HP Byron Nelson, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
CHARLES NOT YET IN CHARGE (6:50 p.m.): Charles Howell III is just one stroke off the lead, but still not where he wants to be with his game, which has included some changes, including a new coach in Todd Anderson.
"There's still some times and places where I don't feel comfortable, but I think any time you make changes, that's the way it's going to be for a little bit," Howell said.
Earlier this year, Howell likened his changes to him being a fastball pitcher learning to become a pitcher that throws splitters. "Of all the things I've seen great players do, that's what they do so well, is when their fastball is not working, they are not out of it," Howell said in March. "They can still create ways to get it done. That's what I'm learning how to do."
He did it pretty well that week in Tampa, finishing in a tie for second. Thursday was more of the same as Howell has just one bogey. It's taken longer than most expected, but Howell is definitely turning the corner and become more of a golfer, not just a one-pitch wonder. -- Brian Wacker
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM (6:30 p.m.): A couple of interesting nuggets came out of the interview session with Ken Duke, who currently has a share of the lead at 5 under, which looks like it's going to hold up the rest of the day.
Duke, however, somehow sees a much lower round being out there.
"Any guy out here can shoot a 10-under par at any time," Duke said. "I don't know if it's today or any other day. You just never know. Some of the guys might have those days and might have 5, 6, 7, 8 under. There very possibly could be a round like that out there today like that."
News flash: There's not a round like that out there today.
The other interesting note is that Duke shot his 65 while apparently not feeling very well, which may have actually helped him he said. "I'm a little under the weather and that's going to help me," Duke said. "I've always been told if you don't have it when you get here, it's hard to find it. I'm just going to get away, take the positives, don't go out there and try to hit a few balls, hit some putts. I have some good momentum today, and I'm just going to get away from the golf course and come back tomorrow and see what it gives us." -- Brian Wacker
NITTIES NEAR THE TOP (6 p.m.): Add James Nitties' name to the top of the leaderboard after he just capped off a round of 5-under 65 with birdies on his last four holes.
The birdie barrage for Nitties began on No. 15, where he rolled in a 5-footer before making two more putts from inside 15 feet on each of the next two holes. On 18, he hit it tight again, sinking another 5-footer.
A rookie from Australia, Nitties has shown flashes of brilliance a couple of times this season now. At the FBR Open, he opened with a 65 and was in contention on Sunday, closing with a 68 that would eventually land him in a tie for second. A month later, at the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, Nitties shined again, shooting four rounds in the 60s to finish in a tie for sixth.
Nitties has struggled since, but he's also shown the ability to play well on difficult courses. In the first round of the Shell Houston Open -- on a windswept course -- Nitties shot 66 before ultimately struggling the rest of the way. He also finished second at q-school last year and has had some success Down Under as well. This week is just a continuation of all that. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Nitties' scorecard from today:
STRUGGLES CONTINUE FOR SCOTT (5:35 p.m.): It didn't take long for Adam Scott to find black numbers today -- he bogeyed his first two holes, starting on the back. Then things started to look promising with birdies on three of his next six holes to get to 1 under. Since then, however, Scott has fallen back on the wrong side of par with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 4. He's now 1 over with three holes left in his round and, unfortunately, headed toward another round of 70 or higher unless he can make a couple of birdies coming in. In case you missed it earlier, Tom Watson is the last player to successfully defend in this tournament, having won three in a row from 1978-80. -- Brian Wacker
ODDS AND ENDS (5:15 p.m.): Defending champion Adam Scott is attempting to become the first repeat winner of the HP Byron Nelson Championship since Tom Watson won three in a row from 1978-80. Scott is making his third start at the HP Byron Nelson Championship (T3-2006, 1-2008). ...
Seven past champions of this event are competing this week, including Scott (2008), Scott Verplank (2007), Ted Purdy (2005), Vijay Singh (2003), Shigeki Maruyama (2002), Jesper Parnevik (2000) and Fred Couples (1987).
