Quail Hollow Championship, Round 1
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| Quail Hollow Championship | ||
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
MICKELSON'S SHORT-GAME MAGIC (5:55 p.m.): Leave it to Phil Mickelson. He hit his approach shot on the difficult par-4 18th up against the large scoreboard and got relief because of it. Not that his drop was what some would call relief. Up against the cart path and with a very small area to work with around his ball, Mickelson hit one of his typically spectacular wedge shots to inside 3 feet to set up a par.
That capped a round of 67 for Mickelson, who is just two shots back of Tiger Woods going into the second round. Mickelson made just one birdie on the back here, but that par was incredible and incredibly huge. We're only 18 holes into the event and already Mickelson and Woods have provided plenty of fireworks and water-cooler talk. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH FINISH (5:45 p.m.): The last three holes at Quail Hollow are unaffectionately known as "The Green Mile." I say unaffectionately because they make up one of the toughest finishing stretches on the PGA TOUR.
This year has been no exception with the 48-yard, par-4 16th playing as the seventh-toughest hole on the course, the par-3, 217-yard 17th the ninth toughest and the 478-yard, par-4 finishing hole the most difficult.
So far, the three holes have yielded just 39 birdies with No. 18 allowing the fewest at just eight. By comparison, 82 bogeys and 13 double bogeys have been made over those three holes.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Tiger Woods, Steve Marino and Phil Mickelson -- the three names at the top of the leaderboard -- all played that stretch well with Woods and Mickelson making pars (Mickelson is actually on 18 right now) and Marino making two pars and a birdie. -- Brian Wacker
MARINO MAKING A MOVE (5:20 p.m.): Thanks to birdies on three of his last five holes, Steve Marino has moved into the mix at Quail Hollow, where he's two back of the lead after a 67 today.
Like most everyone else who has played well here today, Marino hit a ton of greens in regulation -- 15 of 18 to be exact. The fact that he hit just 6 of 14 fairways also proves that you don't need to find the short grass here, which isn't a huge surprise given the shorter rough this year. If they let it grow out like it had in some previous years, Quail Hollow would be playing much tougher. -- Brian Wacker
| A sip of Maginnes | |
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HAMILTON OFF THE MARK (4:40 p.m.): It looks like the momentum Todd Hamilton had going for a couple of weeks at the Masters and the Verizon Heritage has hit a bit of a snag. The former British Open champ, whose exemption runs out at the end of this year, finished T51 last week in New Orleans after three rounds in the 70s and so far this week he isn't faring much better with an opening-round 78.
Hamilton hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation and struggled with the putter, taking 33 putts in a round that included seven bogeys and just one birdie. -- Brian Wacker
SCOTT'S SLIDE CONTINUES (4:20 p.m.): Once dubbed as the "next" Tiger Woods, or at least the closest thing to it given the similarities in his swing to that of the world's No. 1, Adam Scott's difficult season is continuing this week.
The Aussie has missed his last three cuts and appears headed for another weekend off at 4 over through 14 holes today. Not only has he struggled since coming back from a knee injury, but he's undergoing some swing changes and hasn't been able to get them to stick yet. That doesn't bode well for Scott going into next week's PLAYERS Championship, a tournament he won five years ago this year.
Scott is the youngest winner in the history of that event, having won at 23 years, 8 months and 2 days. Scott has since won four times on the PGA TOUR, including as recently as last year's EDS Byron Nelson Championship, but clearly injuries -- and a sometimes balky putting stroke -- have played a part in him not winning more.
With a player as talented as Scott, however, once the swing changes take hold you have to figure he will win again. It just won't be this week. -- Brian Wacker
DALY VS. CINK (4:00 p.m.): From the land of Twitter, John Daly is apparently offering a choice of his new clothing line (shirt/slacks) and a personalized Speed Line driver from Adams Golf with a personalized lion head cover to the 100,000th follower on his Twitter account (twitter.com/PGA_JohnDaly).
Stewart Cink (Twitter.com/stewartcink) is offering a similar prize, a Nike driver to his 150,000th follower. Wonder which will happen first?
