Day one in Nashville was a hot one, both on the course and on the scoreboard and Abraham Ancer set the pace with a blemish-free seven-under as the mercury hit the mid-30’s in Tennessee.
The Fireballs GC man sits one clear at the top from Legion XII’s Tyrell Hatton on six-under overnight. Graeme McDowell sits T48 after his two-over opening day.
McDowell kicked off his day on the 16th and the Smash GC player, who spent nearly 400 weeks inside the world’s top-50, started solidly with four pars to begin his round. Bogey on the 529-yard par-4 second was to come though, followed by another on the par-3 5th. A run of eight pars was welcome to curtail any further damage before snatching one back on the par-4 14th, his penultimate hole. The 2010 US Open champion was frustrated with a bogey on his final hole – the short and tricky 15th – and he will have work to do over the weekend for Smash GC.
Next up after a five-under opener sits Crushers GC’s John Catlin. His impressive Friday sees him one clear of a bunch of four including his team captain and man-of-the-hour Bryson DeChambeau. Crushers sit second overnight as Ancer’s Fireballs teammates Chacarra and Sergio Garcia backed up the Mexican’s Friday to leave them sitting four clear on a combined -14. Individual ranking leader and Torque GC captain Joaquin Niemann could not keep pace with his Latin American teammates today. His one-under Friday eclipsed by his team to leave them sitting third -9 heading into the weekend.
Overnight leader Ancer kicks off his second round on the first tee with Tyrell Hatton and John Catlin as he looks to replicate his Friday form. Bryson starts on the second with Chacarra and Munoz for company as the team dynamics come into focus over the weekend. Brooks Koepka, Smash GC captain, will have two Torque players watching him as he begins Saturday on the fourth with Ortiz and Periera.
Kopeka’s teammate, McDowell will head to the 14th tomorrow evening with Thomas Pieters and Adrian Meronk. The Polish Cleeks GC player will look to give his home nation something to forget their travails at the Euros in Germany.
Overnight leader Ancer shared his thoughts after an impressive opening day: “Yeah, definitely really happy with pretty much everything today. Put a lot of hard work on my swing, which the stats will say that I’ve been hitting the ball pretty good this year, but there’s some stuff that I feel that I need to work on. But it was really nice off the tee. Hit some really good shots in there, and I rolled it nicely. When I put myself in a tough spot, I was able to get up-and-down, which keeps the round going. So extremely happy the way I fought today. Even the last hole I put myself in a tough spot and then made a longish putt for par, which was really nice. You don’t want to finish in a bogey.”
Ancer feels very much at home at The Grove and in the company of the Tennessee fans
“Everything has been great,” he said. “The golf course is in perfect condition. The people have been super supportive. The party hole has been incredible. Looks like everybody is having a great time, and it’s been great. I think it’s only going to get better.”
Crushers captain DeChambeau’s crazy week is showing no signs of abating, but he’s loving every minute of it.
“Everything has been great,” he said. “The golf course is in perfect condition. The people have been super supportive. The party hole has been incredible. Looks like everybody is having a great time, and it’s been great. I think it’s only going to get better.”
The “party hole,” the par-3 15th will see Lee, Tringale and Kim for tomorrow’s start but expect to see noise and fireworks all around The Grove on Saturday as round two gets underway in the sweltering Tennessee summer.
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