Round 1, Quail Hollow Championship

text size

Apr. 30, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first groups are ready to tee off in today's first round of the Quail Hollow Championship. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
7:40 am ET No. 10		Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, David Toms This threesome of past champions is highlighted by Tiger, who wasn't able to defend his title in 2008. Track 'em
12:40 pm ET No. 1		Camilo Villegas, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington The three players that prospered the most in the absence of Tiger in 2008 are all paired together. Track 'em
12:50 pm ET No. 1		Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Anthony Kim Kim, the defending champ, tees it up with his Ryder Cup partner and UNC alum Davis Love III. Track 'em

EXPERT PREVIEW: PGA TOUR Network on-site correspondent Bob Stevens previews Thursday's first round:

Any number of players have talked about how the Quail Hollow Club course could be ready to host a U.S. Open on very short notice with its tight, tree-lined fairways, deep rough and lightning-fast greens. But this year's set-up came without the ankle-high rough that put a premium on hitting the fairways. Who does a setup with two-inch-high rough favor?

Jim Furyk, who won here in 2006 told us "a certain long-ball-hitting lefthander will love this set-up," meaning that Phil Mickelson, or anyone who strays from the fairway might still be able to fire at the flagsticks. Defending champion Anthony Kim admitted the lack of rough makes it a different golf course than he won on last year, particularly if the rough is still short on Sunday, when chances must be taken.

Thursday's forecast

Partly Cloudy
Temp: 80 high/62 low
It will be partly cloudy throughout the day, with winds coming out of the southeast at 9 mph.

But maybe the most interesting comments on the set-up came from Stewart Cink, who told me that he, Carl Petterson and Richard S. Johnson, who run the gamut in distance and accuracy off the tee, played a practice round and came to the same conclusion, the course really doesn't favor any specific type of player, longer-and-wilder will have the same chance as shorter-and-straighter. Should make for a great shootout.

Speaking of shootouts, you'll read plenty about Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning playing together in the pro-am, and Anthony Kim and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson pairing up, but I'm not sure there were more laughs from any one group than came from Zurich Classic champion Jerry Kelly's pairing with two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and ESPN star (and former colleague of mine) Chris Berman -- especially when they were joined for a few holes by their very own coach, Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox, who has a home at Quail Hollow.

Fox was almost as intense as he gets on Sunday afternoons as he prodded Berman and Waltrip to play better than their games should allow, and Kelly caught the "coaching" bug as well, providing as much moral support as he did swing tips to the group. It was all done with a joyousness that was evident to the great crowds that lined the fairways they played -- perfect pro-am demeanor. In other words, a great show that should serve as a fabulous opening act for the week.

Stat of the day

Tiger Woods is making his fourth start in the Quail Hollow Championship this week, a tournament where he has never finished worse than a tie for 11th. His best finish at the North Carolina gem was a win in 2007.

FEDEXCUP NOTES: ROUND 1
• Jerry Kelly moved up 80 places from 97th to 17th due to his third career PGA TOUR victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Kim

• With two top 10s in the last two weeks, Rory Sabbatini has jumped from 62nd in the standings to 23rd.

• After posting his third top 10 of the season at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Charlie Wi snuck into the top 30 of the FedExCup standings in the 29th place.

• With 18 of 37 regular season events completed, the FedExCup is pretty much at the halfway point, and the top spots are starting to fill up. In 2008, six of the top 10 players at the end of the regular season were already in the top 10 at this point, and, in 2007, there were five.

• Only 41 players in this week's field who are not already in the top 10 can move in, and for 27 of those players, nothing short of a victory will move them into the top 10 in the standings. Also, with seven of the top 10 playing this week, moving up is going to be a little more difficult.

• It is possible that Tiger Woods can move into the top 10 for the first time this season with a top-10 finish at Quail Hollow Club.

• Anthony Kim earned 245 points in his first start of the season at the Mercedes Benz Championship, but in his five starts since, he has only earned a combined total of 149 points.

• Entering last year's Quail Hollow Championship, Kim was ranked 31st in the FedExCup, but after recording his first PGA TOUR victory, he went on to finish fourth in the final standings.

-- Mike Vitti, PGA TOUR Staff

The Film Room

	Opening Shot Beau Estes and Brian Katrek compare the 2009 seasons of Tiger and Phil thus far, and take a look at where the game's biggest names stand in the FedExCup standings. Watch it
	Flashback: 2003 Quail Hollow Championship David Toms made it interesting on the 18th hole on his way to winning the inaugural Quail Hollow Championship back in 2003. Watch it
	Tiger addresses the media At a pre-tournament press conference at the 2009 Quail Hollow Championship, Tiger Woods discusses the state of his game. Watch it