We're not offering any such prizes (yet), but you can get all the latest news and insight by following along at Twitter.com/pgatour and Twitter.com/pgatour_brianw. -- Brian Wacker
ANOTHER SUNDAY SHOWDOWN? (3:45 p.m.): Could we be in store for another Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson showdown? There is obviously too much golf left to tell, but Mickelson is making a run at Woods' lead after a birdie at No. 11 just moved him to 5 under for the day. Follow it shot-by-shot with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
HARRINGTON IN THE HUNT (3:23 p.m.): Phil Mickelson isn't the only major champion making a move on Tiger Woods' lead. Padraig Harrington, who like Woods and Mickelson is playing for the first time since the Masters, is 4 under through 10 holes after making five birdies and one bogey through his first 10 holes.
One thing that's been the prevailing theme between all three of their rounds -- and most anybody else on the leaderboard, is that they've all made significant progress on the front nine. That's not much of a surprise here, where the front is playing under par, while the back is playing near a half-stroke over par. Expect a lot of that at next week's PLAYERS Championship, too. -- Brian Wacker
PHILLY MICK'S MOVE (3:00 p.m.): Are we in for another Sunday charge from Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods? We might not have to wait that long. Mickelson is 4 under after making the turn in 32.
Mickelson was bogey-free on the front, making two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 seventh, where he chipped in from left of the green.
This is the first time Woods and Mickelson are playing since they put on that remarkable Sunday charge at Augusta National and so far, neither is disappointing. -- Brian Wacker
ODDS AND ENDS (2:44 p.m.): Jeff Maggert has struggled early this season, with just three made cuts in 10 previous starts, but is off to a good start this week after a 4-under 68 today. His lone top-10 (T10 at FBR Open) was his first since a T5 at the 2007 U.S. Bank Championship. Last year, Maggert (No. 163) finished outside the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list for the first time in his career, having played the TOUR full-time since 1991. ...
In 2004, after opening with a 6-under par 66, Frederik Jacobson withdrew before Friday's round to be with his wife, Erika, in Jupiter, Fla., following the birth of their daughter, Alice Sophia. Jacobson was 3-under-par during the first round on Thursday until he was derailed with a double-bogey on the par-4 18th hole. ...
Fresh off his win last week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Jerry Kelly carded an even-par 72 in Thursday's first round. ...
Bubba Watson's first-round 71 included a stretch of four consecutive birdies (Nos. 4-7). -- Joel Schuchman
VAN PELT AT IT AGAIN (2:30 p.m.): The story of the first round has been all about Tiger Woods, who finished one shot short of tying the course record with a 65 today. But there are a gaggle of players tied for second three back and an even larger group four shots back.
One of those players who is four back is Bo Van Pelt.
Van Pelt has a pretty good track record here. He shares that course record (2006, Round 2) with Kirk Triplett (2004, Round 1) and Rory Sabbatini (2007, Round 2) and finished T6 that year. And while he's never won on the PGA TOUR, he did finish tied for second in Mexico last year and was a T5 at the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer earlier this year. -- Brian Wacker
WHEN WOODS IS IN THE LEAD (2:15 p.m.): If Tiger Woods' 7-under 65 holds up -- and it certainly looks like it's going to -- it will mark the 24th time in his career that he's led or shared the first-round lead in a PGA TOUR event. Not surprisingly, Woods, arguably the greatest front-runner in the history of golf, has gone on to win far more often than not as you'll see inthe chart below. -- Brian Wacker
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WORRY-FREE WOODS (1:49 p.m.): Best line of Tiger Woods' interview today? It came when he was asked if there are any tests left for his surgically repaired left knee.
"No, I haven't dunked yet, so I'm looking forward to that," Woods said, cracking up the assembled reporters. Then he actually answered the question.
"Hitting balls out of rough or awkward lies, that's past me now. Now it's just about building what I have now and making sure it doesn't ever swell. I can recover from day-to-day, which I have. I haven't had any setbacks yet. It's exciting to be able to go out and practice again and not have to worry about it."
The worrying comes from the people trying to catch Woods after that opening 65. He's started the Quail Hollow Championship where he ended it in his last appearance in 2007 -- at the top of the leaderboard. -- Helen Ross
TIGER DOMINANT AT QUAIL HOLLOW (1:29 p.m.): Tiger Woods extended his under-par streak at Quail Hollow Club to six rounds today with that 7-under-par 65. Making his fourth start here, Woods also posted his seventh round in the 60s (out of 13 total rounds) and bested his career-low at the event, a 66 in the second round of the 2004 tournament.