For Verplank, this is his 23rd start at the tournament. Just five players have made more starts (Lanny Wadkins and Tom Watson, 28; Ben Crenshaw, 27; Bruce Lietzke and Raymond Floyd, 24). ...
Meanwhile, Corey Pavin is attempting to become the first player to win all four Texas Swing tournaments during his career. Pavin's victories in the Lone Star State include the 1984 Shell Houston Open, 1985 and 1996 Colonial National Invitation and the 1988 Valero Texas Open. ...
John Huston withdrew during the first round with a back injury. -- John Bush
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MICKELSON UPDATE (5 p.m.): Phil Mickelson planned to play in this week's HP Byron Nelson Championship, until he found out that his wife, Amy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. As you can imagine, the support for Amy and the rest of the Mickelson family has swelled in the two days since the news broke.
As you'll see in this story by colleague Helen Ross, support is literally pouring in from all over the globe and with good reason. Mickelson is arguably the game's most popular players and Amy is arguably the game's most recognizable wife on and off the course with a smile that's infectious as her personality. Obviously, it would be the understatement of all understatements to we're all pulling for her, so here's to a speedy recovery, Amy, and we all look forward to seeing you again soon. -- Brian Wacker
STRONG TRACK RECORDS (4:40 p.m.): Of the four players from the morning wave who fired 4-under 66s, almost all have some history of success at this event. And given the lack of success by first-round leaders here, maybe it's a good thing they all trail Ken Duke by a stroke. Take a look at the chart below, though, for a closer look at how those four have fared here. -- Brian Wacker
| Past results at HP Byron Nelson Championship | ||||||||||
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LEADERBOARD UPDATE (4:20 p.m.): Should Ken Duke's lead hold up at the end of the day, it would mark the second time he has held at least a share of the first-round lead. He was tied for the lead after the first day of the 2008 John Deere Classic before finishing in a tie for 18th.
Duke is making just his fourth start at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, with a tie for seventh in 2007 his best result. Thursday's round was just one shy of his best score at the TPC Four Seasons Resort, a 6-under 64 during the third round in 2007.
However, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just five of 20 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season -- most recently Phil Mickelson at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship. First-round leaders of the HP Byron Nelson Championship have not fared well, either. Over the previous 55 playings of the tournament, only seven players have carried the opening-day lead and gone on to win. -- John Bush
PARNEVIK IN CONTENTION (3:50 p.m.): Jesper Parnevik just laughed at the notion that he might be upset that his caddie, Lance Ten Broeck, shot a lower score than him at the Valero Texas Open last week -- after toting Parnevik's bag around no less. This week, maybe he's out for a little sweet revenge, or it could be that he just plays well in this tournament, having won it in 2000. Parnevik is 3 under through his first 11 holes with four birdies and one bogey.
That's quite an improvement from Parnevik's first few months this season. In eight events, Parnevik has missed the cuts six times with a season-best finish of 42nd. -- Brian Wacker
BETTENCOURT'S BAD LUCK (3:25 p.m.): Matt Bettencourt's trips to the Metroplex are nothing, if not eventful.
A year ago, he wound up in the hospital with kidney stones the night before the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch. He wound up winning the tournament.
Then, Wednesday morning, he loaded his clubs in his courtesy Escalade in the Holiday Inn Express parking lot across from the 14th hole at TPC Four Seasons and went in to have breakfast. He came back out to find his window smashed and his clubs and other valuables, including his wedding ring and watch, stolen.
"I was going to play Gleneagles, where the British Open qualifier is Monday,'' he said. " . . . Came back out in 20 minutes and everything was stolen . . It sucks, but what are you going to do?''
To make things worse, the security cameras weren't working. For the complete story, click here. -- Melanie Hauser
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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NEW LEADER (2:25 p.m.): Ken Duke just moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under 65 here at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, where he had six birdies and just one bogey. He also had a back-nine 31.
For Duke, who has three career runner-up finishes on the PGA TOUR but no wins, it's his best score of the year dating back to the third round of the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, where he shot a 64. It's also the first time he's held a lead this year, though this is not entirely unfamiliar territory for him.
