FBR Open: First-round notebook
By Doug Milne, PGA TOUR Staff
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Due to darkness, play was stopped at 6:05 p.m. Nine players did not complete Round 1. Play to finish the first round will resume at 8:00 a.m. Friday morning.
• In the morning wave, PGA TOUR rookie James Nitties fired a 6-under-par 65 in Round 1 of the 2009 FBR Open to take the early lead by one stroke over David Berganio Jr. and Charley Hoffman.
• Nitties, who hails from Australia, earned his rookie status by virtue of finishing second to Harrison Frazar at the 2008 Qualifying Tournament in Palm Springs, Calif. Last week, Nitties returned to the Palm Springs area, where he shot a 10-under-par 62 in Round 4 (of five rounds) at the Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, only to miss the cut.
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• Though it was not reflected by his score of 6-under 65, Nitties enjoyed marginal success off the tee and into the green. He hit just seven of 14 fairways and was 12 of 18 in greens-in-regulation.
• Despite increased winds in the afternoon, Lucas Glover managed to catch Nitties' lead of 6-under 65 after Round 1. Glover made his 2009 debut at last week's Bob Hope Classic, where five consecutive rounds in the 60s earned him a tie for 19th.
• Glover has played a total of 494 rounds as a professional, only five of which have been under 65. He fired 63s in the final round of the 2005 Honda Classic and the final round of the 2006 Zurich Classic, and 64s in the third round of the 2004 Southern Farm Bureau Classic, the third round of the 2004 U.S. Bank Championship and the first round of the 2005 Chrysler Classic of Tucson.
• Glover has previously held at least a share of four first-round leads, none of which could he parlay into victory. He is competing in his fourth FBR Open. In 2006 and 2007, he notched ties for 20th, and last year settled in at tied for 58th.
• Berganio birdied three of his first four holes en route to a bogey-free, 5-under-par 66 in Round 1 of the 2009 FBR Open. Of his previous five starts at the FBR Open, he has never made a cut.
• Playing on a sixth Major Medical Extension for a disk injury, Berganio has five events to earn $346,342 to earn Major Medical Extension status for the remainder of the 2009 season. Berganio missed the cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii in his first start of the season, but followed that with a tie for 34th at last week's Bob Hope Classic to earn $24,671.25. The FBR Open is his third of five events under the Major Medical Extension.
• Hoffman got off to a good start in round one by firing a bogey-free 66 in the morning wave to get to 5 under with Berganio. Hoffman, who married his high school sweetheart last month, missed the cut in his two previous starts at TPC Scottsdale in 2007 and 2008.
• Hoffman's opening-round, 5-under 66 comes a week after finishing tied for 19th at the 50th Bob Hope Classic, site of his first PGA TOUR win in 2007.
• Since 2004, when the PGA TOUR began tracking such data, Phil Mickelson has never double-bogeyed the first hole of the first round of a competitive event. Before Thursday, he had played 97 first round/first holes during this time period and carded 26 birdies, 55 pars and 16 bogeys.
• In his first event of the 2009 season, hometown hero Mickelson struggled with a 5-over 76.
• Should Mickelson miss the cut after Friday's second round, it will be just the second time he has done so in a season-opener. He missed the cut in his season-opening Phoenix Open, playing as an amateur in 1989.
• At the 2008 British Open, Mickelson fired a 9-over 79 in the first-round. He rallied back to finish tied for 19th.
• Of 21 events in which Mickelson competed in in 2008, the only cut he missed came at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
• The closest tee shot to the famed par-3 16th came from defending champion, J.B. Holmes, who stuck it to 2 feet, 6 inches. The only double bogey of the day came from Dean Vomacka.
• Defending FBR Open champion J.B. Holmes opened with a 1-under-par 70.
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