Buick Open, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
TIGER TRACKS (5:45 p.m.): It was hardly the round he wanted, a 1-under 71 that left Tiger Woods a little steamed afterward.
"I didn't hit my irons very good," Woods said. No he didn't. Even though he hit 14 of 18 greens in regulation, Woods' average distance to the pin was over 39 feet.
"It was probably one of the worst putting days I've ever had," Woods continued. With 32 putts, he's right about that, too.
So what will Tiger do now? He'll hope to get it together by tomorrow. Woods has never missed two straight cuts and hasn't missed two in the same season on the PGA TOUR since 2005.
"I gotta go low," Woods said. "The guys are going to continue to go low. It's going to be 20-plus under to win the tournament." -- Brian Wacker
DALY MAKES DOUBLE AND THENSOME (5:15 p.m.): It looks like John Daly may be carrying some negative momentum from the RBC Canadian Open, where he shot 77-72 to miss the cut. Today, he's 4 over -- despite three birdies -- and near the bottom of the leaderboard.
Daly has hit just 4 of 13 fairways so far -- he has two holes left to play -- and has five bogeys and a double bogey, which came on the par-5 13th when he hit his second shot into the water while trying to reach the green in two. -- Brian Wacker
MORE INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS (4:50 p.m.): As noted earlier, the Austrailans in the field are playing weel this week (John Senden is currently second; James Nitties T3 and Greg Chalmers T6, among others). Last week, of course, Aussie Nathan Green, capturing the RBC Canadian Open in a playoff. Here's Senden on what that win by his fellow countryman meant:
Q. Half of the players on the leaderboard so far on the Top 10 are Australians. Do you think it's a product of Nathan Green's victory last week?
SENDEN: Yeah. There is maybe slightly. But I think Nathan Green's win was sensational. I thought that he hadn't been playing great, and then he really just sort of turned it on. Where he found that key from, you know, he said he'd been trying to improve mentally, which he obviously did last week, and held on nicely at the end of the week. So that was great for Australia, Australian golf. He's going to go back to Australia this year. He'll be having a great time with the media there. They'll be all over him. But I think this week with the Australians being up there on the leaderboard, it's a possible chance that could be it, but on the other hand, it's just -- there's a number of Australian golfers out here that are playing well, and I think there's a total of I'm not sure how many, but there's gotta be 10 or so players or more, and it's surprising that there's not more Australians out here playing and playing well because we have a good Tour at home, and our golf courses are great shape to play golf, and there's a lot of good young stars coming out.
To read more of what Senden had to say, click here. -- Brian Wacker
FROM THE INTERVIEW ROOM (4:25 p.m.): Steve Lowery's pro-am team shot 17-under -- with virtualy no strokes -- yesterday, so maybe we should have seen his 63 coming. One thing is for sure, he likes the Buick Open. Here are some highlights from Lowery's interview. -- Brian Wacker
Q. When you have the Buick Open on your schedule, do you think going in, you know, you gotta get out there and go low and go low right away?
LOWERY: Absolutely. I was looking at -- pulling it up on the computer to see what's been winning the last few years and seems like when the weather is good, 20 to 24 under is kind of the number that wins. Looks like the weather is going to be pretty mild this week, so my number was maybe 24 under. And obviously 9 under is a good start, but I was telling some guys down there that there was some guys last week that shot 9 under the first day, but if you didn't follow it up the rest of the week, it ain't gonna hang around. You gotta get it going for the rest of the three days.
Q. Low golf scores by a couple shots. Did you see anything?
LOWERY: I've been hitting the ball well. Hit the ball well in Canada. We had the whole rain issue. I think last week I started off four birdies in a row and shot 5 under with no bogeys the first day. I think Milwaukee I had a day without bogeys, maybe 4 or 5 under one day there. Been playing okay, just not really getting it all done.
To read the rest of Lowery's interview, click here.
MATTESON ROLLING ALONG (4:10 p.m.): Troy Matteson probably won't break the record for most eagles in a single round on the PGA TOUR, but he's probably not going to mind too much since he's at 7 under and just two off the lead with two holes to play.
Earlier in the day, Matteson made an eagle on the par-5 13th, knocking his shot in from just off the green. Seven holes later, on No., 2, Matteson added a much more dramatic eagle when he holed out from the fairway on the 431-yard par-4 hole. He's also made three birdies today and is headed toward what looks like will be his second-lowest round of the year.
The most record for most eagles in a single round on the PGA TOUR, by the way, is three, accomplished 24 times, most recently by Joe Ogilvie at the Frys.com Open. (Click here to see who else had made two eagles in one round this year.)-- Brian Wacker
GAMEZ GOING THE OTHER WAY (3:50 p.m.): Not everyone is going low at Warwick Hills. Take Robert Gamez. He's near the bottom of the leaderboard after laboring to a 9-over 81 today. That's the worst score of the year for Gamez, who, while not making a cut all year, hadn't shot a round over 76 until today. One reason Gamez scored so poorly today: He took 36 putts. He also hit just 10 of 18 greens in regulation. That's a deadly combination. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (3:25 p.m.): Just when things looked like they weren't going well for Tiger Woods, he did what he does. Woods birdied the par-5 seventh and added another on the par-4 10th to get back to even par. Woods also just made a tremendous up-and-down for par from just off the 11th green, where he had a tricky chip shot before rolling in a right-to-left 11-footer.