Duke is coming off the best year of his career with five top 10s and a ranking of 22nd on the FedExCup points list. This year's been a slightly different story, though, with Duke having missed as many cuts (6) as he's made. His best result is a tie for 26th at the Verizon Heritage. Obviously he's in a good position to improve on that. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Duke's scorecard from today:
GNEISER GIVING BACK (2:05 p.m.): Scott Gneiser, who caddies for David Toms, is participating in this week's "Walk It" promotion with Humana Hospitals. Gneiser is wearing a pedometer each day to measure the number of steps he take from start (the driving range) to finish (18th hole). Spectators can drop by the "Walk It" tent, check out a pedometer, and join (10,000 steps a day is normally a goal). Thursday's total? Gneiser took 13,261 steps on the course -- 6.2 miles -- but Las Colinas is a longer course. He wore it during Wednesday's pro-am too, and took 16,165 steps, some of them chasing amateur's golf balls. -- Melanie Hauser
FOUR SCORE (1:45 p.m.): Sure enough, 4-under 66 is holding up pretty well right now with four players in the lead and in the clubhouse at that number. Charles Howell III and Mike Weir became the latest to do so, joining Brad Adamonis and Scott McCarron.
Meanwhile, Ken Duke is also 4 under through 15 holes and John Mallinger, who tied for third at THE PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago, is one back after a 67 today. Also making a rare appearance near the top of the leaderboard: Chris DiMarco, who is 3 under as he plays his final hole of the day. DiMarco's best finish this year is a T13 at the Northern Trust Open. -- Brian Wacker
CHECKING IN WITH THE CHAMP (1:15 p.m.): Adam Scott is about 15 minutes away from his tee time (click here to follow live), but there might not be a defending champion this year who has struggled as much as the Aussie has of late.
Scott has missed his last five cuts and hasn't broken 71 in any of his last 14 rounds. In fact, you have to go all the way back to the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii to find a strong performance by Scott. He shot a 64 on Sunday there on his way to finishing in a tie for second.
Since winning here last year, Scott has also had just one top 20 -- a tie for 16th at the British Open -- in a year's that been littered with injury, swing problems and personal issues.
The month Scott spent away from the game earlier this year did him good mentally and physically -- he said rehabbing his knee injury was one of the toughest things he's had to endure -- but the results aren't there ... yet.
"I'm pretty excited to play here this week," Scott said. "I really don't feel like my game is that far away, but you know, I need to go out there and put some numbers on the board to show that. It's a good feeling to come back to a place you've played well at for sure.
"I think it's just one round away from being back on track again. I think the confidence will come with just that one round."
It's no secret that confidence is a huge part of success out here -- just ask Anthony Kim, who said a couple of weeks ago in so many words that his confidence was in the toilet. Ditto that for Scott, who's clearly hoping that changes this week. Like he said, sometimes all it takes is one good round. -- Brian Wacker
ROUTE 66 (1 p.m.): A 4-under 66 seems to be the number to beat today and given how difficult TPC Four Seasons can play, that's no surprise. Brad Adamonis and Scott McCarron are both in with 66s, while three others -- Mike Weir, Kevin Sutherland and Ken Duke are all also sitting at 4 under at various stages of their rounds.
Adamonis and McCarron both had three birdies apiece on the back with each shooting 32 over their final nine holes, but they got there in different ways. Though McCarron was more accurate, missing just two fairways and only three greens all day, he struggled on the greens with 32 putts. Adamonis hit just half his fairways and 12 of 18 greens on his way to just 26 putts. -- Brian Wacker
CAMPBELL IN A SLUMP? (12:35 p.m.): You have to wonder if Chad Campbell is in some sort of mini-slump after a heartbreaking playoff loss at the Masters, a tournament in which he led after an opening-round 65.
Since then, Campbell has finished in a tie for 62nd, missed a cut and finished in a tie for 60th at last week's Valero Texas Open. The Lone Star State native is struggling again this week -- four bogeys and three birdies through his first 15 holes.
