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Call it “Thee Open” if you must, but I and others very well might snicker at you behind your back.
After Thursday’s opening round, some familiar names are at or near the top of the board. Some are also near the bottom of it.
Dustin Johnson has a one stroke lead at -7 after day one. A six player logjam is one stroke back, including Zack Johnson and Jason Day. Jordan Spieth posted a 5 under 67 on day one, just 2 shots back; Mickelson is 5 back (t24th); Bubba 6 back (t41st).
And at +4 on the day, Woods already in the “what the hell is wrong with him?” death spiral. His opening round 76 has him tied with such notables as Tom Watson, who was clear that he was only there as a swansong of sorts.
Other notables:
John Daly, who seemingly wore his jamjams on the course today, finished one under.
Carl Petterson at even par
Bill Haas at +3
Nick Faldo brought up the rear at +11This afternoon’s wind will be the great equalizer. I will be interested to see how Dustin’s driver holds up. Spieth will be used to playing in wind, but I don’t think anything like he will see today. Zach Johnson put himself in great position shooting low in the afternoon, but some of that advantage will be lost because of the delayed tee times, meaning he won’t completely avoid the breezes either. Still thinking it will be Jordan on top at the end of Sunday.
Irish born amateur Paul Dunne (UAB alum) in a 3 way tie for the lead, will be in the final group tomorrow along with Jason Day and Oosthuizen. Not too shabby.
Spieth only a single shot back.
Dunne and Oosthuizen are the final group. Day will play with Spieth in the penultimate group. Very interesting mix of talent – chance for the first amateur to win since Bobby Jones, chance for Day to get his first major, chance for Spieth to go 3 for 3 this year, and for Oost to get Open #2. Looks like a great day for fans.
A brief update for the handful of golf fans here: Tim Clark did qualify for The Open, but visa problems kept him out. Interesting: http://golfweek.com/news/2015/jul/12/british-open-2015-pga-tour-tim-clark-visa-issues/
He is back in Canada this week defending his RBC Canadian Open Championship last year. Clark teed off early today and carded a ho-hum even par 72, currently eight strokes off the lead. Also entered in the RBC CO on an Unrestricted Sponsors Exemption is former Wolfpacker, Albin Choi, currently number three in the Order of Merit on the Mackenzie Tour. Choi played somewhat steady this morning but fell to two over, and then rebounded with birdies on 17 and 18 to also shoot even par. With today’s round still progressing, I imagine another 72 will probably have one balancing on the cut line tomorrow. Good luck to the Pack men.
While we’re on the subject of Wolfpack golfers…
Wolfpack Senior (David Cooke) Wins Illinois Open
LONG GROVE, Ill. – NC State senior David Cooke won the 2015 Illinois Open on Wednesday, defeating Web.com pro Vince India by five strokes. Cooke shot a nine-under-par 63 during the final round at Royal Melbourne Country Club, finishing the tournament at a course-record 199 (-16).
The five-stroke margin of victory ties the largest mark ever achieved by an amateur, matching Gary Hallberg in 1977.
Cooke is a member of the 2015 PING All-Region Team and led NC State with a 72.2 stroke average throughout the 2014-15 season. He claimed two individual titles during his junior year with the Wolfpack and recorded 15 rounds at or under par.
I know he’s a Pack man and all, but I gotta admit that, considering breaking 80 usually has me on cloud nine for days afterwards (on the rare occasions it happens, that is), his 63 really makes me want to hate him.
Still though, kudos to the jerk :p
Great for Cooke. It would be nice to see the Wolfpack better represented on the PGA tour. Maybe Cooke is headed there in the near future. By my count we only have two on the PGA Tour (Clark and Pettersson), two on the Web.com Tour (Mulroy and Turnesa), two on the Mackenzie Tour (Choi and Hill) and one on the Sunshine Tour (Walters). Georgia has 8 on the PGA tour. Three of them are in the top 8 going into today’s round at the Canadian Open. Ga Tech has that many too. BTW, Clark just made the turn at even and remains five under. Choi had an epic fail on his back nine yesterday (2 bogeys and 2 double bogeys) and missed the cut after getting to three under on the front.
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