Wyndham Championship, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
DAY ONE DONE (8:15 p.m.): With a 4-hour weather delay holding play up earlier today, the first round didn't have any chance of being completed and with night falling on Greensboro play has been suspended until tomorrow. First-round play will resume at 7:45 a.m. ET. For now, though, Chez Reavie, Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore will sleep on the lead. -- Brian Wacker
DALY HAPPENING (8 p.m.): A week after pulling out of the PGA Championship with a back injury, John Daly is back teeing it up, shooting a 66 in today's first round.
"The rain delay actually helped," Daly said. "I went and saw the physio, got it stretched out again through the last three holes."
Daly's back has been bothering him since the British Open. He's also battled fatigue since drop between 80 and 90 pounds following lap band surgery. Right now, though, Daly is just trying to get through it with the end of his season near.
"I'm off three, four weeks after this," Daly said. "It's nice to get a decent round in. I came out Tuesday and had them work on my back.
"We found out the problem with the back, it was like two, three, really bad spasms in there and he's been lifting up my shoulder, whatever you call the shoulder blade and stretching it, it's been hurting like hell but it's the only way we can get it to where -- without it freezing up and I've seen him five times already. Got to keep stretching it. Maybe the time off will do me some good."
If Daly keeps playing the way he did Thursday, though, he'll have to wait until after the weekend for some time off.
"It's really hard to play hurt anywhere with the back, knee, a foot, even your finger in this game and it's been a struggle," Daly said. "The last few weeks have been -- ever since Paris, it's been brutal but, you know, at least we found out the problem and we know how to stretch it. He knows how to get it to where I can at least play." -- Brian Wacker
OPENING ROUND ROLLS ON (7:35 p.m.): Thanks to a 4-hour weather delay earlier this afternoon, the first round is still going on at the Wyndham Championship and with only about 30 minutes or so of light left, they will not finish today.
A few players are trying to make a late move, though, including Chris Riley, who is 5 under through his first 14 holes. Riley has two bogeys on his card, but he also has an eagle -- at the par-5 15th, where he pitched in from a greenside bunker -- and five birdies. Riley got off to a slow start this season, but has come on of late with three top-20s in each of his last three starts, including a tie for seventh in Milwaukee.
Steve Elkington is also making a late push at 4 under through his first 13 holes, while Sergio Garcia and Boo Weekley are 3 under. -- Brian Wacker
PLAYOFFS? (6:55 p.m.): Below is a breakdown of some players to keep an eye on this week at the Wyndham Championship, where a trip to the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup is on the line for some.
Sergio Garcia: He finished third in final FedExCup standings last year behind Vijay Singh and Camilo Villegas. Currently at 115th, he needs a strong performance to secure a spot in the Playoffs. Garcia has had only one top-10 this year at the U.S. Open and is coming off a missed cut at the PGA Championship. He will be playing with Lucas Glover and Bo Van Pelt in the first two rounds.
Adam Scott: Among the marquee players fighting for a position in the Playoffs. Finished tied for 50th last year in final FedExCup standings after being eliminated at the BMW Championship. After a promising start to the year with a tie for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii, he has made only three cuts in his last 12 starts that included a string of six missed cuts in a row from March 22 to May 24.
David Duval: Most likely needs a top-5 or better to continue his comeback season in 2009. This year has been his best since 2002, the highlight being a tie for second at the U.S. Open with Ricky Barnes and Phil Mickelson. He hasn't played since the Buick Open at the beginning of August where he finished tied for 63rd.
Justin Rose: Could mathematically fall as low as 132nd this week, so is on the higher end of the bubble; a decent showing this week should allow him to advance with help from the field and a top-25 finish will secure a spot at The Barclays. He has five top-25s in 2009 and no top-10s. His best finish was tied for 13th at the British Open and he missed the cut last week at the PGA Championship.
Fred Couples: He is guaranteed a spot at The Barclays and could rise as high as 25th with a win. The better he plays this week will put him in a stronger position for Deutsche Bank (top 100) and BMW (top 70).
Rich Beem: The popular veteran was the only player in 2008 that would have played his way into this year's smaller Barclay's field. Last year he finished solo-third in Greensboro to jump from 166th to 114th. He finished tied for 43rd at the PGA Championship last week (in 2008 he missed the cut there coming into Wyndham).
Ricky Barnes: After his sizzling appearance at the U.S. Open, Barnes has slid to a tie for 59th, tie for 66th and three missed cuts in his last five starts. Currently at 141st in the rankings, he needs a very strong showing to make the Playoffs; to guarantee a spot without help from others he probably needs to finish in the top 3.
