Gary Woodland, a 28-year old from Topeka who played golf at the University of Kansas, had the round of his life on Thursday.
Shooting a 67 that put him at -5, Woodland finished Round 1 of the 2012 PGA Championship in a tie for second place with Rory McIlroy. The two are behind only Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, who is currently at -6 through 12.
The PGA has been good to Woodland: the best major finish of his career was a tie for 12th here in 2011.
That was also the year he established himself as a top-tier golfer, graduating from the Nationwide Tour and racking up his first career PGA win at the Transitions Championship.
Thanks to a forgiving Kiawah Island course, Tiger Woods (-2) is one of 18 golfers already under par who will be lurking behind Woodland in Round 2.
Chez Reavie, a former Arizona State golfer born in Wichita, will tee off at 12:40 PM Central.