Woods, by the way, has only finished outside the top 10 once here -- in 2000 when he shot rounds of 70-70-67-68 to tie for 11th. He's also shot 70 or higher in the first round at Warwick Hills four times in his career and three of those were in his first three years on the PGA TOUR. Below is a look at Woods' career at Warwick Hills. -- Brian Wacker
| Tiger Woods' history at the Buick Open | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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AWESOME AUSSIES (3:15 p.m.): Something about Warwick Hills has caught the eyes of Australians in the field with five guys from Down Under among the top-seven from the morning wave. Over time, there have been 28 Australians on the PGA TOUR and they have combined for 133 official TOUR wins. There are 15 Aussies in the field this week, 13 of whom played in the morning. All 13 posted scores of par or better. Since 1984, the only International player to break into the winner's circle at Warwick Hills has been Vijay Singh (1997, 2004, 2005). -- Doug Milne
| 'Aus'ome start (Morning wave) | ||||||||||||
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CONDITIONS RECEPTIVE TO SCORING (3 p.m.): In the morning wave, Steve Lowery took advantage of near-perfect conditions at Warwick Hills, shooting a bogey-free, 9-under 63. On the front (his back-nine), Lowery posted seven birdies on Nos. 1-4 and 7-9 for a 7-under 29, tying the 9-hole scoring record at Warwick Hills. (See the chart below for the others who've achieved that feat.)
Lowery's 63 is also two strokes off the course-record 11-under 61, set twice by Billy Mayfair in 2001's final round and again by Tiger Woods in round two of 2005. It's also three shots off Lowery's career best, a 12-under 60 in the final round of the 1997 Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens in Georgia. -- Doug Milne
| Front-nine 29s at Warwick Hills | ||||||||||||
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MATTESON MAKES MOVE (2:50 p.m.): It won't be a PGA TOUR record, but Troy Matteson's two eagles have him in contention at the Buick Open.
Matteson's first eagle came on the par-5 13th, where he was one of three players to make eagle after chipping in from just off the putting surface. Matteson's second eagle of the day came on the par-4 second hole, where he holed out from 135 yards. One more and he'll match the record for number of eagles by a player in this tournament (see chart below). -- Brian Wacker
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DALY UPDATE (2:35 p.m.): Tiger Woods isn't the only player off to a slow start at the Buick Open. John Daly is 1 over through his first six holes with two bogeys and a birdie. Unlike Woods, however, Daly has been wild with the driver, hitting just 1 of 5 fairways so far and 3 of 6 greens in regulation.
Then there's Greg Chalmers. He played his first nine holes in even par with nine straight pars before rolling off six birdies over his final nine holes for a back-nine 30 and a 6-under 66. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): This is not the kind of start Tiger Woods was looking for. He is 2 over through his first six holes with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 5. On the second hole, he three-putted from just inside 12 feet. Similarly, it took Woods three shots to get home from just off the back of the fifth green, two-putting from just inside 6 feet. On the bright side, Woods has hit all five fairways and has only missed two greens in regulation so far. There's a lot of golf to go, but Woods will have to turn it around at some point if he wants to avoid missing the cut. -- Brian Wacker
SENDEN MATCHES SEASON LOW (1:55 p.m.): Not to be overlooked on the leaderboard is John Senden, who matched his season-low today with a round of 64 -- a score he shot for the fourth time this year, most recently before today in the final round in Memphis.
Today, Senden, who leads the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation, hit 15 of 18 -- despite hitting just 5 of 14 fairways. He also had 10 one-putts and at one point made five straight birdies en route to a back-nine 31. He, like leader Steve Lowery, had a very good approach shot distance to the pin at 28 feet, 10 inches and his putts made distance was 5 feet, 8 inches. -- Brian Wacker
MORE ON LOWERY (1:30 p.m.): Seeing Steve Lowery's name atop the leaderboard at the Buick Open is more than just a subtle surprise. Lowery had just two top-25s this season and one of those came at the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship in January. The other came in Milwaukee two weeks ago, where he closed with a final-round 66 to snag a tie for 24th.
His 63 was his best score of the year by two strokes -- he shot a 65 in the second round of the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer -- and he's only made five more cuts than he's missed this season.
Lowery also doesn't rank in the top 50 in any major statistical category on the PGA TOUR and comes in at 165th in scoring average at 71.59. Thursday, though, he hit a lot of fairways and greens and made the putts he needed to with 12 one-putts, including seven of them over his final nine holes. That, folks, is how you shoot 63. -- Brian Wacker
TIGER ON THE COURSE (1:10 p.m.): Tiger Woods, fresh off just the fifth missed cut of his career, is on the golf course at Warwick Hills, where he's hoping wide fairways and big greens will help him straighten out his game. Plus, he's won there twice and twice been a runner-up.
