April 15 2011

6:05 PM

Update: Not many going low

Overnight co-leader J.J. Henry just teed off at TPC San Antonio, where he suddenly has company thanks to a bogey on his opening hole. That drops Henry to 4 under and into a tie with Kevin Sutherland, who’s 3 under through 15, and Brandt Snedeker, who’s 1 under through 15.

It also means there’s a seven-way tie for the lead.

It’s early, but there aren’t exactly a lot of low scores being shot out there on what is looking like a very tough track.

The scoring average for the second round is already at 75.337, which is more than two strokes higher than it played on Thursday.

The toughest hole on the golf course so far in Round 2? The 410-yard par-4 12th. Only two birdies have been made there so far -- by Sutherland and Matt Every -- and it’s playing to a stroke average of 4.671 with 31 bogeys, six double bogeys, two others and only 29 pars.


February 12 2011

8:54 PM

First-time winner looks likely

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Judging by the leaderboard, the chances of having a first-time winner at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am are looking pretty good.

Only three of the top 15 players on the leaderboard – all within five strokes of the lead – have PGA TOUR victories to their credit.  The last first-time winner on TOUR came at the Bob Hope Classic three weeks ago when Jhonattan Vegas prevailed in a playoff.

Aaron Baddeley, who is tied for seventh, has two PGA TOUR wins, the last coming in 2007. And Stuart Appleby, who is tied for 11th, ended a four-year victory drought when he made the inaugural Greenbrier Classic his ninth TOUR win.

Kevin Sutherland, who joins Appleby in that five-way tie at 7 under, has one win to his credit – the 2002 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. – Helen Ross


February 10 2011

4:44 PM

Cejka makes rare albatross

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – No, your eyes are not deceiving you.

Alex Cejka did start the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a double eagle on the 10th hole at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. He had 240 yards for his approach and used a 3-wood.

The albatross has given Cejka a one-stroke lead over his playing partner Kevin Sutherland, who eagled No. 10, and Andres Romero, who is also playing Monterey Peninsula but started on the front nine.

Cejka’s double eagle is the first of 2011 and just the 11th since the start of the 2009 season.

Click here for Cejka’s first-round scorecard.

DOUBLE EAGLES IN 2010

Player Tournament Course Hole Round
Carl Pettersson Bob Hope Classic La Quinta 5th 3rd
Steve Wheatcroft St. Jude Classic TPC Southwind 3rd 2nd
Shaun Micheel U.S. Open Pebble Beach 6th 4th
Shiv Kapur Reno-Tahoe Open Montreux 9th 2nd
Vijay Singh Deutsche Bank TPC Boston 2nd 3rd
Johnson Wagner Viking Classic Annandale 7th 2st

DOUBLE EAGLES IN 2009

Player Tournament Course Hole Round
Matthew Borchert Valero Texas Open LaCantera 14th 2nd
Paul Lawrie British Open Ailsa Champ. 7th 4th
John Senden Deutsche Bank TPC Boston 2nd 2nd
Nicholas Thompson Frys.com Open Grayhawk 11th 3rd

August 1 2010

4:16 PM

Scores not as low - yet

The Old White course doesn’t seem quite as generous on Sunday as it did during the third round. At least judging from the early results, that is.

By noon on Saturday, J.B. Holmes had already finished off a 60 and Derek Lamely and Matt Kuchar had already posted 63s. No one is threatening those numbers right now.

John Senden is 5 under through 12 holes, and that’s the best round currently on the course. The best scores in the clubhouse are 4-under 66s from Kevin Sutherland, Joe Ogilvie and Brent Delahoussaye. – Helen Ross


July 24 2010

8:15 PM

Sutherland bogeys, shoots 65

The brutal par-4 18th plays 477 yards, and in the rain it is playing more like a par-4 and a half. The latest victim? Kevin Sutherland, who missed the green and failed to get up and down. Still, his 65 puts him at 10 under, joining former Masters champion Trevor Immelman and third-year player Bryce Molder.


July 23 2010

10:45 PM

Sutherland: ‘Ridiculous’ length of putts

After awhile, it just got kind of silly for Kevin Sutherland. The hole became so big. He was making putts from all over the place. At the end, he didn't even have to know the distance of his putts. They simply just went in.

