LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If you were expecting the big-name American golfers to jump into immediate contention at the 96th PGA Championship on Thursday you would have been disappointed big-time.

Tiger Woods, after his dramatic late arrival at Valhalla on Thursday, shot 74. He admitted “that wasn’t very good,’’ but at least he had a better day than Matt Kuchar, who withdrew before the round started because of back spasms, and defending champion Jason Dufner, who quit after 10 holes because the pain in his neck made playing on “pointless.’’

Dufner made a triple bogey eight on the last hole he played, was 8-over-par for the tournament and declared in a parking lot meeting with the media that “I’m just not able to play golf right now.’’

Woods, still on the mend after back surgery, had a rare pairing with Phil Mickelson but neither could excite the huge, roving gallery. Mickelson, who finished at 2-under-par 69, said Woods “played with a lot of heart’’ and thanked the PGA of America for the pairing.

All those aches and pains made for a less-than-exciting leaderboard at the end of the day. On top, all at 6-under-par 65, were former world No. 1 Lee Westwood of England; Kevin Chappell, a 28-year old Californian who has one top-10 in 28 starts on the PGA Tour this season; and Ryan Palmer, the only one of the trio saddled with an afternoon tee time when playing conditions are generally more difficult.

Most interesting of the Round 1 results was the 66 posted by Jim Furyk, who joins current world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Spain’s Edoardo Molinari at one shot off the lead entering Friday’s Round 2. Furyk has the track record to win this last of the year’s major tournaments. Champion of the 2003 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields, Furyk was runner-up to Dufner in last year’s PGA at Oak Hill in New York.

A schedule change has seemingly ignited Furyk this season. He took a month off after the U.S. Open, where he tied for 12th. He returned to action with a fourth in the British Open, a second in the Canadian Open and a 15th in the Bridgestone Invitational.

“First time I’ve ever done that in midseason,’’ said Furyk. “Surprisingly I came out pretty mechanically sound. Now I’m fresh mentally.’’

The decision to take a midseason break didn’t come easily. It took sports psychologist Bob Rotella to convince Furyk to take a break.

“My dad’s been trying to get me to play less golf for five years,’’ said Furyk. “My wife would probably love for me to play less but is always supportive no matter what I do.’’

Furyk solicited Rotella’s help to help him better manage his time.

“I had never worked with a sports psychologist for 19 and a half years of my career,’’ said Furyk. “It really wasn’t anything to do with my game. He’s an easy person to talk to, and I have a hard time usually opening up to people and to strangers. Definitely his thoughts have helped me be more patient this year.’’

As for McIlroy, he recovered from a double bogey at the par-5 10th hole and a three-putt bogey at No. 11 thanks to four straight birdies from Nos. 12-15 and another bird at the last. Coming off wins in the British Open and Bridgestone Invitational, McIlroy admitted the bad back nine start was a concern.

“It’s (the tee shot at No. 10) one of the only bad shots I’ve hit in a few weeks,’’ he said. “What I was really angry about was, you don’t compound that error and make a bogey on the next hole. I was hot, and I was trying to use that fire as a fuel to propel myself forward. It just shows where my game is mentally right now, that I was able to do that.’’

Luke Donald, another afternoon starter and former world No. 1, got within a stroke of the lead after 13 holes, then lost four shots to par on the last five holes to post a 70. Wheaton’s Kevin Streelman, the other player in the field with Chicago connections, finished birdie-birdie for a 2-under 69.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The suspense is over.

Tiger Woods showed up at Valhalla on Wednesday, just a few hours before Thursday’s start of the 96th PGA Championship. After a brief practice session promised he’d tee off in Thursday’s first round.

Woods left the Bridgestone Invitational after nine holes on Sunday after injuring his back. He returned to Florida while his caddie, Joe LaCava, came here to scout the course that will host the year’s final major championship for the third time.

Though he skipped a scheduled Tuesday press conference Woods did request an extension of his registration time and the PGA of America granted it. On Wednesday, after playing some practice holes, he declared himself ready to go.

Woods underwent back surgery after a slow start to this season and hasn’t played well since his return. He re-injured his back hitting a shot from an awkward lie in a bunker on the second hole in the Bridgestone tourney at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. He played on, but was in obvious pain after hitting his tee shot at the ninth hole and withdrew. He head to his Florida home to undergo treatment.

