Golf-PGA venue offers great rewards and tough punishments

JOHNS CREEK, Georgia, Aug 11 (Reuters) - With a staggering 22 strokes between leader Steve Stricker and Japanese teenage talent Ryo Ishikawa, the PGA Championship's Highland course provided great reward and cruel punishment on Thursday.

The Atlanta Athletic Club's immaculate layout is a beauty but also a beast which, in the first round, made sure both excellence and error carried consequence.

Stricker's 63 equalled the best ever score in a major while at the opposite end of the spectrum, Ishikawa, who was a contender at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, had a nightmare, finding water six times.

The 19-year-old, a player widely regarded as one of the brightest emerging talents, made a triple-bogey on the tough par-three 15th on his way to a 15-over-par 85.
Graeme McDowell, last year's U.S. Open winner, said such extremities were not a surprise on the picturesque course.
"It is that kind of golf course. There is a lot of water on the course so you can make a number, you can get in big trouble," the Northern Irishman said after carding a 74.
"You can make doubles and triples but if you stay out of those (traps) there are a lot of birdie chances, no doubt about that. You have to play those last four holes well," he added.
One of those who struggled over the closing stretch was Australian Jason Day who wrecked a solid round with bogeys on 15 and 16 and a double at the 18th.
FINAL FOUR
"I was playing really, really nicely, and then just the last four holes got me," said Day, who has finished in the top 10 at the last three majors.
Apart from the water, the course is also heavily bunkered and former world number one Tiger Woods, who shot a seven-over-par 77, ended up in the sand on 12 occasions.
Before the round, Woods had described the final four holes as among the toughest around and he certainly struggled on that stretch -- making double bogeys on the 15th and 18th and bogeying the 16th.
"It was a tough stretch, yeah," said Woods.
McDowell additionally cited earlier holes on the front nine, where Woods also struggled, as being key to success.
"There are seven or eight holes on this course that you have to play well," he said. "Typically, two, three, four and 14 through 18 ... if you can play those in or around par, then the other 10 holes give you a real chance to make birdies.
"Staying out of the water is key and out of the bunkers, those bunkers plug and they aren't very nice."