Bloomfield Hills Township, MI (Best E Casino) - Robert Karlsson of Sweden and India's Jeev Milkha Singh both posted rounds of two-under 68 on Thursday and share the lead with Andres Romero during the suspended first round of the PGA Championship.
A one-hour, 25-minute weather delay set play back and 18 players still need to finish their first rounds. They will return to the South Course at Oakland Hills 8:00 a.m. (et) Friday to finish the first round.
Romero is two-under par through 16 holes.
Sergio Garcia, Sean O'Hair, Billy Mayfair and Ken Duke share fourth at one- under 69.
"I putted good. I chipped good. I hit a lot of good shots into the greens -- and you know, one-under par on this course, I'm thrilled with it," said Garcia.
Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Champion, overcame bogeys at his first two holes to shoot an even-par 70.
"I'm just happy to have shot even-par today," acknowledged Mickelson. "I think that after the start, bogeying the first two holes, I thought it was pretty good to hang in there, fight and make some birdies, because there were a lot of holes that were tough to get to."
Mickelson tallied three birdies and two bogeys the rest of his first nine to make the turn at plus-one, but perhaps his best shot was a chip-in par at the par-three 13th.
Mickelson rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at four, then converted a four- footer for birdie at five to get into red figures for the championship. Unfortunately for Mickelson, he bogeyed his final hole, the 257-yard, par- three ninth, but is still pleased.
"I'll gladly take it," said Mickelson.
He is only two behind the co-leaders, one of whom has enjoyed quite a major season.
Karlsson is the only player to post top-10 finishes in all four majors this season, but he's not resting on an impressive record in golf's most important events.
"To forget about those three top eights, that's the most important thing," Karlsson said when asked about expectations. "This is a new event. This has nothing to do with the other three."
Karlsson, like Mickelson, got off to a terrible start on Thursday. He hit a cart path over the green and walked off the first with a double-bogey six.
That would be one of his last mistakes.
Karlsson birdied three in a row from the second, including a two-putt from 60 feet at two, a four-footer at the third and a 12-footer at No. 4. The tall Swede drained an 18-foot birdie putt at six and knocked a seven-iron to tap-in range to set up birdie at the eighth.
A 10-foot birdie putt at 11 got Karlsson to four-under par for the championship, but back-to-back bogeys from the 14th dropped him into a share of the lead.
"It was great," said Karlsson. "The greens were absolutely perfect, so once I rolled a couple in, just keep going, so it was good."
Singh also made a mess early on with a bogey at the first. He atoned for the error in style with a five-foot eagle putt at the second and Singh got to minus-two with a nine-foot birdie putt at the fifth.
Singh dropped shots with bogeys at seven and 10 to fall back to even-par. At the 15th, Singh hit his seven-iron approach to kick-in range and got back under par for the championship.
He grabbed his share of first with a 20-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th.
And Singh is doing all of this with a bad ankle.
"Obviously the ankle does hurt at certain positions because it's a hilly golf course and especially the slopes," said Singh, who has won in Austria and Japan in the last two months. "I try to watch that whenever I'm walking."
Romero, who was in the hunt for the British Open last year, collected his first birdie at the par-five second hole. He birdied eight to get to two- under, but a bogey at the treacherous ninth sent him to the back nine at minus-one.
He birdied the next par-five, the 12th and parred his last four to finish off his day in a share of the lead. With a good morning, Romero could get sole possession of first, but with the 238-yard, par-three 17th and demanding closing hole, staying in the lead would be a nice feat.
Mickelson was joined in eighth place by two-time winner this year Anthony Kim, Ryan Moore, Rod Pampling, Charlie Wi, Brian Gay, Michael Allen and 2007 U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera.
Padraig Harrington, winner of the last two British Opens, birdied his first three holes Thursday, but slipped a bit. He finished with a one-over 71 and is part of a group tied for 16th, with, among others, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and J.B. Holmes.
Vijay Singh, a two-time PGA Champion and the winner of last week's WGC- Bridgestone Invitational, struggled badly on Thursday. He managed a six-over 76 and is tied for 92nd.
Kenny Perry, a pre-tournament favorite with three wins this year, withdrew after his round due to an eye injury.