“Basically, when I landed on the bunker my sacrum went out,’’ Woods said in an impromptu meeting with the media on Wednesday. “So, I pinched the nerve and hence the spasm. My physio put it back in and we’ve just been treating it.’’

Woods downplayed any danger of his playing this week.

“My physio is here. If it does go out, he’s able to fix it,’’ said Woods. “It’s one of those things again. I still need to build strength, still continue to get stronger. It’s just going to take more time.’’

He said the pain is gone.

“The treatments have been fantastic – once the bone was put back in,’’ he said. “It was a different pain than what I had been experiencing, so I knew it wasn’t the site of the surgery.’’

Woods won the PGA the last time it was held at Valhalla in 2000, beating Bob May in an epic four-hole playoff. The course has undergone changes since then, and Woods said his yardage book from that tournament is “useless.’’

“There’s some new things that we have to learn out there,’’ said Woods. “Joey has been here on the ground. He’s got a pretty good handle on it. We’ll run through some more of it as we go. I feel good about the shots I hit. I need to get more feel for how this golf course in playing. I’m not used to seeing the chipping areas like this. We didn’t have that in 2000. It was just deep bluegrass.’’

Though he’s playing, Woods’ play this entire season wouldn’t suggest he’ll contend in the upcoming 72-hole battle. Rory McIlroy, the winner at Bridgestone, comes in as the consensus favorite to claim the title that Jason Dufner won last year at Kiawah in South Carolina.

That doesn’t mean the players are counting Woods out.

“He still has a huge impact, especially on the media side,’’ said Ricky Fowler, who has played the first three majors better than any other player but didn’t win any of them. “You can see all the attention with last week WD-ing and this week not registering on time. I want to see Tiger around, but I want to see him healthy and at his best. Unfortunately he’s not healthy and not at his best right now.’’

Rarely, if ever, have Illinois golfers made as big an impression at the Western Amateur as they did last week in the 112th staging of the prestigious tournament at Chicago’s Beverly Country Club.

Doug Ghim, of Arlington Heights, tied the course record with a 63 in stroke play qualifying and was the tourney’s medalist – the first Chicago player to earn that honor since Roy Biancalana in 1983.

Three University of Illinois golfers survived the 156-player stroke play portion of the tournament to make the Sweet 16 for the match play segment and two were still playing in Saturday’s climax to the event. None of them, however, could get the ultimate prize. The title went to Beau Hossler, a University of Texas sophomore from Mission Viejo, Calif.

Hossler knocked off Ghim, who will be his teammate at Texas when classes begin in the fall, in the Round of 16 on Friday. On Saturday morning he eliminated Northbrook’s Nick Hardy 4 and 3 in the morning semifinals before dispatching another Californian, Xander (CORRECT) Schauffele, 2-up in the afternoon final.

Schauffele, a senior at San Diego State, was also a spoiler for the Illinois contingent. He was a 1-up winner over Brian Campbell, Illinois’ No. 1 player, in the other semifinal. Campbell and Hardy, who graduated from Glenbrook North and will soon be an Illinois freshman, were poised to make it an all-Illini final but both came up short.

“I played 36 holes the last three days, and I certainly never walked 36 for three straight days,’’ said Hossler. “I’ll have to cut off my feet and grow some new ones.’’

Hardy, runner-up in both the Western Junior and Illinois State Amateur this summer, didn’t need to play beyond the 14th hole in his first two matches, but he was no match for Hossler after going 4-down after seven holes. Campbell pushed Schauffele harder, and that may have impacted the title match.

In that one Schauffele went 3-up twice before Hossler mounted a comeback on the back nine.

“Fatigue and exhaustion definitely kicked in,’’ said Schauffele. “I have no excuse, but I fell asleep at some point.’’

The match was all square going to No. 17, a 229-yard par-3 that features a green that slopes steeply back to front. Hossler hit to the front of the green, leaving himself a 30-foot uphill putt. Schauffele took the more aggressive route, hitting a 5-iron that took a big bounce and wound up 15 feet past the hole on the back fringe.

Hossler’s fine lag putt assured par and Schauffele chunked his first chip as a cellular radio nearby sounded, leaving him a third shot from nearly the same spot.