The front-nine 6-under-par 30 for Woods (his final nine) matched the 9-hole front-nine record here (Kirk Triplett, 2004, Round 1; Trevor Immelman, 2006, Round 1; Bill Haas, 2006, Round 1; Pat Perez, 2008, Round 3), while his bogey-free first round was just his second of 2009 (Round 4, World Golf Championships-CA Championship). -- Joel Schuchman
TURNESA, MCCARRON OUT (1:15 p.m.): Marc Turnesa withdrew after eight holes today due to a neck injury. Scott McCarron also withdrew after nine holes due to illness.
Turnesa was 3 over with two bogeys, a double bogey and a birdie when he pulled out, while McCarron was 6 over after four bogeys and a double bogey. -- Brian Wacker
SERGIO'S ROLLER-COASTER RIDE (12:58 p.m.): It's not often you see an eagle and a triple bogey in the same round, but that's exactly what Sergio Garcia had today in shooting a 1-under 71.
Garcia began his day on the back nine and was 2 under when he tripled the 18th after finding water off the tee. He bounced back immediately, however, with birdies on each of his next two holes. After a bogey on No. 6, Garcia bounced back again, making that eagle by reaching the par-5 seventh in two and rolling in a 24-foot putt. -- Brian Wacker
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TIGER IN THE LEAD (12:38 p.m.) So much for all those supposed swing problems Tiger Woods was having. Woods fired a 30 over his final nine holes at Quail Hollow, where he's in the lead and in the clubhouse at 7-under 65.
That's just one shy of the course record -- shared by Kirk Triplett, Bo Van Pelt and Rory Sabbatini -- and perhaps more importantly is the lowest round by Woods since the second round of the 2008 Buick Invtational nearly 16 months ago.
Woods obliterated the front nine -- his final nine after starting on the back -- at Quail Hollow, closing with three straight birdies and seven altogether in a bogey-less round in which he hit just 5 of 14 fairways, but found 14 of 18 greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
Here's a look at Woods' scorecard from today:
THE TIGER PROJECT (12:20 p.m.): Tiger Woods showed up at Quail Hollow on Thursday morning with a Oban Mach 4 prototype shaft in his Nike driver, according to a report on golf.com.
In a world where a chunk of the PGA TOUR plays shafts made by UST, Aldila, Fujikura or Mitsubishi, Woods' choice is an interesting one. Never heard of Oban? This small company, based near Chicago, showed up at the PGA Merchandise Show in 2008 with little fanfare, but their products are definitely high-end. According to their Web site, their Mach 4 series runs nearly $400, which is about on par with other shafts used by TOUR members.
With sales often being driven by what players are putting in their bag, this is a significant breakthrough for the company. -- Ryan Smithson
CABRERA OFF TO A GOOD START (12:00 p.m.): So much for a post-Masters letdown for Angel Cabrera. Maybe playing the very next week in his home country of Argentina helped keep the momentum going. Cabrera is 2 under today after rattling off three straight birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15.
In a very Cabrera-esque round, the big Argentine -- who by the way dispelled that story about him downing nine cheeseburgers after his Masters victory -- has hit just 3 of 13 fairways, but he's still managed 11 of 16 greens in regulation so far and five birdies (and three bogeys). -- Brian Wacker
MAGS MAKES A MOVE (11:43 a.m.): Jeff Maggert finished T21 in Hilton Head a couple of weeks ago and earlier this year had a T10 at the FBR Open, but this is the first time we're seeing his name atop a leaderboard this year.
Maggert has only broken 70 eight times in 29 rounds this year, but today he's putting the finishing touches on a round of 4 under after five birdies and just one bogey through 17 holes. That has him tied for the lead with Tiger Woods. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER OUT AND UP EARLY (11:30 a.m.): Tiger Woods is notorious for his dawn patrol practice sessions and today's he taking it a step further, getting out to a fast start with an early tee time in the opening round of the Quail Hollow Championship, where he's 3 under through his first 13 holes.
Woods began his day at the back nine here and it took all of three holes to record his first birdie when he rolled in a 12-footer for his first red number of the day. He parred out the rest of the back nine, but opened the front with birdies on Nos. 1 and 3.
Perhaps most surprising isn't that Woods is tied for the lead, it's that scores aren't lower. The rough is down this year and word was we'd see a kinder, gentler Quail Hollow, which can be a big, tough golf course. So far, though, there aren't a lot of low numbers.
Playing for the first time since the Masters, Woods is also playing here for the first time since he won the event in 2007. Minor knee surgery right after the Masters forced Woods to miss this tournament last year. -- Brian Wacker
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