SPRINGFIELD, N.J. (AP) The Latest on the PGA Championship (all times EDT):
2:15 p.m.
Brooks Koepka completed his first round since Sunday at the U.S. Open, and he was thrilled with a 68.
Koepka had to pull out during the first round of the Bridgestone Invitational because of torn ligaments in his right ankle, and he probably wouldn't be playing this week except that it's the final major of the year. His ankle is taped and he is wearing a brace.
Walking 18 holes for the first time since the final round at Oakmont was the first big test. And he had enough power to make eagle on the 18th and four other birdies to offset his mistakes. Koepka said even with a month off, his game didn't leave him.
Koepka was No. 3 in the Ryder Cup standings when he stepped away in late June. A month later, he is down to No. 9 in the U.S. standings. Points count double at a major, so Koepka has a good chance to move back into the top eight that automatically qualify.
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1:55 p.m.
Jimmy Walker had six birdies in a 5-under 65 to take the lead of the PGA Championship after the morning flight of 78 golfers. It tied Walker's career low round in a major.
Emiliano Grillo and Ross Fisher were one shot behind while Harris English, James Hahn and Andy Sullivan were two strokes back.
Eight golfers posted 2-under 68s including defending champion Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and K.J. Choi.
The featured group of the morning wave had Day, Phil Mickelson (71), the winner the last time the PGA was held at Baltusrol Golf Club, and two-time PGA champion Rory McIlroy (74).
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12:50 p.m.
Scott Hend and Vaughn Taylor had the first birdie runs of the PGA Championship and it was over the same three holes at Baltusrol Golf Club.
Hend, a native of Australia who plays on the European Tour, birdied Nos. 13-15, all par-4s.
Taylor, who won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am this year, put up the same three 3s.
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11:30 a.m.
The early starters off the back nine at Baltusrol Golf Club took advantage of the par-5 18th, a 554-yard hole. Of the 13 groups that started at No. 10 at the PGA Championship there were two eagles (Brooks Koepka and Lee Westwood in the same threesome) and 20 birdies.
There were seven bogeys on the hole from those groups, including ones by Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Brandt Snedeker.
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10:45 a.m.
Jimmy Walker, who missed the cut in two of his last four PGA Tour events, birdied half of his first 10 holes to take an early lead at the PGA Championship. Walker, who has one Top Ten finish in five previous PGA Championships, made the turn at Baltusrol Golf Club in 4-under 32 and then birdied the par-4 1st hole to reach 5 under, two shots better than Rickie Fowler, Harris English and Paul Casey.
Walker, who has five career wins on tour but none this year, is 48th in the current world rankings.
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10:20 a.m.
Rickie Fowler, looking to become the fourth first-time major champion this year, made the turn at 3-under 33, tying him for the early lead at the PGA Championship. Starting on the 10th hole at Baltusrol Golf Club, Fowler had four birdies and a bogey in his front nine. Tied with him at 3 under were Jimmy Walker and Brian Stuard.
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9:40 a.m.
The PGA Championships featured morning group of Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day didn't get off to a great start at Baltusrol Golf Club. Through their first four holes - they started on the back nine - Day, the defending champion, had the group's only birdie on the par-4 11th. Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship the last time it was played here, and McIlroy, a two-time PGA champion, both had a bogey in the opening holes.
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8:50 a.m.
Players starting on the back nine were attacking the 11th hole at Baltusrol. Of the first seven groups to play the 431-yard, par-4 hole, six golfers posted birdies. That included Rickie Fowler, who is playing with Ernie Els and Zach Johnson. Fowler's playing partners parred the hole.
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7:55 a.m.
No one had ever finished a major championship at 20-under par until Jason Day last year in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. And then it happened three majors later when Henrik Stenson matched him at Royal Troon two weeks ago at the British Open.
What will Baltusrol serve up this week at the PGA Championship?
Kerry Haigh, the PGA's managing director of championships, says score is no concern at the PGA Championship, which has a history of good scoring. But that leads to a curious aspect about Baltusrol that this week might solve.
The 1967 U.S. Open was at Baltusrol, and Jack Nicklaus broke the scoring record with 275. When it returned to Baltusrol in 1980, Nicklaus set another U.S. Open record at 272. The U.S. Open was at Baltusrol again in 1993, and Lee Janzen tied the record at 272.
But when the PGA Championship was played here in 2005, Phil Mickelson won at 4-under 276.
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7:25 a.m.
The final major of the year began Thursday when New York club pro Mark Brown hit the opening tee shot in the PGA Championship.
The PGA of America has a tradition of letting one of its 20 club pros in the field hit the first shot. The 49-year-old Brown is the head pro at Tam O'Shanter Golf Club in Brookville. He was a runner-up at the PGA Professional Championship in June.
The sun was baking Baltusrol in the morning, and it was expected to be steamy in the afternoon when the other traditional group of major champions teed off. Masters champion Danny Willett, U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and British Open champion Henrik Stenson tee off at 1:45 p.m.
Defending champion Jason Day plays in the morning.