SCORING SLOWS, SCOTT PLAYING BETTER (6:35 p.m.): Despite a half-inch of rain falling on Sedgewick, players in the afternoon wave haven't exactly taken advantage of scoring conditions with very few players on the golf course right now making a run at the lead.
One of those players playing well, though, is Adam Scott, who is coming off a missed cut at the PGA Championship, where he took 70 putts in two days and shot rounds of 82-79. Today, though it's been a different story with Scott at 3 under through his first seven holes with three birdies. Another good sign: He's hit six of seven greens in regulation.
Scott comes into this week having the worst season of his career with nine missed cuts in 16 events, including six in a row at one point. He's twice shot in the 80s this year and struggled with the swing changes he's been working on much of the year. On a positive note, he's playing well today and at 111th in the FedExCup standings, should make it into the field for next week's Barclays. -- Brian Wacker
FLESCH OUT (6:10 p.m.): Steve Flesch has withdrawn from the Wyndham Championship. Flesch shot a 2-over 70 today before pulling out. This marks the third time in five weeks that Flesch hasn't made it to the weekend -- he missed the cut at the Buick Open and withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open. -- Brian Wacker
ROSE ON HIS ROUND (5:55 p.m.): It's always taken a low score to win the Wyndham Championship, but with a new venue in Sedgefield Country Club, what will it take this year?
"I think [four 65s] would certainly win," said Justin Rose, who is one off the early lead. "I think the rough I heard is thicker this year -- that to me makes it difficult. You drive -- you're having a hard time hitting the fairway -- I mean hitting the green from the rough. That means it's not going to be easy."
With much of the field still left to finish their first round -- not everyone will after a 4-hour delay earlier today -- we'll find out how easy, or difficult, Sedgefield is playing. -- Brian Wacker
ONE MOORE (5:33 p.m.): Add another name to the top of the leaderboard with Ryan Moore carding a bogey-free 6-under 64 of his own today.
This is the first time Moore has played since missing the cut at the Buick Open. In fact, Moore has only played three times since the beginning of July, finishing in a tie for 11th at the AT&T National and in a tie for 34th at the John Deere Classic. This is also the second time Moore has shot 64 this season -- he did it in the final round in Hartford on his way to a season-best tie for fourth. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Moore's scorecard from today:
SNEDEKER SMOOTH (5:03 p.m.): The Wyndham Championship has seen its share of low scores so it's not all that surprising it didn't take very long for someone to match Chez Reavie's opening-round 64. That somebody was Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 31 on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch at one point. A bogey on the par-4 17th was the lone blemish on Snedeker's card all day.
Though Snedeker has missed three of his last five cuts. he's also played some of his best golf the last month or so with a tie for fifth at the AT&T National, a tie for second at the John Deere Classic and a tie for fifth at the RBC Canadian Open. -- Brian Wacker
TWEET OF THE DAY II (4:39 p.m.): "At the Wyndham PGA tourney in Greensboro. Raining, see it does rain places OTHER than race tracks..." -- NASCAR driver Kyle Petty (@kylepetty) about an hour ago from Greensboro.
Petty was referring to recent races at Michigan, Watkins Glen and Pocono, all of which experienced lengthy weather delays each of the last three weeks. No worries, Kyle, they've revved up the engines again in Greensboro. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY HAS RESUMED (4:30 p.m.): After a 4-hour weather delay, first-round play has resumed at the Wyndham Championship. Moments after it did, Chez Reavie tapped in for a 6-under 64, which puts him in the early lead at Sedgefield. Reavie hit all but three greens in regulation on his way to the lowest score of his season. His round also ties for the lowest score of his career -- Reavie previously shot 64 on three occasions, the last of which prior to this week was at last year's Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Reavie's scorecard from today:
TIME TO TURN IT AROUND? (4:25 p.m.): Jay Williamson has had a frustrating year.
He's only posted one top-25 finish this year and ranks 176th in the FedExCup standings. Thursday's round of 67 at the Wyndham Championship, though, could be the start of something good if he can find the spark he's been missing.
"It's not that I'm playing bad, I just haven't gotten any momentum going," Williamson explained. "I haven't had the one good tournament to kind of get you going. I've been close a couple times.
"Just too much stress, you know? I just haven't really been good enough this year to overcome it. I've just been on the borderline so much. I'm a little tired of it and I just need to be better."
Look at the stats and it's easy to see Williamson's flat stick has been the culprit. He ranks 23rdin driving accuracy and third in greens in regulation -- but he's 200thin putting.
