Bubba Watson shares PGA lead with a 68

Reporting from Sheboygan, Wis. — Bubba Watson prepared for the PGA Championship by shooting videos for Twitter, playing basketball with fellow PGA Tour pro Rickie Fowler, riding on scooters with neighborhood kids and eating ice cream.

To say he’s the anti-pro would be a bit of an understatement.

The left-hander rarely practices and never has taken a lesson, purposely hits hooks and slices, says he didn’t know that the acclaimed Pete Dye designed Whistling Straits, welcomes probing questions from reporters (“We can talk all day if y’all want,” he offered) and seeks advice from only God and his wife.

“Because she’s the boss,” he said.

Watson shot a four-under-par 68 to take the early lead during a fog-impaired first round of the season’s final major. That score was matched by Italy’s Francesco Molinari, and Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney also were four under, though none completed his round.

Play was suspended because of darkness with Watney on No. 12, Els on No. 15 and Kuchar playing his 15th hole. They are among the 78 players who will complete their first rounds Friday morning.

Watson’s morning tee time was pushed back 3 hours 10 minutes because of nagging fog that made it nearly impossible to see Lake Michigan. He killed time by playing a video game called Angry Birds on his iPhone.

“I also threw stuff at Rickie Fowler while he was trying to sleep” in the locker room, he said.

Watson turned serious, though, when talking about his wife, Angie, whom he met at the University of Georgia. He was a golfer who refused to take lessons from his coach; she was a basketball player.

Around Christmas last year, Angie was getting headaches, and an initial diagnosis indicated she had a tumor behind her temple. A second opinion from a Duke neurosurgeon brought an enormous relief: She merely had an enlarged pituitary gland, not uncommon for a woman who stands 6 feet 4.

“Hopefully you all don’t think I’m a sissy,” Watson said through a mixture of tears and laughter. “You know I do hit the ball a long way.”

How long? On the downwind, 587-yard fifth hole, Watson cut off so much of the dogleg with his drive, he left himself only 142 yards. A sand wedge. And a two-putt birdie.

Not to say Watson’s 68 came out of nowhere, but in eight previous PGA Championship rounds, the 31-year-old Floridian never had broken 73. He did get his first PGA Tour victory this year at the Travelers Championship in June.

Four-time PGA champion Tiger Woods, meanwhile, birdied three of his first four holes, including the 621-yard 11th after a drive of 357 yards.

He putted much better during his one-under 71, saying, “I got my lines back,” but also drove it so wildly on No. 5 that he released the club to the turf after his wayward hook.

Phil Mickelson completed 11 holes, recording birdies on his final two to hit the dinner table at one under.

The day, though, belonged to Watson, who’s both entertaining and unconventional when holding a driver or microphone.

So, Bubba, when you look at the leaderboard …

“I never look at it,” Watson said.

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