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Not this one.
Not with U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, the favorite at this PGA, trying to blast a 7-iron through a tree root. He injured his wrist so badly that he thought of quitting, yet somehow managed an even-par 70 despite not being able to hang onto the club with both hands.
And not with Tiger Woods looking like a 14-time major champion for five holes, only to finish 14 shots out of the lead after stumbling through the sand and posting a 77, his second-worst score ever in a major.
Already a memorable year in the majors, it looks like the PGA Championship wants a piece of the action.
On a sweat-stained Thursday at Atlanta Athletic Club, Stricker became the 11th player in PGA Championship history to shoot 63. He opened with three straight birdies and kept right on going until he stood on the cusp of history without even knowing it.
Only after his birdie putt for 62 slid by the cup did his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, tell him that it was for the record in a major.
“It never really registered,” Stricker said. “I was just trying to make a birdie and finish 8 under, and I really was concentrating on the putt, but never thought about the history part of it.”
He never thought he could be atop the leaderboard, either. After three days of practice on the 7,467-yard course – the longest par 70 in major championship history – Stricker didn’t have a good feeling about his chances. His money would have been on his Wisconsin neighbor, Jerry Kelly. He wasn’t too far off.
Kelly shot a 65, a career-best in the PGA Championship, and was two shots behind. Completing the American foursome atop the leaderboard was former PGA champion Shaun Micheel at 66, and Scott Verplank with a 67, perhaps the biggest surprise of the day because Verplank has been battling a wrist injury.
For the longest time, it looked as though he would have company in physical therapy.
The 22-year-old McIlroy showed his age, if not his fearless style, by taking a shot out of the left rough on the third hole, even though his ball sat squarely behind a 2-inch wide tree root. He let the club fly from his hands on contact, but it was too late.
The ball went about 20 yards behind more trees, and McIlroy immediately began shaking his right hand. Before long, he noticed swelling in the wrist, and a throbbing that stretched all the way up to his shoulder.
It nearly cost him the rest of the week.
McIlroy put an ice compress on his wrist, then summoned a physical therapist. He thought about withdrawing, but pressed on, flinching and flexing his wrist and making just enough putts for a remarkable round of 70.
The only injury to Woods was to his psyche.
He was 3 under through five holes, including a 5-wood from pine straw over a mound and under a tree that set up birdie on the par-5 12th hole. But after a 4-iron into the water on the par-3 15th, he came undone.
Woods made three double bogeys over the next 10 holes, and wound up in a dozen bunkers. One last bogey gave him his second-highest score in a major, behind the 81 he shot at Muirfield in the 2002 British Open in a wind-driven rain. This day was simply steamy, which described Woods’ mood after the round that got away.
“I’m not down,” he said. “I’m really angry right now. There’s a lot of words I could use beyond that.”
He attributed the shocking round to ditching mechanics and trying to play as though his swing changes were coming naturally. A 13-hole train wreck showed otherwise.
For being such a long course, it didn’t feel that way. The PGA of America moved up several tees, and temperatures in the 90s helped the ball to travel even farther.
Stricker led 22 players who broke par, although Atlanta Athletic Club doled out its share of punishment. No one suffered quite like Ryo Ishikawa, the 19-year-old from Japan who was coming off his best finish in America last week at Firestone, where he tied for fourth. He had a career-high 85, with six balls in the water.
Eight other players shot in the 80s, including former U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover.
TODAY
PGA Championship, second round, Atlanta Athletic Club.
TV: TNT, 10 a.m.