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"I made a putt on the last hole that I don't even know how far it was," Sutherland said. "70 feet, I'm guessing, 60 feet. I have no idea."

One thing he does know, however, is the final number on his scorecard Friday: 62. That ties the course record that Brent Delahoussaye set the previous day. It's also a career low for Sutherland.

"Momentum is a big part of this game," Sutherland said. "You do what I did and get off to 5 under after four holes, you start to feel really good about how you're playing, and that's what happened today.

"I started off playing with a lot of confidence and helped getting off to that start and just kind of rolled through the rest of the day."

And now he's just kind of rolled right into competition, sitting at 5 under through 36 holes and a chance to make some noise this weekend.

Sutherland said he didn't wake up Friday expecting to shoot 62. But with lift, clean and place rules in effect, low scores were certainly out there.

"The course is playing longer today than it did yesterday," he said. "But if you're playing well, that doesn't bother you. The greens are soft, and if you're hitting a 6-iron instead of an 8-iron, that's not that big of a deal.

"So if you get the ball in the fairway and you got some good iron shots, you're going to get a lot of good birdie putts."

That 70-footer on the 18th hole was his longest putt of the day, but he had several other lengthy ones, too.

"I made a ridiculous amount of putts from distance," he said. " I don't know what the number is. You know, the last hole was -- I wasn't actually on the green. I was on the fringe. I made 70 feet, I'm guessing. I made a 20-footer on the hole before for birdie from off the fringe.

"So right there was 90 feet. It's probably easy to find another 110 somewhere."


6:24 PM

Sutherland ties course record

So much for Brent Delahoussaye holding the course record by himself. About 24 hours after Delahoussaye shot an 8-under 62, Kevin Sutherland did the same.

Sutherland closed out his round with a front-nine 29, though he actually began his day with a birdie on No. 9 before making two more birdies and an eagle over his next three holes for a 5-under start through his first four holes.

As mentioned earlier, the biggest difference between Sutherland’s opening 73 and his 62 on Friday was putting. He took 10 fewer putts with just 24 on Friday, which included going 12-for-13 from inside 10 feet and 3-for-3 on putts from 10 to 15 feet.

Also, the 62 by Sutherland is a career-low -- seven times previously Sutherland had recorded a 63, most recently at the 2008 Frys.com Open. -- Brian Wacker


5:37 PM

Birdie alert: Kevin Sutherland

The best round going today so far? Easily that of Kevin Sutherland, who is 7 under through 16 holes with five birdies and eagle.

While that only gets Sutherland to 4 under for the week, it at least moves him well inside the cut line. The biggest difference in today’s round compared to yesterday’s? Putting, pure and simple. In the opening round, Sutherland took 34 putts, averaging two putts per green in regulation. Today, that number is down to 24 putts (so far) and 1.54 putts per green. -- Brian Wacker


June 26 2010

6:59 PM

Rose makes first birdie of day

It took five holes, but Justin Rose has his first birdie of the day, sticking his approach on the par-3 fifth to just 9 inches to set up the tap-in.

That gets Rose back to a four-stroke cushion with Charlie Wi now to 11 under. It’s also the 16th birdie of the week for Rose, who has just one bogey through 41 holes.

Meanwhile, Kevin Sutherland, who is playing with Rose in the final group, has dropped back to 9 under after a bogey on the par-4 third. -- Brian Wacker


June 25 2010

10:38 PM

Sutherland sneaks up on lead

Kevin Sutherland has a history of strong performances at the Travelers Championship. Now he’ll try to win. Sutherland just capped off his second straight 65 to get to 10 under and within four of Justin Rose’s lead through two rounds at TPC River Highlands.

Since 2000, Sutherland, whose lone PGA TOUR victory came at the 2002 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, has four finishes in the top 30, including three in the top 11, at the Travelers Championship.

“I’ve always liked this course,” said Sutherland, who didn’t touch a club for about 10 days before putting in about five days of practice the week before the Travelers Championship.

Not that Sutherland would like to continue to see TPC River Highlands play soft and easy.

“It would be nice to get it like it was 10 years ago,” Sutherland continued. “There were years when it played really firm and fast and unfortunately we haven’t been able to get that condition.” -- Brian Wacker