Verizon Heritage: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Jerry Kelly's opening round 63 was one shot off of the opening round record at the Verizon Heritage. Davis Love III (2002) and Peter Lonard (2005) each carded rounds of 62 in their Thursday rounds. Lonard was able to claim the title in 2005 with a four-round total of 7-under par 277.  Jerry Kelly was upset to miss a putt to tie the course record, but pleased with his overall round. (Michael Cohen/WireImage).
• This marks Kelly's 10th visit to the Verizon Heritage in his career. His best finish came last year when he carded rounds of 68-69-66-70 en route to a T5 finish. • Kelly will be looking to claim his first Tour title since 2002 when he was won the Sony Open in Hawaii and the BMW Championship. Kelly's only prior opening round lead was at THE TOUR Championship in 2004 where he recorded a round of 67 and went on to finish solo third. • Kelly and 2005 Verizon Heritage winner Peter Lonard lead the field in greens in regulation after round one. Both players managed to hit 16 of 18 greens on Thursday. • Fifty-one year old Fred Funk, who carded an opening round 67, will be looking to make his 15th consecutive cut at the Verizon Heritage; a feat that would tie both Chip Beck and Peter Jacobsen for the tournament record. • Funk's impressive opening round puts him into position to capture his second title of the 2007 PGA TOUR season. Funk was victorious earlier this year at the inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, when he defeated Jose Coceres on the second playoff hole. • Coceres, who began his 2007 PGA TOUR campaign with conditional status, has made the most of his three starts this year with playoff losses at both the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun and The Honda Classic. Coceres' opening round of 66 is his lowest opening round this year. • Justin Rose withdrew from the Verizon Heritage with a back injury. PGA TOUR rookie Parker McLachlin took Rose's spot in the field....Daniel Chopra was disqualified for taking an illegal drop from a water hazard on the daunting par-3 17th....Rich Beem and Pat Perez both withdrew after Thursday's opening round. • The Verizon Heritage features two highly touted amateurs in the 2007 field. 2006 U.S. Amateur Champion Richie Ramsay and 2006 Players Amateur Champion Jonathan Moore were both granted exemptions into the tournament based on their respective victories. Ramsay opened with a 75 while Moore carded a 76 after standing at 2 under par through 10 holes. • An opening round of 67 puts Stewart Cink in position to become the third player to capture the Verizon Heritage title at least three times. Davis Love III has worn the tartan blazer five times while current Champions Tour star Hale Irwin has done so three times. • 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson fired an opening round of 70 on Thursday. Johnson was tied for first in driving accuracy after day one with 92.86% of his fairways hit. • Australian Stephen Leaney carded an opening round of 66 and will be looking to become the third straight native of Australia to capture the Verizon Heritage title. Aaron Baddeley (2006) and Peter Lonard (2005) captured the last two titles and in turn joined fellow countrymen Greg Norman and Graham Marsh as the only Australians to win at Harbour Town. • Baddeley began the defense of his 2006 title with a round of 70 on Thursday. This marks an improvement on his 2007 first round scoring average of 71.38. The young Australian, should he successfully defend his title, would be the first to do so since Davis Love III pulled off the repeat in 1992.
• Ernie Els recorded his lowest opening round of the 2007 season with a 65 on Thursday. The three time major champion will look to finish in the top-10 for the first time since the Nissan Open in February. Els has never missed the cut in eight appearances at the Verizon Heritage. Els' last PGA TOUR victory was in 2004 at the World Golf Championships--CA Championship in Ireland. It was his third title of the 2004 season (Sony Open in Hawaii, The Memorial Tournament). • Players in Thursday's morning wave avoided strong afternoon winds and the scoring averages showed. The average score for the early pairings was 71.29 while the late pairings averaged 73.03. • Thursday's scoring average of 72.267 is the third highest opening round average in the past six years at the Verizon Heritage. Only 2005 (72.727) and 2004 (72.797) were higher. • The Clemson University fivesome of Lucas Glover, D.J. Trahan, Jonathan Byrd, Charles Warren, and Matt Hendrix had mixed results on Thursday. Trahan and Warren opened with solid rounds of 70, while Hendrix (74), Glover (75), and Byrd (76) failed to break par. • Coceres and Nick O'Hern were the only two players on Thursday to register bogey free rounds. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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