“I didn’t hear the radio, so whoever it was is off the hook,’’ grinned Schauffele. “But I wound up looking silly. I went for it off the tee, which I didn’t have to do.’’

Schauffele’s long par putt rolled well past the hole, giving Hossler the lead going to the 18th. He played the 559-yard par-5 solidly, hitting his third shot to four feet below the cup. Schauffele’s drive went far left, leaving him an awkward stance in the rough that necessitated a second shot down an adjoining fairway. When his fourth dropped into a bunker he conceded the hole and match to Hossler.

“I had to go out there and get it,’’ said Hossler, who lost to Schauffele in the final of the California Amateur in June. “I’m very fortunate. This is one of the best tournaments in the world.’’

The 20th Illinois Women’s Open may have seemed like a ho-hum affair. Emily Collins started the final round with a five-stroke lead and won by nine. It wasn’t quite that easy for the University of Oklahoma graduate, however.

Collins, in her second tournament as a professional, started double bogey-bogey and her playing partner, Michigan State graduate Allyssa Ferrell, went birdie-birdie at Mistwood in Romeoville . Collins’ first swing put her in a bad spot, and she three-putted the first hole. Suddenly that big lead was gone, and Collins seemed vulnerable.

“I was a little bit nervous having such a big lead,’’ she said, “but I tried not to think about it.’’

A solid birdie on the third hole and four more after that steadied her nerves, and she had a seven-shot lead at the turn, an eight-stroke advantage after No. 12 and a whopping 10-shot cushion before her last bogey at No. 17.

“I wouldn’t say I was surprised,’’ said Collins, “but it was definitely exciting. I played solid all week. I’m happy with the way I played.’’

Other than Ferrell, none of the other 31 finalists put pressure on Collins and her nine-shot edge was an IWO record. Her 54-hole score of 212 was 4-under par and it earned her a $5,000 payday and honorary membership to Mistwood.

Ashley Armstrong, a Notre Dame golfer from Flossmoor, was the top Chicago area player. She finished in a four-way tie for second with Ferrell, who – like Collins — is preparing for LPGA Q-school; and amateurs Lisabeth Brooks, from Waunakee, Wis., and Amber Schuldt, a University of Illinois golfer from Sterling. Brooks matched Collins’ 1-under 71 in the final round. The only score lower than that on Wednesday was a 70 by Naperville high school phenom Bing Singhsumalee.

Collins was runner-up in the Texas Women’s Open, her only other pro start, before winning at Mistwood. She’s in the qualifying round for the LPGA’s new Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich. When she’s done in that event she’ll focus on net month’s Q-school.

Though she attended college in Oklahoma and lives in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville, Tex., Collins has some Illinois connections. Her mother is from Bloomington and her father from DeKalb. Both attended Illinois State and Collins’ caddie, Tony Costello, is a family friend who lives 20 minutes from Mistwood.

“I looked at other tournaments I could play in, and thought the Illinois Women’s Open would be a good one,’’ said Collins. “It worked out the best. I loved the course and it was cool that my parents were from here.’’

Mistwood’s recently renovated course has proven a tough challenge for the players in the 20th Illinois Women’s Open – with the exception of Emily Collins, that is.

Collins, a recent University of Oklahoma graduate preparing for the LPGA qualifying school, posted a 4-under-par 68 in Tuesday’s second round to open a five-stroke lead entering Wednesday’s final 18 holes. She’s at 3-under-par 141 for the first 36 holes after a seven-birdie performance in the second round.

Alyssia Ferrell, is in the same position career-wise as Collins, is Collins’ closest pursuer. Ferrell, who just finished her collegiate career at Michigan State, is also headed to LPGA Q-school. The IWO is her third pro tournament, and she’s made the cut in all three starts.

Ferrell also has one thing going on Collins. Michigan golfers have won five of the last six IWO titles and two of her former Michigan State teammates, Allison Fouch and Aimee Neff, are past IWO champions. Neff, who won the tournament twice, is now the Spartans’ assistant coach.

Windy conditions hampered the 81 starters on Monday and Tuesday but they didn’t faze Collins, who is from Colleywood, Tex.

“Wind doesn’t bother me a lot,’’ she said. “I think I’ll be OK if I stay in the same mindset.’’

