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Enlarge Photo Matt Kuchar of the U.S. uses a towel to chase away mosquitoes on the eighth... American Matt Kucher made up for lost time with an early birdie to snatch the outright lead after the fog-delayed opening round of the U.S. PGA Championship was finally completed on Friday.Kucher, one of 78 players who failed to finish their first rounds on Thursday because of the inclement weather, jumped to the top of the leaderboard after completing his round at five-under-par 67.
That left him with a one-stroke lead over a group of five players, South African Ernie Els, American Bubba Watson, Italian Francesco Molinari, South Korea's Noh Seung-yul and Britain's Simon Khan.
There was another five players a further shot back at three under in a tightly congested leaderboard in which 42 players broke par, including world number one Tiger Woods, who carded a 71.
Kucher was among dozens of players still trying to complete their first rounds when the second round got underway as organizers scrambled to get the tournament back on schedule after almost six hours were lost to fog on the first two days.
More than three hours of golf was lost Thursday and any hopes for an early start Friday were dashed when another thick blanket of fog drifted onto the Whistling Straits course that hugs the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
With the remaining tee-off times already delayed, there was no chance of the second round being finished before the end of the day and the forecast of afternoon thunderstorms threatened to put the last major of 2010 even further behind schedule.
Kucher started the second day with four first-round holes still to play and in a five-way tie for the lead at four-under-par with two players, Watson and Molinari, who finished their rounds Thursday, and two others, Els and American Nick Watney, who joined him on the course.
SLEEP DEPRIVED
Kucher was still feeling the effects of a lack of sleep when he recommenced his round but still managed to birdie his first hole to grab the outright lead then par his next three to stay in front.
"I'm not a big fan of less than eight hours sleep," he told reporters.
"I never wake up in the best of spirits. So it was just some extra time to kind of get my body back in sync again."
Watney dropped a shot to slip back to three-under but Els safely parred his remaining holes to remain at four-under and was joined by Khan and Koh, who birdied three of his five remaining holes to raise hopes of emulating his countryman Yang Yong-eun, who overtook Woods on the last day to win the title last year.
"I am so happy. I have come here as an invite and I want to play as well as I can," said Koh.
"It is a very big event for me. I won the Malaysian Open and that has given me a lot of confidence."
(For more news on Reuters India, click http://in.reuters.com)
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