Buick Open: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff GRAND BLANC, Mich. -- Rocco Mediate's 8-under-par 64 in the opening round of the Buick Open was his best round in a PGA TOUR event since firing a 63 in the final round of the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Championship. • Prior to Thursday, Mediate has held at least a share of the first-round lead three times in his career. Of those three, he has gone on to win only the 1991 Doral-Ryder Open in a playoff over Curtis Strange.  Woody Austin opened with a 65, his best first round since the 2006 Buick Open. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
• Even though Mediate hit just 9 of 14 fairways in regulation, he made up for it with his approach shots, as he was 16 for 18 in greens in regulation. He had 27 putts over the course of 18 holes. He was one of 10 players to post a bogey-free round, and he also avoided any three-putts. • In Mediate's previous 15 starts at the Buick Open, only once has he gone as low as a 64. That came in round two in 2000, which he eventually won. Including Thursday, his last 24 rounds played at Warwick Hills have been par-or-better. • The last time a first-round leader went on to claim the Buick Open title was in 2005 (Vijay Singh). He shot an opening-round 65 to lead by one as well. • In the morning wave, Brett Quigley and Woody Austin shot 7-under par 65s. For Quigley, it was the best opening round since the 2006 Buick Open, when he also shot 65, eventually tying for seventh. Similarly, Austin's last opening-round 65 came at the 2006 Buick Open when he also tied for seventh. • Austin made the 1995 Buick Open his first PGA TOUR title, thanks largely to an opening-round 63 to take the early lead. On a side note, as part of that victory, Austin won a 1996 Buick Riviera, which he still has today and claims to be in "excellent shape" with only 37,000 miles on it. • Recording 29 putts, Austin hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation, with his longest putt of the day, 39'8'' coming at the fifth hole. • Brett Quigley hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation and needed only 27 putts. His longest made putt of the day, 23'4'' came at the par-4 fourth hole. Quigley holed out for an eagle-2 on the par-4 14th hole from 60 yards. • Since 1994, Jim Furyk has played 47 of 48 rounds at par or better at the Buick Open. Thursday's 66 was his 34th consecutive round under par at the Buick Open. • Players who posted bogey-free rounds included Rocco Mediate, Cameron Beckman, Lucas Glover, Woody Austin, Craig Kanada, Charlie Wi, Jason Dufner, Brian Davis, Pablo Martin, and Kyle Reifers. • Speaking of Reifers, his 67 Thursday is his best opening-round score since he shot 64 earlier this year at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he eventually finished in a tie for 49th. • Mark Hensby's 67 in round one matches his low round of the year. He posted a second-round 67 at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, finishing in a tie for 12th. • En route to his 67, Craig Kanada one-putted holes 11-16. Only J.J. Henry matched that six-hole one-putt stretch and it happened to also be holes 11-16. • Brian Bateman's first-round 65 has him in good position to make his fifth cut of the 2007 PGA TOUR season. His best finish this year is T31 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. • Overnight rain soaked the Warwick Hills layout, but it did not seem to affect the players. By the end of the day, 29 players averaged over 300 yards off the tee. • Warwick Hills has long been known as a ball-striker's paradise, and Thursday was no different. Five players managed to hit 17 of 18 greens on day one and of those five, three managed to find themselves in the top five at the end of the day (Austin, Furyk, Scott Verplank). Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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