Stanford St. Jude Championship: First-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Fredrik Jacobson and Adam Scott share the first-round lead at the Stanford St. Jude Championship with 3-under-par 67s. This is the highest score by a first-round leader(s) since Fuzzy Zoeller posted a 2-under 70 to lead after the opening 18 holes in 1986.  John Daly conquered the wind with five straight bogeys Thursday. (Mike Ehrmann/WireImage)
• Fredrik Jacobson has never held/shared a first, second or third-round lead during his PGA TOUR career (86th career starts/includes this week). His career-best finish is a T3 in this event in 2003. • Fredrik Jacobson, a 32-year-old Swede, has a history of playing well in this event with three top-6 finishes in the past four years. Jacobson was T3 in 2003, T5 in 2004 and T6 in 2005. He missed the cut last year after shooting scores of 76-76. • Paul Azinger withdrew prior to the start of the round and was replaced in the field by Tag Ridings. John Cook, 1996 champion, withdrew after 9 holes Thursday morning due to illness. Ted Purdy and Craig Perks both withdrew after the round was completed. • Alex Cejka was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. He signed for a 3 on No. 11, when his actual score was 5. • Shigeki Maruyama had the only eagle of the morning round. Maruyama eagled the par-5 third hole, dropping a putt from 10 feet, 11 inches. The other eagles all came in the afternoon: Adam Scott (14 feet, 1 inch on the par-5 third), Len Mattiace (18 feet, 3 inches on the paqr-5 third), Jarrod Lyle (from 100 yards on the par-4 sixth), Vance Veazey (from 99 yards on the par-4 15th) and Anthony Kim (55 feet on the par-4 15th). • The only amateur in the field this week is 18-year-old Phillip Francis of Scottsdale, Ariz., who opened with a 78. Francis, the 2006 Rolex Junior Player of the Year, received a sponsor exemption into the field this week. Francis won five times last year on the AJGA circuit and also captured the U. S. Junior Amateur crown. He has signed a letter-of-intent to play golf at UCLA in the fall. Francis has already accepted a sponsor exemption into the John Deere Classic in mid-July. He hopes to join Tad Fujikawa (Sony Open in Hawaii/T20) as the only AJGA players to make a cut on the 2007 PGA TOUR. • Oklahoma State junior Pablo Martin of Spain turned professional after the recent NCAA Championships and is making his professional debut this week. Martin posted a 75 in his initial pro start. • With his start Thursday, local resident Loren Roberts ties the record for most appearances in this event. Roberts has teed it up here 24 times, matching the mark set by Lou Graham (1958-87). Roberts shot a 4-over 74. • Retief Goosen was the only player in the field to play a bogey-free round Thursday. Goosen shot a 2-under-par 68. • John Daly ran off a string of five consecutive birdies today starting at No. 13. Daly began his round on the back nine and was 3 over par after a triple-bogey 7 at No. 12. His streak of birdies got him to 2 under at the turn. He had two bogeys on the front nine to close with a 70. This is Daly's 17th start in this event, dating back to 1989. His only top-20 finish was a 7th-place effort in 2001. • Players from the morning half of the draw who managed to break par were Fredrik Jacobson (67), and Scott Verplank and Gavin Coles (69s). Players from the afternoon who managed to break par were Adam Scott (67), Bian Gay and Retief Goosen (68s), and Duffy Waldorf (69). Darron Stiles shot an even-par 70 despite three double bogeys. • Two-time tournament champion David Toms posted an even-par 70 Thursday. Toms, who has five straight top-10 finishes in this event, has now gone eight consecutive years with an opening round at par-or-better at TPC Southwind. The last time he was above par after the initial 18 holes was in 1999, when he shot a 1-over-par 72.
• Reigning U. S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy shot an 8-over-par 78, his highest score since a final-round 79 at the Nissan Open back on Feb. 18 of this year. • Thursday's first-round scoring average of 74.188 (+4.188) tied for the highest first-round scoring average vs. par on the 2007 PGA TOUR with the Masters. It is also tied for the third-highest single-round scoring average vs. par on the 2007 PGA TOUR, following only the third round of the Masters (+5.350) and the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (+4.513). It is also the highest single-round scoring averages vs. par at TPC Southwind ever. • The most difficult hole on the golf course is the 157-yard, par-3 11th hole, which currently has a scoring average of 3.552. There have been 18 double bogeys, six triple bogeys and seven quadruple bogeys. The toughest par 3 on the 2007 PGA TOUR so far is the 155-yard 12th hole at Augusta National GC, which had a four-day scoring average of 3.417. The most difficult hole on the 2007 PGA TOUR is the 467-yard 18th hole at Doral Golf Resort & Spa (Blue Course), which had a scoring average of 4.625. • There were only seven players with below-par scores (3 morning, 4 afternoon). The previous fewest number of sub-par scores ever posted in the opening round of this event was 18 (1967, 1972 and1973). The previous fewest number of sub-par scores in the first round at TPC Southwind was 20 in 2004. Last year there were 24 sub-par rounds on the first day. • Double bogeys (and higher) were the rule, not the exception in Thursday's opening round. A total of 103 of the 156 players (66%) posted at least one double bogey or higher today. • Only three tournament champions have ever opened with above-par scores in this event: Tommy Bolt (2-over 72 in 1960), Tom Kite 2-over 72 in 1990) and Jeff Maggert (2-over 72 in 2006). Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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