"It's a hard game," the 42-year-old veteran acknowledged. "The older I get the more I respect it."
Williamson, who ranks 183rdon the money list, needs a good fall to avoid another trip to q-school like he made last year. He knows he's not far off, though, which has been the most frustrating thing.
"I'm hoping this is the week," he said. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (3:52 p.m.): The range at Sedgefield has just opened so players can practice under what are now partly cloudy skies. Players are expected back in position at 4:30 p.m. for the resumption of the first round. -- Helen Ross
NORMAN OUT (3:15 p.m.): While one Presidents Cup captain -- Fred Couples -- is playing in Greensboro this week, the other -- Greg Norman -- is in Oregon for the Champions Tour's fifth major, the Jeld-Wen Tradition. Or at least he was. Norman withdrew from the event today with a sore back. It would have been Norman's first appearance in the event and sixth Champions Tour event of the season. -- Brian Wacker
KEN HE DO IT? (2:35 p.m.): Ken Duke is 134th in the FedExCup standings, 11 spots away from automatically qualifying for the first event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup that begin next week.
His caddy might have a look, but Duke didn't plan to check the projected standings after putting the finishing touches on a 66 in the first round of the Wyndham Championship.
"We won't talk about it until Sunday," Duke said. "It is whatever it is."
Duke just knows he has to play well this week at Sedgefield if he's to make the field for The Barclays. A year ago, he participated in all four Playoff events.
While there's enough rough on the Donald Ross gem to keep you honest, Duke said players can be aggressive with their putts since the greens are slow. Expect to see birdies -- particularly after the rain that's softening the course.
"I think that's what the fans want and the players enjoy it because it's a struggle every day and a fight every day to play these hard golf courses with the hard greens and deep rough," Duke said. "You get something like this if you can, make some birdies. You know, it's good." -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (2:10 p.m.): The rain has stopped and there's a lull in the weather right now, but it won't last. There is more weather on the way, with more cells just a few miles away. For that reason, play remains suspended.
"We have weather all around us," Mark Russell, the PGA TOUR's VP of Rules and Competition, told GOLF CHANNEL. "The only rain in North Carolina is here."
Yes it is. Only small bands are moving through the state, but they're all pretty much moving through Greensboro with a half-inch of rain having already fallen on the golf course and more on the way.
"It's going to take a little while [before we can get back out there," Russell said. "We'll be able to play some golf today, but right now we're on hold."
And they'll be on hold for a while. The good news, though, is that there will be plenty of daylight and, according to Rusell, they'll play golf until 8:10 or 8:15 tonight. -- Brian Wacker
LONG WAIT, SHORT FINISH (2:03 p.m.): Johnson Wagner heard thunder on the ninth tee, which was his 18th of the day. He was the last to hit and the weather seemed so close, "I thought I was going to get left behind," Wagner recalled.
Turns out, Parker McLachlin, Chez Reavie and Wagner made it to the green before the horn sounded. All but Reavie -- who had a 15-inch putt for par -- had finished.
If Reavie successfully negotiates that virtual tap-in, he'll be finished at 6 under. Wagner made five birdies and a lone bogey to shoot 66 while McLachlin had a 68.
"It was a great day," Wagner said. "I haven't had many pairings with guys my ago who I played with in college. It was just a good comfortable pairing and we all played good from the first hole. It was a lot of fun."
Reavie went to Arizona State, McLachlin UCLA and Wagner attended Virginia Tech.
Wagner, who ranks 156thin the FedExCup, said he hit the ball "terrible" on Thursday. He stayed in the game with a hot putter, though, using just 28 strokes on the green.
"I really rolled my ball well," Wagner said. "It suits me off the tee. I keep it in play pretty well even when I'm hitting it bad. I think I can play this golf course really nicely." -- Helen Ross
TWEET OF THE DAY (1:42 p.m.): "The rain has stopped at WyndhamChamp. There is a lot of standing water on the course." -- The folks who run the Wyndham Championship, where rain and lightning have postponed the first round, for now.
As you'll see in this picture, conditions aren't terrible and as long more weather doesn't come rolling in, we should be playing golf again relatively soon. -- Brian Wacker
CLARK WITHDRAWS (1:27 p.m.): Tim Clark withdrew with a neck injury during Thursday's rain delay at the Wyndham Championship. Clark was 3 over through 16 holes.
