PRO GOLF 'Lefty' has early edge on first day

Phil Mickelson birdied three of his first four holes; two other players were at 2-under.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- Rain spent the past two weeks softening up Oak Hill, and Phil Mickelson quickly took advantage.
Mickelson birdied three of the first four holes to take the early lead as the 85th PGA Championship opened on Thursday. Tim Herron and Rod Pampling were one back at 2-under.
And while 14 players were under par before completing their first nine holes, the 77-year-old course was proving to be a stiff challenge, with its plush rough and narrow fairways penalizing those that failed to hit straight.
Defending champion Rich Beem hit his opening tee shot on No. 10 well right into the gallery, and just 20 yards short of Allen's Creek. Beem's second shot was short of the green, and he scrambled to record a bogey with a 3-foot putt.
Playing partner Tiger Woods avoided trouble after his tee shot found the rough and he sank a 2-foot putt for par.
That's a much better opening than Woods endured at last month's British Open, when he lost his ball and finished with a triple bogey on the first hole.
Fore!
Woods and Beem faired better Thursday than club professional John Guyton, whose tournament-opening tee shot sailed right and landed out of bounds in a backyard of a home neighboring the course. Guyton, from East Williston, N.Y., settled for a double bogey.
With the rains cleared out earlier in the week, play opened in muggy conditions and under a bright sun that burned off a morning haze. The forecast calls for sun and mid-80 degree temperatures through the weekend.
And a dried-out 7,134-yard, par-70 Oak Hill is expected to provide a challenge, having previously tested the likes of Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. The course most recently was the site of the 1995 Ryder Cup.
Both veterans and newcomers were impressed before the start of play.
"Every time I come here I just think, driving first. If I can drive the ball into the fairway, I'll do all right," veteran Tom Watson said Wednesday. "It's long, wet and it will provide a great test of golf."
Justin Rose, who was 11 days old when Nicklaus won the 1980 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, agreed.
"I think the only saving grace right now is the fact that the greens are relatively soft," Rose said.
Players should enjoy it while they can as the stage is set for the final major of what has been a highly competitive season.
Questions abound
It's a year which has featured eight multiple PGA Tour winners, led by Woods and Davis Love III with four each. And it's a season in which the player of the year award is up for grabs.
By Sunday, plenty of questions will be answered, including: whether Woods can win his first major in six tries, and ninth of his career; whether a European can become the first to win a PGA Championship since Tommy Armour in 1930; or if this will unveil the year's fourth first-time major winner.
The tournament has traditionally favored first-time major winners, 44 in all, the most recent Beem at Hazeltine last year.
But Oak Hill has been a course for veterans, where Hogan finished second to Cary Middlecoff in the 1956 U.S. Open, Lee Trevino won the 1968 U.S. Open, Nicklaus won the 1980 PGA and Curtis Strange won the 1989 U.S. Open.
Watson, who has played Oak Hill twice, was eager to make a prediction, saying, "I would suspect that Tiger Woods is going to break his slump this week."
His reasoning is that Woods is usually long and straight off the tee and is one of the few to have the strength to power a ball out of the rough.