Tiger Woods’s bid for a third major of the year got off to a stuttering start while former winner Steve Elkington set the early pace in the U.S. PGA Championship first round on Thursday.On a sweltering day at Baltusrol Golf Club, Australian Elkington reeled off three consecutive birdies from the par-four second before reaching the turn in three-under-par 31.That left the 1995 champion a stroke ahead of South African Trevor Immelman, American Ryder Cup player Stewart Cink and Britain’s Luke Donald. Immelman had completed 12 holes while Cink and Donald both had nine to play.In sharp contrast, a frustrated Woods was unable to find any momentum over his first nine holes, struggling with his driver and hitting only one fairway.Playing the back nine at the Lower Course first, the world number one watched with a pained expression on his face as his opening tee shot at the par-four 10th sailed well left.The 10-times major winner, forced to scramble right from the start, ran up a bogey-five there. He then found further trouble at the par-four 14th, pushing his tee shot into the right rough and failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker on his way to another dropped shot.The 29-year-old American closed out his first nine in disappointing fashion, dropping another shot at the par-five 18th to reach the turn in three-over 39. His problems on 18 also began on the tee when he drove the ball into left rough, narrowly missing the water, and plugged into the soft ground.