In yesterday's pro-am, Woods shot 5 under, citing the soft conditions. Well, they appear to still be soft, hence all the low numbers so far, which Woods predicted there would be under those conditions. Now let's see what he can do.
"I worked on my speed," said Woods of his pro-am round. "I finished the hole early, and putted around a little bit until I got my speed on the greens, and after that I played the golf course normal. You can get a little bit of work in, but obviously you can't get as much work in as you normally would on a true practice round."
Track Woods' round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
LOWERY THE LEADER (12:30 p.m.): Steve Lowery is the early clubhouse leader at the Buick Open, where he just closed out a 9-under 63 with three straight birdies to cap a 29 on the front nine at Warwick Hills.
Lowery, who started on the back nine and at one point made four straight birdies, hit all but three greens in regulation and missed only three fairways. But the real key to the lowest round of his season was his proximity to the hole -- just 28 feet, 8 inches -- and his putts made distance -- 6 feet, 4 inches. Those rank eighth and third in the field, respectively.
Both of those stats are considerably better than his season averages. Coming into this week, Lowery ranked 155th on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole at 36 feet, 7 inches and 69th in putts per round at 28.83 (he took 23 putts Thursday). -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Lowery's scorecard from today (click here to replay it with Shot Tracker):
WHERE'S VIJAY? (12:15 p.m.): Tiger Woods has won the Buick Open twice and finished runner-up twice. Jim Furyk won here in 2003 and has eight top-10s in 14 starts at Warwick Hills. Woody Austin finished second each of the last two years and has six top-10s in 14 starts. They're all in the field again this year. So where's Vijay Singh, a three-time winner of this event?
Singh is busy preparing for six tournaments through August and September, acording to Camp Singh -- four of those are Playoff events. So even though Singh has had plenty of success here, his 46-year-old body, which has been beaten up a bit this year, needed to energize itself for a run at defending his FedExCup title. -- Brian Wacker
SENDEN ON A STREAK (12 p.m.): We've got a new leader at the moment in John Senden, who has birdied his last five holes and 6 of his last 7 to get to 8 under on the day.
That's a pretty good stretch for anyone, much less someone coming off back-to-back missed cuts at the RBC Canadian Open and the British Open. Senden has gone low this year, though, shooting a final-round 64 at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx, where he finished in a tie for fourth, and 65-64 on the weekend at the HP Byron Nelson Championship to finish seventh. He also had an opening-round 65 at the Shell Houston Open. Follow the rest of Senden's round live with Shot Tracker by clicking here. -- Brian Wacker
ONE LEGEND ON ANOTHER (11:40 a.m.): For those of you who missed Bob Seger's press conference following his pro-am round with Tiger Woods, here are some highlights from the interview, which was pretty entertaining, Seger was in golf nirvana to say the least. -- Brian Wacker
| Bob Seger interview highlights | |
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LOTS OF RED, BUT NO RECORDS (11:25 a.m.): Tiger Woods doesn't tee off until about 90 minutes from now, but there's already plenty of red on the leaderboard in the opening round of the Buick Open, where Steve Lowery is currently alone atop the leaderboard at 6 under through his first 14 holes.
In the in-case-you're-wondering department, though, they've got a ways to go before any records are set (unlike last week where there were records set for consecutive birdies and most holes-in-one). The lowest 18-hole score ever shot in the Buick Open is a 61 -- by Tiger Woods in the second round in 2005 and by Billy Mayfair in the final round in 2001 -- and the lowest opening-round score is a 62, shot by Sonny Skinner in 1997.
Who (or where) is Skinner? He's a club pro in Georgia who has played in four Nationwide Tour events this season, missing the cut in each of them. -- Brian Wacker
LOWERY GOING LOW (11:15 a.m.): It's not the PGA TOUR record nine straight birdies that Mark Calcavecchia made at last week's RBC Canadian Open, but Steve Lowery has climbed into contention on the strength of four straight birdies on the front nine at Warwick Hills (click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker).
After making the turn in 34 -- Lowery started on the back -- he hit each of his next four approach shots inside 13 feet before rolling in the four birdie putts. That moves Lowery into a share for the lead at the moment. Not surprisingly given the size of Warwick Hills' fairways and greens, the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am champion has hit 9 of 11 fairways and 11 of 14 greens in regulation so far. As a result, he's one-putted nine holes so far. -- Brian Wacker
WILLIAMSON OUT FAST (11 a.m.): Jay Williamson has played in 340 PGA TOUR events and never won. Well, he's trying to change that quickly this week. He's the early leader right now, playing his first 13 holes at the Buick Open in 6 under (click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker.
Williamson didn't waste any time getting off to a fast start with birdies on 5 of his first 6 holes. The only blemish so far was a bogey on the par-5 16th hole, where he three-putted from 13 feet. Of course, Williamson got off to a good start here last year, too, shooting an opening-round 68 before failing to break 70 the rest of the week.
Among the players chasing Williamson: David Duval, who is 4 under through his first 10 holes. Duval, who was a runner-up at the U.S. Open, hasn't made a cut since, but is playing much better this week with only 14 putts so far and 7 of 10 greens in regulation. -- Brian Wacker
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