He tied for 16th at last week's PGA Championship and narrowly missed picking up his first PGA TOUR win earlier this year when he lost to Steve Stricker in a playoff at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
The former N.C. State golfer was ranked 24th in the FedExCup standings when he came to Sedgefield, where he tied for sixth last year. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (12:50 p.m.): There is lightning in the area, which is what caused the suspension of play, and judging by the radar picture, things don't look great. There's a band of storms on the way with some orange and red in the radar -- a sign that the weather could be severe in some spots. The good news is, at least according to weather.com, that it looks like the cell should move through pretty quickly and there's little behind it. -- Brian Wacker
PLAY SUSPENDED (12:30 p.m.): Play has been temporarily suspended at the Wyndham Championship due to inclement weather. More details to follow.
JUST ROSEY (12:05 p.m.): Despite a bogey on the final hole, Justin Rose is in the clubhouse with one of the day's best scores so far, a 5-under 65 that has him near the top of the leaderboard early here in Round 1 at Sedgefield.
For Rose, who shot a back-nine 31, it's his best score of the season on the PGA TOUR and has him heading in the right direction after missing three straight cuts at one point two months ago. Since then, Rose has two finishes in the top 16 and just one missed cut in his last four events. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Rose's scorecard from today (click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker):
A LOT ON THE LINE (11:48 a.m.): There are six players who competed in last year's TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola who are on the outside looking in on the eve of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Four of those players are entered this week at Sedgefield Country Club and one, Ken Duke, is making an early move with an opening-round 4-under 66. Duke, who tied for 10th at East Lake last year, is currently 134th in the FedExCup standings. Only the top 125 make The Barclays, which opens the Playoffs next week.
Billy Mayfair, who ranks 160th, is in with a 69, while defending champ Carl Pettersson is 1 over through 16. Pettersson started the week 151stin the standings.
Stuart Appleby, who is 137th in the FedExCup standings, tees off at 1 p.m. -- Helen Ross
HOME GAME (11:35 a.m.): Lucas Glover being from nearby Greenville, S.C., means that this week's Wyndham Championship is a bit of a home game for the U.S. Open champ.
That has it's positives and negatives. Positives being he's comfortable on a course he played as a kid. Negatives being there's a whole of stuff outside the ropes that can serve as a distratction.
"Lot of the lines off the tees are similar but the green complexes are a lot different than what I remember," Glover said of Sedgefield. "There's more roll-offs into the chipping areas, but I think it's good for the style of course that it is. It's an old-school place. It's got that feel, but it's good. I like it.
"It's no more pressure really because I'm used to it. We got a lot of tournaments close to where I live so -- I think I'm right about 50 tickets." -- Brian Wacker
EARLY MOVERS (11:20 a.m.): The Wyndham Championship isn't exactly known for yielding a lot of high scores -- Carl Pettersson shot a second-round 61 here last year on his way to winning with a 21-under 259 total.
That trend appears to be continuing this year with Justin Rose and Kevin Streelman out to fast 5-under starts.
Streelman, one of our Expert Picks this week, made the turn in 30, making four birdies in a five-hole stretch and five in a seven-hole stretch at one point. He's slowed since, though, with three straight pars to open the back nine. Streelman, by the way, has yet to miss a green in regulation today.
Rose, on the other hand, has done most of his damage on the back nine at Sedgefield, making four of his five birdies today in the first six holes on the back. Rose has been nearly as accurate, too, hitting 15 of 16 greens. -- Brian Wacker
PLAYOFF PAYOFF (11 a.m.): This week's Wyndham Championship has all sorts of implications, not the least of which is a chance to secure a spot in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Charles Warren might be the guy on the bubble at No. 124 in the FedExCup standings, but the player really in the hot seat this week is Sergio Garcia. It's not impossible the Spaniard could miss the postseason altogether. He missed the cut last week and with another missed cut, depending on what else happens, could be on the outside looking in come Sunday night.
Coming into this week, Garcia isn't exactly thrilled -- or confident -- with his game. "I'm not," Garcia said yesterday when it was mentioned that he didn't sound happy with his play right now. "
Asked what the reason behind his poor play was, Garcia said, "Usually bad shots." And then? "More bad swing."
Ouch.
What a difference a year makes, too. Last year, Garcia tied for second at the PGA Championship, lost in a playoff at The Barclays, tied for fifth at the Deutsche Bank Championship and lost in a playoff at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. This year, he missed the cut at the PGA and doesn't look or sound like the same player he was 12 months ago.
"I am [frustrated]," Garcia said. "I'm not playing well. I'm just -- I'm not enjoying it so I guess it's just a matter of keep working on it and hopefully get good and see where we go from there."
From there might be a trip back to Europe sooner than anyone expected. Garcia will tee off with Bo Van Pelt and Lucas Glover at 1 p.m. today. -- Brian Wacker
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