PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Scott Piercy’s first round of the PGA Championship was 21 shots better than his last round in a major.
There’s an explanation for that.
Piercy said Thursday at Oak Hill that he’s been dealing with inflammation in his right elbow since the Byron Nelson Championship in mid-May. Recently, the pain has become so intense that he was “flinching” at impact.
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Piercy admits that he probably should have taken off a month and rested his elbow, but he didn’t want to skip his first Open Championship, nor his title defense at the RBC Canadian Open. “It was a stretch I needed to play,” he said.
But it came with a price. At Muirfield, Piercy shot 74-88 and was last among those who completed 36 holes. A week later, he tied for 52nd in Canada.
On July 28, Piercy took a cortisone shot and reported that the elbow is no longer “holding me back.” It didn’t look like it Thursday either, as he made six birdies in a round of 3-under 67 that left him just two shots off the Round 1 lead.
