Catch all of the PGA action on Kiawah through the lens of photographer
Jason Stemple
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Wednesday, August 8th Practice rounds are all about access and autographs, and today rain. After arriving and getting checked in I headed out to the practice tees in a light sprinkle to see who was hitting balls. After a flash of lightning, a rumble of thunder and the sounding of the weather alarm, there were no pros to see. Soon it was full on raining and I had to retreat to find cover. After lunch, the rain lightened up enough to lift the weather delay and to the delight of the drenched crowds, the pros flooded out onto the practice tees and green. Eventually drizzle turned to sun and the autograph seekers’ patience and efforts were rewarded. |
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Thursday, August 9th, AM The skies remained clear overnight and the morning was hot and sticky with light winds. This allowed some players to put up some good numbers. Right now Rory Mcilroy just made it to 5 under to tie for the lead with Carl Pettersson and Joost Luiten. Tiger and John Daly, yes John Daly have both been in the hunt, Daly at 3 under and Tiger just falling back to 2 under. The crowds are large and hot, but enthusiastic. The group following Tiger seems to be over a thousand deep and causes Tiger Jams everywhere he goes. I'm headed back out into the heat and will have more for you later. |
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Thursday, August 9th, PM The afternoon remained sunny and hot, but if you could find a shady spot with a little ocean breeze it was quite pleasant, I imagine. I stayed on the move and in the sun, exploring the front nine where a host of popular pros were finishing up along with plenty of favorites just starting their tournament. The wind and heat seemed to moderate the low scores of the morning and many players fell back a bit. The patrons on the front nine took full advantage of the Ocean Course’s trade mark sea salt battered live oaks huddling under them for shade and the more nimble guests climbing them for better views. |
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Friday, August 10th, Early Afternoon After the 2 plus hour bus ride through periods of driving rain and stop and go traffic I arrived at the Ocean Course. Luckily for me the skies quickly cleared, but unfortunately for the players with the clearing came a brutal offshore breeze. Looking at the buffeted flags, the crashing surf and the waving sea oats it was clear that for most players the scoring would be much more difficult today. |
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Friday, August 10th, Late Afternoon I headed back out into the wind to chase down Tiger who was in the lead and caught him and the crowds as he was teeing off on 10. On the next hole, the par 5 11th, Keegan Bradley who was playing with Tiger hit it way left ending up in the pond on 17. After a drop, he hit an amazing blind shot up the hil through a narrow hallway of patrons. It's setting up to be agreat weekend! I'm off to checkout the event at Freshfields Village including a little book signing at Indigo Books and the Charleston Magazine tent! |
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Saturday, August 11th, AM After a nice quick sunny bus trip in from town I headed out to the front nine to see who was out on the course. I decided to go for a little different view, so I climbed the stairs to the top of the grandstands on the first tee. From there I could look straight down on the warm up green, see across to the 9th green and the ocean beyond and of course catch the beginning announcements and players starting their rounds. |
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Saturday, August 11th, PM The afternoon remained hot and sunny with a nice ocean breeze. The breeze probably wasn’t much fun for the players but it wasn’t nearly as brutal as the near tropical storm force gusts we were getting yesterday. I spent some time on the practice green shooting Tiger and others and then stayed by the clubhouse to get a few groups finishing up on 18 including crowd favorite Bubba Watson. After slugging down a few more pints of water I headed back to the front nine to catch up with Phil Mickleson and some others near the first page of the leaderboard. As I head home, the skies are looking ominously dark so we’ll see if the rain holds off so they can finish the round and set up for the big finish tomorrow. |
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Sunday, August 12th, AM The rain did not hold off last night and play was suspended leaving the leaders with 9 or more holes to finish this morning. The weather so far today has been perfect, sunny with a nice ocean breeze that shouldn’t be much of a problem for the players if it doesn’t pick up too much this afternoon. Northern Ireland’s young Rory Mcilroy will be starting the final round in a bit at 7 under with a 3 stroke lead, 5 strokes ahead of Tiger and Vijay Singh. I spent the morning around the 18th green catching the leaders finishing up. |
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Sunday, August 12th, PM After watching the end of the third round in the morning it became clear that unless someone made a big run or Rory fell apart the young man from Northern Ireland would have his second major win. But, neither of those happened and Rory Mcilroy charged on leaving the field in the dust setting the record for widest margin of victory in a PGA Championship winning by 8 strokes. It was definitely hot out, but a steady breeze, the occasional cloud and drinking gallons of water made it an enjoyable afternoon. I wandered the course quite a bit on the final day but spent the majority of my time near the clubhouse shooting across to the 18th green. Despite the challenging weather, it was a great week at the Ocean Course and I think the course stood up well to the best players in the world. |
