Notebook: Round 1, Verizon Heritage
By Chris Reimer, PGA TOUR Staff
Weather: Sunny skies with cool highs in the upper 60s-lower 70s. Winds NE 10-15 mph.
• K.J. Choi, who finished T4 at last week's Masters, shot a 7-under-par 64, to take the first-round lead at the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links. Choi has yet to miss a cut in 2010 and has finished in the top 25 in six of the eight events he has played, including a runner-up finish at the Transitions Championship.
• This is only the second time that Choi has teed it up at Harbour Town. In his only other appearance at this event, the seven-time PGA TOUR winner missed the cut in 2001.
• Mike Weir, playing in Hilton Head for the second time in his career and the first since 1999, shot a 5-under-par 66 and is two strokes off the lead. Weir eagled the par-4 first, hitting an 8-iron from 144 yards away.
• Weir finished T10 in 1999, his only other time playing at the Verizon Heritage.
• Weir has finished the first round in a tie for second or better 13 times in his career. After starting in either second or first after round 1, the eight-time PGA TOUR winner has not converted any of these 13 starts into a victory.
• Weir is trying to win for the first time since the 2007 Fry's Electronics Open.
• The 64 by Choi matches his second-best opening round on the PGA TOUR. Choi shot 63 at the 2002 Tampa Bay Classic. He has previously shot 64 in the opening round four times, the last of which happened at the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii.
• Not surprisingly, Choi's record is outstanding when he has shot 64 or better in the opening round. Three of his seven PGA TOUR victories have come when shooting an opening score of 64 or better.
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• Choi led the field with 23 putts in Thursday's opening round.
• Five-time Verizon Heritage champion Davis Love III returned to Harbour Town for the 25th consecutive year is one of 13 players who shot 4-under-par 67, three back of first-round leader K.J. Choi. He has recorded 11 top 10s, 13 top-25 finishes and just four missed cuts in his Verizon Heritage career. Twenty-five percent of his 20 PGA TOUR victories have come at the Verizon Heritage, with victories in 1987, 1991, 1992, 1998 and 2003.
• Love, who turned 46 on Tuesday, April 13, is trying to become the second-oldest winner of this event. The oldest was Hale Irwin (1994; 48 years, 10 months, 14 days).
• Jerry Kelly also finished the first round at 4-under-par in his 13th appearance at the Verizon Heritage. Kelly's best finish at the Verizon Heritage (T5) came in 2006. He is coming off his best finish of the year with a T12 at last week's Masters.
• Jerry Kelly aced the par-3 4th hole in Thursday's first round. Kelly hit a 4-iron from 192 yards. Kelly now has three aces in his career and two of them have come at Harbour Town Golf Links' fourth hole. Kelly also recorded a hole-in-one on the 4thhole at this event during the third round in 2007.
• Kelly becomes the third player since 1983 to ace the same hole twice:
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• Kelly's best first-round score of his career came at this event when he shot an 8-under-par 63 in the opening round of 2007. Kelly went on to finish T8 that year.
• Kelly will return to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans next week as the defending champion.
• Chad Collins made seven birdies and three bogeys at the Verizon Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links to finish at 4-under-par. A two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, Collins had a solid start to the 2010 season on the PGA TOUR, making the cut in the first seven events that he played, including three top-10 finishes before missing his last two cuts. This is in contrast to his rookie year in 2008 in which Collins only made the cut in two of his first seven events and never had a top-10 finish in 24 tournaments.
• Jim Furyk, winner of the Transitions Championship earlier this year, is also one of the players who are at 4-under-par.
• Furyk is playing the Verizon Heritage for the 12th time in his career. In his last six attempts at Harbour Town, Furyk has four top-10s, including two runner-up finishes, and two missed cuts. In 2006, Furyk came up short to Aaron Baddeley by one stroke.
• With his win at the Transitions Championship earlier this year, Furyk ended the second-longest span between victories -- 59th TOUR start since 2007 Canadian Open win (77 starts between 1996 Hawaiian Open and 1998 Las Vegas Invitational). The 14-time PGA TOUR winner is looking for his first multiple win season since 2006.
• Sergio Garcia shot 4-under-par after switching his grip on the club to an inter-locked grip. Garcia explained that the grip is a weaker grip, but it helps him gain more control of his club and swing. Garcia is playing the event for the first time since 2002 and for the third time in his career.
• Other players at 4-under-par: Woody Austin, James Driscoll, Bo Van Pelt, Shaun Micheel, Glen Day, Tim Clark, Jason Dufner and Greenville, SC, native, Bill Haas.
• Players who have made the Verizon Heritage their first PGA TOUR victory include Hale Irwin (1971), Graham Marsh (1977), Doug Tewell (1980), Nick Faldo (1984), Davis Love III (1987), Glen Day (1999), Jose Coceres (2001), Peter Lonard (2005), Aaron Baddeley (2006) and Boo Weekley (2007).
• At the course with the smallest greens on the PGA TOUR, three players tied for first in greens in regulation on Thursday, hitting 15 of 18 greens (83%) -- Greg Owen (-5, T2), Sergio Garcia (-4, T5) and Boo Weekley (-3, T16).
• Several players in the field need a good finish this week to qualify for THE PLAYERS Championship field. Anyone not otherwise qualified who is in the top-10 in FedExCup points after the Zurich Classic will make the field. Currently, the top-10 are qualified. Players like Rickie Fowler (No. 26); Alex Prugh (No. 35), J.P. Hayes (No. 42) and Chris Couch (No. 45) need to play well at both the Verizon Heritage and next week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans if they hope to tee it up at TPC Sawgrass on May 3-9.
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• Couch is playing the 2010 season on a major medical extension and can also qualify for THE PLAYERS if he makes the equivalent of No. 125 from the 2008 money list ($796,087). He needs to make $218,000 before the event.
• Since the Verizon Heritage moved into its slot after the Masters in 1983, just five players have won the event without having competed in the Masters the week before: Brian Gay (2009), Boo Weekley (2007), Aaron Baddeley (2006), Bob Tway (1995) and Davis Love III (1987).
• Defending champion Brian Gay is hoping to keep a 16-year streak intact. No defending champion has missed the cut at the Verizon Heritage since Davis Love III in 1993. Gay needs to have a strong second round after shooting 1-over-par to finish the opening round at T77.
• The youngest winner in Verizon Heritage history is Davis Love III. He was 23 years, 6 days when he won the first of his five titles in 1987. The oldest was Hale Irwin (1994; 48 years, 10 months, 14 days).
• Trevor Immelman, Bryce Molder, Nick O'Hern and Stuart Appleby shot bogey-free rounds on Thursday.
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