The finale of the PGA Tour regular season was always going to be a challenge for this talented field, and the disruption caused by tropical storm Debby only adds to the drama of the sub-plots this week.
With no play on Thursday due to the inclement weather, the action began in earnest on Friday morning. Organisers got through as many groups as possible on Friday before play had to be suspended at 8.12PM local time due to bad light.
The entirety of the morning wave completed Round 1 on Friday, with most of the afternoon wave on the back nine at the time of suspension. Some players will have up to 26 holes to complete on Saturday, with a 36-hole Sunday imminent for players who survive the cut line. That means up to 62 holes in two days for some players, with the top 70 on the FedEx Cup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List after the Wyndham qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Shane Lowry was among the early groups that managed to get a round on the card. The Offaly man couldn’t take advantage of the soft conditions as he worked his way around from the 10th. Two bogeys on his opening nine, coming on the 12th and on the par-5 15th, saw Lowry drop back the order to turn on two-over. A better back nine saw him recover those two dropped shots with birdies on the par-5 fifth and again on his final hole the 9th. This sees the Clara native on even par for the tournament ahead of a 54-hole weekend.
Seamus Power is in better shape having completed 13 holes before the suspension of play on Friday. The Waterford man is clean through 13 with two birdies on his card coming on the fourth and the par-4 10th and currently sits tied for 39th heading into Saturday’s action. Power will tidy up his final five holes on Saturday morning before a quick turnaround to begin his second round of the week. The action kicks off with the remaining round one groups finishing off their round from 9.50AM local time with the second round immediately after.
One man who was able to use the soft course conditions to his advantage is overnight leader Beau Hossler. The Californian was out of the traps quickly with a run of four birdies and an eagle on his opening five holes saw him on six-under in no time. Another shot gained came on the par-4 8th to see the 29-year-old turn on -7. A solid back nine showing followed with another four birdies and just the single dropped shot of the round coming on the 11th. He sits two clear on -10 and, having finished his round, only has 18 to play on Saturday.
“Yeah, I played well. This golf course is, if you drive the ball in the fairway, it’s very scorable,” reflected Hossler after a dream start. “But playing this course from the rough, and then there’s five or six like particularly daunting tee shots for me, blind and kind of got to curve it a little bit. In the past they’ve given me a bit of trouble, today I drove it beautifully. Yeah, certainly from this golf course it’s not particularly long, so from in the fairway you can make some birdies.”
Hossler sits two clear of Billy Horschel on -8 who has two holes to tidy up from his first round on Saturday morning. Nick Taylor sits one back on -7 with 14 holes completed of round one while a group of four including Matt Kuchar sit on six-under-par. All four have completed their first rounds so will have time to relax while others finish out on Saturday morning.
Leave a comment