tournament as one of the favorites based on his string of five victories in seven years between 1921 and 1927. All of his victories came at match play, but Hagen is no stranger to medal play either. He won the 1914 and 1919 U.S. Opens as well as 1922, 1924, 1928 and 1929 British Opens.

Hagen signaled his command of the field right from the start. On the 395-yard par 4 first hole, his drive split the fairway, he fired a wedge seven feet from the cup and holed the putt for a birdie. He dropped an 18-footer for a birdie at the 183-yard par 3 third.

Hagen’s brilliant start left a pair of players tied for second three strokes behind him with five more one additional stroke behind.

Jerry Barber, who won the 1961 PGA Championship at Olympia Fields, provided the day’s biggest surprise. Barber fired 10 birdies on the way to his 34-32-66, his otherwise brilliant day marred by a pair of double bogeys. Barber’s round included birdies on the three final holes.

His biggest hiccups came at the 606-yard par 5 fourth when his second and third shots both struck trees. Barber needed four to reach the green and compounded his problems with a three-putt.

At the 428-yard par 4 13th, Barber hooked his drive into a maintenance area and again took a double bogey.

Jackie Burke Jr., the 1956 champion, also turned in a six-under 66. Burke strung together consecutive birdies on the second through fourth holes, bogeyed the fifth, then made a deuce of his own at the 344-yard par 4 seventh hole.

That gave Burke a front nine 31, but two back-nine bogeys held him to a 35 on that side for his 66.

The five players tied at five-under 67 were 2015 champion Jason Day, 2018-19 champion Brooks Koepka, 1962 and 1972 champion Gary Player, 1934 and 1938 champion Paul Runyan and 1936-37 champion Denny Shute.

Sam Snead matched Barber’s front nine 31 and appeared poised to make a serious run at the opening day lead. But he managed nothing better on the back nine than a 37 and finished at four-under 68, tying him with Leo Diegel, Walter Burkemo, and Tommy Armour.

Arnold Palmer invited into the field despite never having actually won a PGA Championship, shot 35-34-69. Palmer birdied four of his final six holes, but a three-putt bogey from 12 feet on the 16th undermined his effort to finish higher. He is in a five-way tie for 13th

Ben Hogan bogeyed his first two holes but rallied on the back and came home in two-under, seven behind Hagen.

The pre-tournament favorite, 1940 and 1945 champion Byron Nelson, offset four birdies with three bogeys for a 71. That matched 1922, 1923 and 1933 champion Gene Sarazen.

But two other pre-tournament favorites had rough first days. Five-time champion Jack Nicklaus played the first three holes in four over par and never fully recovered. Nicklaus had to birdie the 17th and 18th to get down to a one-over 73.

Tiger Woods, the second-favorite behind Nelson, had it even rougher. Woods buried his tee shot under the lip of a bunker on the 183-yard par 3 third, failed to get it out, and ended up with a triple-bogey six. He ran into more trouble at the 467-yard par-four 14th, driving into an impossible lie in the trees left of the fairway leading to a double bogey.

That saddled Woods with a four-over 76, leaving him 13 strokes behind Hagen in a tie for 58th place in the 68-player field.

For the most part, Harding Park played difficult Thursday. The average score was 72.10, a tenth of a stroke above par. Twenty-nine players finished under par, but 31 were over par. Lanny Wadkins, the 1977 champion, had the worst of it, taking seven bogeys and two doubles on the way to a nine-over 81.

Here are the cards of the three leaders plus other notables in the field:

Hole                       1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9    10 11 12   13 14 15   16 17 18     — Total

Par                         4 4 3   5 4 4   4 3 5      5   3   5      4   4    4     4   3   4      — 72

Hagen                   3 4 2   5 4 4   4 3 4      4   2   5      3   4   3       2   3   3      — 63

Barber                  4 3 2   7 4 4   3 3 3      4   2   4      6   4   4       3   2   3       — 66

Burke                    4 3 2   4 5 4   2 2 5      6   3   4      5   4   4      3   2   4       — 66

Palmer                 4 3 3   5 4 5   4 3 4      5   3   6      3   3   3       5   2   4        –69

Nelson                 5 3 2   5 3 4   4 3 5      6   3   5      3   4   5       4   3   4         –71

Nicklaus              5 6 4   5 3 5   4 3 5      5   2   7      2   4   4       4   2   3         –73

Woods                4 4 6   4 4 5   4 3 5      6   3   5      3   6   4        4   3   3          –76

Here is a full list of first-round scores.

Player                                   Frt          Back       Tot.        Par

Walter Hagen                    33           30           63           -9

Jerry Barber                       34           32           66           -6

Jack Burke Jr.                     31           35           66           -6

Denny Shute                      34           33           67           -5

Paul Runyan                       32           35           67           -5

Gary Player                         34           33           67           -5

Brooks Koepka                  36           31           67           -5

Jason Day                            34           33           67           -5

Sam Snead                          31           37           68           -4

Tommy Armour                  35           33           68           -4

Walter Burkemo               34           34           68           -4

Leo Diegel                           33           35           68           -4

Arnold Palmer                   35           34           69           -3

Vic Ghezzi                           36           33           69           -3

Don January                       33           36           69           -3

Doug Ford                           38           31           69           -3

Jason Dufner                     36           33           69           -3

Jim Turnesa                        35           35           70           -2

David Toms                         35           35           70           -2

Nick Price                            37           33           70           -2

Ray Floyd                             33           37           70           -2

Jim Barnes                          34           36           70           -2

Chick Harbert                     32           38           70           -2

Ben Hogan                          36           34           70           -2

Jimmy Walker                    38           33           71           -1

Gene Sarazen                    34           37           71           -1

Byron Nelson                     34           37           71           -1

David Graham                   36           35           71           -1

Jay Hebert                          37           34           71           -1

Lee Trevino                        36           36           72           0

Jeff Sluman                        34           38           72           0

Rich Beem                           40           32           72           0

Julius Boros                        35           37           72           0

Steve Elkington                 38           34           72           0

Keegan Bradley                 36           36           72           0

Jim Ferrier                           35           37           72           0

Chandler Harper               36           36           72           0

Bob Tway                            38           35           73           1

Vijay Singh                          37           36           73           1

Henry Picard                      37           36           73           1

Jack Nicklaus                      40           33           73           1

David Love III                     35           38           73           1

Hubert Green                    35           38           73           1

Lionel Hebert                     37           36           73           1

Bob Hamilton                     33           40           73           1

Hal Sutton                           38           36           74           2

Dave Stockton                   38           36           74           2

Bobby Nichols                   38           36           74           2

Larry Nelson                       37           37           74           2

Dave Marr                           39           35           74           2

Al Geiberger                      39           35           74           2

Payne Stewart                  39           36           75           3

Bob Rosburg                      38           37           75           3

Phil Mickelson                   38           37           75           3

Rory McIlroy                      38           37           75           3

Dow Finsterwald              37           38           75           3

Martin Kaymer                  37           38           75           3

Tiger Woods                       39           37           76           4

Padraig Harrington          37           39           76           4

Johnny Revolta                 38           39           77           5

Paul Azinger                       37           40           77           5

Wayne Grady                    38           39           77           5

Y.E. Yang                             36           42           78           6

John Mahaffey                  40           38           78           6

Shaun Micheel                  38           41           79           7

Mark Brooks                      36           43           79           7

John Daly                             37           42           79           7

Lanny Wadkins                  40           41           81           9