Her college team finished fourth in the NCAA tournament and she finished second in her first pro tournament, the Texas Women’s Open. The IWO is her second as a pro and she’ll try to qualify for next week’s LPGA tournament in Michigan on Monday before focusing on Q-School, which comes at the end of August.

“Emily played wonderful,’’ said Berwyn veteran Nicole Jeray, one of Collins’ playing partners in the first two rounds and the only LPGA player in the field. “She hardly made any mistakes and putted well.’’

Starting her second round at No. 10, Collins took charge of the tournament by making all birdies on Mistwood’s treacherous Kelpie’s Corner – the three-hole stretch from Nos. 14-16.

Best of the Illinois players are Sterling’s Ember Schuldt and Flossmoor’s Ashley Armstrong. They’re tied for fourth. Schuldt is a University of Illinois golfer as is Burr Ridge’s Samantha Postillion, who is tied for ninth. Postillion lost last year’s title to Michigan-based Elise Swartout in a playoff. Armstrong, also an amateur, plays collegiately at Notre Dame.

Jeray, a two-time IWO winner, goes into the final round in a tie for 19th

The reign of college players continued in the 84th Illinois State Amateur on Wednesday, but this time it took a four-hole playoff to decide the champion.

Deer Park’s Chadd Slutzky, a 36-year old financial trader, took a two-shot lead into the 36-hole finale of the tournament at Cantigny, in Wheaton. He wilted, finishing solo fourth in his bid to become the first non-college winner since 2003.

The championship was then decided in a duel of future Big Ten rivals. Naperville’s Ray Knoll (above), a sophomore-to-be at Iowa, outlasted Northbrook’s Nick Hardy, who enters Illinois in the fall.

Hardy shot 66-69, the best scores in both the third and fourth rounds. That enabled him to finish 8-under-par 280 for the tourney’s 72 holes but the strong finish only got him into a playoff with Knoll, who has been on a golf marathon. He qualified for the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic last week and played 39 holes in a failed bid to qualify for the U.S. Amateur in South Bend on Monday.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever played this much golf in my life,’’ said Knoll. “It’s been a crazy, hectic week.’’

He got the victory because of a bad drive hit by Hardy on the fourth extra hole. It sailed right, into a hazard. Hardy had to take a drop and struggled in with a double bogey six. Knoll’s drive was shorter and in the right rough, but he hit a 7-iron punch shot from 150 yards to within 15 feet of the hole,and got down in par for the victory.

Knoll’s win came in the first playoff for the title since 2004 and was a popular one with the Cantigny staff. He started playing golf at Cantigny’s Youth Links when he was five years old. He continues to practice there but went four years without playing the course until a practice round prior to the State Am. Though he lives 10 minutes away from Cantigny, he plays most of his golf at Cress Creek in Naperville.

Counting practice rounds Knolls played 257 holes in a 12-day stretch that ended on Thursday. He’ll take a weekend trip to Michigan Friday and Saturday, then play a Sunday practice round at The Glen Club in Glenview on Sunday in preparation for Monday’s start of the Illinois Open.

Chadd Slutzky, a 36-year old financial trader from Deer Park, is in position to reverse a trend in the 84th Illinois State Amateur golf tournament on Thursday.

College players have won the prestigious title every year since 2003 but Slutzky was better than all of them in the first two rounds at Cantigny, in Wheaton. Slutzky followed his opening 66 with a 73 on Wednesday and stands at 5-under-par 139 entering Wednesday’s 36-hole wrapup to the tournament.

“Winning this would be huge, the biggest win of my life probably,’’ said Slutzky. “Just playing the same course with the younger guys and leading after two rounds is incredible.’’

Two promising college players, however, are in close pursuit. Kyle Kochevar, a redshirt junior at Virginia, is two shots back after carding a 70 in the second round and Raymond Knoll (Iowa) is another stroke back after shooting the day’s best round – a 67.

“I’m just trying to play the best I can. It doesn’t matter if I’m a college kid of nor,’’ said Kochevar, a Glen Ellyn resident still a week shy of his 20th birthday.

Neither Slutzky nor Kochevar has contended in the State Amateur before. Slutzky reached the finals twice but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut in 2008 or 2009. Kochevar entered the tournament for the first time this year.

Naperville’s Knoll, 18, came into the State Am after qualifying for last week’s John Deere Classic – the state’s only PGA Tour event of 2014. He shot 65 in a qualifying round but didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.