"It's another opportunity that I was there, and you learn that you've got to be patient," Campbell said yesterday. "Obviously the outcome is not quite what I wanted, but I got myself in position and played some really good golf, hit a couple bad shots there at the end that I tend to reflect on a little bit too much and don't really think of the other 72 holes that I played great on. That's the way it goes. But I'm going to take a lot of positives out of that week."
As for playing well in Texas, it comes with nearly the same amount of pressure as a major for a guy like Campbell.
"You definitely have to manage your time a little bit. There's a lot of people that want to see you or friends that want to hang out, and sometimes you've just got to pass that up until a later time," Campbell said. "It's hard whenever you're home -- it's great to be home working, but on the other hand, people don't really see it as that. It makes it a little bit tough.
"I would love to win any golf tournament, but especially the ones in Texas. Always growing up here, you always remember watching them, and just all the history with golf in Texas, and to be able to win one of these tournaments would be awesome." -- Brian Wacker
HAYES HEATING UP (12:10 p.m.): It looks like J.P. Hayes is making the most of his sponsor's exemption, one which he received almost immediately after calling a penalty on himself that disqualified him from q-school last year.
Hayes, who is playing this season on past champion status after finishing 176th on the money list last season, has just on top-50 finish this year, but it was a good one with a tie for sixth in Puerto Rico.
Hayes, who lives in El Paso, is looking for a second strong finish this week and is off to a good start, having just made the turn after birdies on four of his last five holes on the front nine to get to 2 under on his round. That's a pretty strong recovery considering he started out with bogeys on two of his first three holes. -- Brian Wacker
A LITTLE MATTESON MAGIC (11:55 a.m.): Troy Matteson is currently leading at 4 under through his first 13 holes. That's pretty good considering he has a bogey on the card. Of course, he also has an eagle, which came at the par-5 16th when he chipped in from right of the green from 76 feet.
Having made the turn in 31 -- he started on the back -- Matteson has played even-par golf since. Follow his round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH TRACK (11:45 a.m.): TPC Four Seasons ranked as the seventh-hardest course on the PGA TOUR in 2008. It also had two holes -- the par-4 3rd and the par-4 15th -- rank among the top 50 most difficult holes on TOUR. That helps explain why last year's winning score was 7 under and why current leader Troy Matterson's 4 under through his first 13 holes is looking pretty good at the moment.
Check out the chart below for more. -- Brian Wacker
| Toughest courses on the PGA TOUR in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (11:30 a.m.): He doesn't have the reputation of Vijay Singh or Padraig Harrington when it comes to digging dirt on the range, but Ian Poulter's path to success was not so different in terms of the work ethic.
Saying Poulter came from nothing would be an overstatement, but not by much. He worked his way up, putting endless hours in at the range at the club he worked at as a teenager, eventually working his way through local amateur events and eventually all the way to the PGA TOUR.
"I played a monthly medal, and that was about as good as I got," Poulter said. "Apart from that I went and worked in a pro shop and I didn't play any amateur tournaments from the age of 16 to 18 or 19. I was stranded in the shop, shall we say.
"I've got some video footage of me hitting balls when I was 18, 19. It's not that pretty, but I managed to get it done. I guess with doing my PGA exams for three or four years, it kind of taught me how to swing a golf club and how to play golf."
Though Poulter hasn't won on TOUR yet, he certainly seems to be putting himself in better position week after week, including this one. He's 2 under through his first seven holes and only two strokes off the current pace.
A lot of Poulter's recent success can be attributed to a couple of things: playing smarter and having offseason Lasik surgery.
"Only my eighth tournament. And I feel good in the middle part of the season, which is unusual, because I've never felt like this at this stage of the year," Poulter said. "There's things to be learned by possibly having a slightly longer break as your offseason and coming out fresh and ready for the big tournaments of the year."
Maybe that's why he went No. 1 in our Expert Picks and topped this week's Power Rankings. -- Brian Wacker
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