The Daily Wrap-up, Round 1: Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, Louisiana (AP) -- South Korea's Charlie Wi took advantage of soft early morning conditions to shoot a bogey-free 6-under 66 and take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Thursday.
"To get off to a good start definitely puts you in a better position than coming from behind," Wi said. "On the weekend the golf course gets so difficult. So to shoot a good number on Thursday and Friday, I think it really helps you to have a high finish."
Wi was two strokes short of matching the course record at the TPC Louisiana.
As the wind and sun firmed up the course throughout the day, nobody could get closer than one stroke of Wi.
Jay Williamson, Nathan Green, Parker McLachlin, Charles Warren, John Merrick and Eric Axley opened with 67s. Eleven players were at 68, including former tournament winner David Toms.
"I really haven't been in contention since we moved to this golf course," Toms said. "So for me it's all about just trying to get a good round and trying to build on what I did today."
This is only the fourth time the Zurich Classic has been played at the TPC Louisiana. The course opened in 2005, only to be flooded in Hurricane Katrina. The event returned in 2007 and the course has had a first-time PGA TOUR winner every year.
Defending champion Andres Romero finished the first round at 73.
Master's runner-up Kenny Perry, after playing even over the first six holes, had five birdies on the next six, but fell apart with bogeys on 15 and 17 to finish with 11 others at 69.
"I need to kind of get back in the thick of a tournament," Perry said. "I really felt good out there today. I did lose focus a little bit and kind of think a lot about two weeks ago, what was going on, but I mainly got tired. I mainly got tired mentally, which got me tired physically."
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Michael Collins offers these observations from Thursday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
Yours truly got to play in the pro-am after emceeing the pairings party Tuesday night -- I even got Boo Weekly on stage with for a minute. I played with David Duval as our pro and had the lead singer from Collective Soul as a partner. It was a very good day, even though as a chubby guy, golf is hard to focus on with all the food around this week. Duval agreed with me as we ate pulled pork sandwiches on the tee waiting to hit. He turned to me and said, "Wanna let these guys in the group behind us play through?" The look of confusion on my face said enough. "So we can eat more sandwiches ya dummy!" If only I could get through to people what a funny and great guy David is.
Charlie Wi said after his round that making birdies on his first two holes (Nos. 10 and 11) is what gave him the confidence to stay bogey-free the rest of the day. I have to take a little credit for Nathan Green shooting 5-under in Round 1, too. Tuesday night at the pairings party, he told me he was trying hard not get frustrated on the course, but he wasn't making any birdies and he was thinking about going back to playing angry. I told him the trick to getting the ball to fall is to stop trying to make it. Sometimes you just have to focus on the process and let the results happen. Just hit your line -- if the ball goes in great, if it doesn't, so what? You know you're putting well and they wiil start to fall. You're welcome, my fellow bald-headed friend, the bill is in the mail.
I was with the Boo Weekly, Kenny Perry, Mike Weir threesome this afternoon. The day went flying by with Boo's wife and his caddy JoJo's wife in the cart with me all afternoon. They told me great stories of the fishing trip they went on Wednesday. Perry's first event after the Masters is picking up right where he left off. Even with a couple of bogeys coming in to fall to 3 under, Kenny was all smiles and waves around the course. He said he got 600 emails and 200 hand-written letters, most of which started, "This is the first time I've ever written a letter like this..." Kenny said he truly believes he did more for people by the way he lost than he would have had he won. If only we could all be such good people all the time.
| Top 5 notables at Zurich Classic of New Orleans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Thursday's Best |
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The 561-yard par-5 seventh hole at TPC Louisiana was easiest with a Thursday scoring average of 4.538.
The 221-yard par-3 third hole at TPC Louisiana was toughest with a Thursday scoring average of 3.327.
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Todd Hamilton continued his hot play, rolling in a 66-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 17th hole. 
Charlie Wi was bogey-free and made four birdies in a five-hole stretch at one point for the day's best score. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||||||||||
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| Live Essentials | ||||
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FIRST-ROUND NOTEBOOK: ZURICH CLASSIC
By Mark Williams, PGA TOUR Staff
NEW ORLEANS -- Charlie Wi seems to do well in the opening rounds of "Classics." Wi shot a bogey-free, 6-under 66 to lead after the first round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. The South Korean, who resides in California, was in the first group of the day and opened with four birdies in his first five holes. Wi has held the first-round lead/co-lead three previous times in his career.
• This is the seventh consecutive tournament Wi has posted par or better scores in the first round.
• Wi tied for fourth at the Transitions Championship for his best finish on the PGA TOUR this season. His career-best finish is tie for second at both the 2007 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and the 2008 Valero Texas Open.
• Wi has nine International victories, all coming in Asia, the most-recent in 2006 at the Maybank Malaysian Open, a co-sanctioned European/Asian Tour event.
• To read the remainder of this story, click here.
KODAK CHALLENGE: The first-of-its-kind competition for PGA TOUR players continues at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
The Kodak Challenge celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA TOUR. The Kodak Challenge offers $1 million to the winner. There will be one designated Kodak Challenge Hole at 24 different PGA TOUR tournaments in 2009, with this week's featured hole the 215-yard par-3 17th.
Players, who must play at least 18 of the holes during the season to be eligible, will count their lowest score relative to par on the Kodak Challenge Hole made during an official competition round. The player, with the lowest cumulative score in relation to par at the end of the challenge, wins.
• For more on the Kodak Challenge, click here.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | ||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-3 17th at TPC Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||
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