GOLF: One of the quaint traditions of the Oak Hill Country Club is the way past champions, whether they be professional or amateur, who have conquered the course on the way to acquiring a prized title are remembered by plaques embedded into the trunks of oak trees, most notably around the 13th green, an area known as the Hill of Fame, and on the outside of the mock Tudor clubhouse, a place known as the Wall of Champions.

But, as the 85th US PGA Championship progressed here under a glaringly hot sun yesterday, those endeavouring to fulfil their destiny, and to follow in some famous footsteps, were made aware that nothing is achieved easily. To win a major demands not only shot-making of the highest quality and fortitude . . . but also, if the truth were known, more than a hint of luck.

And among those to labour in a first round - led by Phil Mickelson and Australia's Rodney Pampling, who opened with four-under-par 66s - in which any mistake off the tee, with four-inch rough awaiting such wayward play, brought severe punishment, were Rich Beem, the defending champion, who shot an opening-round 82, and Tiger Woods, the world number one, who started his last fling at securing a major this year with a 74 that featured one lone birdie.

Beem's score was the highest first-round score by any defending US PGA champion, the previous being a 79 by Jerry Barber in 1962.

If they required any solace, it was that they were not alone in playing second-best to the course. More players were categorised among the vanquished than as conquerors; and, as the greens are anticipated to firm up over the next three days, chances are that the going will only get tougher.

"You know, by the end of the week it is going to be tough for anyone just to try to stay under par or at even par," claimed Woods, who has not yet thrown in the towel. It is simply not in his nature.

Mickelson, unusually quiet, was reluctant to cast an eye into any crystal ball. Asked his feelings about contending on Sunday, he responded: "I don't know, there's a lot of golf left. I'm not looking that far down yet."

Certainly, he has his supporters in the locker-room. David Toms, the champion of two years ago, opened with a 75 and, on seeing Mickelson's name atop the leaderboard, remarked, "Maybe he can get the monkey off his back this week. If I don't win, why not him? He's a friend of mine and he has been playing good golf for a long time and he needs to win a major to erase the doubts."

Yet, if it was always felt that Mickelson's poor form of late was only a temporary aberration, the man who accompanied him at the top of the first round leaderboard, Pampling, continued the trend of 2003 of producing a surprise packet.

Pampling has endured a horrible summer that has seen him miss nine cuts in his last 14 events. One of only two top-10 finishes in that stretch came in the BC Open - which clashed with the British Open - but the 33-year-old native of Brisbane, who also has a home in Texas, was deserving of some good fortune.

Last April, Pampling had his clubs stolen from the garage of his Texas home - "Generally we (professionals) swap clubs around . . . but when you lose 14 clubs at one go, clubs you've had in your bag for a long time, that puts real pressure on parts of your game that it usually doesn't," he said - and it is only now that he has started to feel any way comfortable again.

Yesterday was a day to remember, with not a bogey to blight his card. He started on the 10th, and got his round up-and-running with a birdie on the 13th, where he holed a three-footer. On the next, he rolled in a 30-footer and, then, he holed from 10-feet on the first and from the same distance on the eighth as he claimed a 66.

Pampling's wife, Angela, is a clinical psychologist and, more often than not, she will follow him outside the ropes throughout his round.

"We don't interact while I'm out there, but we do a lot of work before a round, just to make sure I'm prepared for what to expect, if something happens. It's just about keeping alert if something bad or good happens, just keeping in the zone and to keep on performing so that you can play well."

The demands of Oak Hill would likely leave plenty of players in need of an appointment with a psychologist post-round, but some managed to cope with the course extremely well. Among them was Mike Weir, the US Masters champion, who opened with a 68, to be two shots adrift of the clubhouse leaders.

As if to confirm that everyone needs a stroke of fortune, Weir included two chip-in birdies. The first came on the third and, by comparison with what followed on the next hole, was relatively straightforward as chip-ins go. His approach finished short of the green, still in the short grass, and he pitched up the hill and into the cup. On the par-five fourth, his third shot flew the green into "some really heavy rough and I just took a slash at it". It went in.

There was to be no such luck for the three Irish players in the field. Darren Clarke suffered a horrendous double bogey-triple bogey start to his campaign, effectively ending his chances before he had started, and was six over for 13 holes; Padraig Harrington suffered four bogeys in a row from the fifth to turn four over, but got a birdie back on the 14th; while Paul McGinley was also three over through 11 holes.

If they were suffering a degree of frustration, so too was Woods, who didn't drive the ball well.

"I just kept putting a lot of pressure on my game because of it," he conceded. "On a course like this, you simply have to keep the ball in play . . . I will just have to get back (up the leaderboard), slowly but surely."