After Day 1, picture remains foggy

HAVEN, Wis. - Scotland's Stephen Gallacher arrived at Whistling Straits at 5:45 a.m. Thursday for his 7:10 a.m. tee time in the opening round of the PGA Championship.

Unfortunately for Gallacher, a wickedly dense fog - one that would make John Carpenter envious - rolled in ahead of him and the rest of the field.

And it hung around.

And around.

For over 3 hours.

"I got here and had my breakfast and went out," Gallacher said. "Even though it was foggy, you have to prepare as though it could lift quickly. So I did my warmup and then it just came right back in."

Gallacher knew just what to do.

"Back in for another breakfast, back out for some chipping, back in for another breakfast of some toast and fruit ... and then back out in earnest," said Gallacher, who finished 1 under on the day. "I teed off and there was a slight delay (6 minutes) and it never really picked up.

"I didn't see the ball land until the fifth hole."

During the delay, which officially lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes and cut many rounds short due to darkness, some players slept, some joked, others groused.

All, it seems, ate, and ate a lot. From the top pros to the club pros.

"Well, I got to eat three breakfasts," Tiger Woods said, "so that's good."

"I tell you what, they have great hospitality here," club pro Sonny Skinner said. "The food was good; I ate two meals while I was here."

It proved a unique experience for all.

"I have never gotten up at 5:30 a.m. for a 12 o' clock tee time before," Charles Howell III said. "Had breakfast three times. Family dining was great."

Co-leader Bubba Watson (4 under) stayed up late Wednesday night, much to his wife's chagrin, and then spent most of Thursday morning eating, hydrating and trying not to use up too much energy.

"During the delay, yeah, it's boring," Watson said. "I played two video games (one being Angry Birds) on my phone and threw stuff at Rickie Fowler while he was trying to sleep - pretty much the basic kid stuff that you do."

Jason Day, who finished up tied with a group at 3 under, woke up at 4 a.m. because he was part of the first group scheduled to tee off. But the young Aussie knew as soon as he pulled into the course that wasn't going to happen.

So ...

"We were sitting on the range for about two-and-a-half hours and I was just hitting balls next to Stuart Appleby," he said. "We were just talking, having a few jokes. It was a lot of fun.

But ...

"After the fog burned off we knew we had half an hour, so it was kind of hard to judge how long you wait to start your routine."

And for professional golfers, routine is everything, especially at a major tournament.

"It's a bit frustrating for everyone to sit around, but there's nothing you can do about it," Howell said. "Especially this being a major. Guys are up, they're ready to go and get started."

After the initial shock of the fog, most players, it seems, dealt with it good-naturedly, viewing it as just one of those freak things.

Uh, maybe not.

Here are the first five words of Friday's official PGA forecast: "Areas of dense morning fog ..."