Live Report: Transitions Championship, first round
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By PGATOUR.COM staff
GOOD VIBES (6:40 p.m.): -- Carl Pettersson won the first of his three PGA TOUR events at Innisbrook. So maybe a return to the Copperhead Course is just what the doctor ordered for the man who has been struggling of late.
Pettersson has only had one top-10 since he won the 2008 Wyndham Championship. But he appeared to be on the right track Thursday, shooting a 67 that left him two strokes off the lead.
"I got my first win here, and I've got great memories from that week," Pettersson said. "I guess you're a little inspired and it gets you thinking the right way. I just need to think the right way, just think positive, and that's what I'm trying to do this week."
Pettersson, who missed the cut in 12 of 29 starts in 2009, said he's had to essentially rebuild his swing over the last 12 months. Learning to trust the work he's done on the range has been a challenge, though.
"It's hard to do," the Swede who makes his home in North Carolina said. "It's easy to do on the range. I hit it good on the range. Today I hit it good on the golf course and hopefully if I get more rounds like this, confidence comes quick." -- Helen Ross
BOGEY-FREE FOR FURYK (6:05 p.m.) -- It was the kind of round that Jim Furyk had been seeking for the last three years -- when his ball-striking failed him, his wedge and putter were around to bail him out.
Furyk is in the clubhouse at 4 under after a gorgeous up-and-down on the 18th hole. Furyk badly missed the green with his approach on the final hole, but his 60-foot chip ended up only three feet from the hole.
His 67 is his first bogey-free round of the year.
Here is a look at his card:
PADRAIG FINISHES WITH A BANG (5:51 p.m.) -- Well, there's one way to birdie the brutal par-4 18th: jar a 37-foot bunker shot. That is how Padraig Harrington closed his round of 69.
Harrington's solid opener makes him an excellent shot over the long haul at the Copperhead Course. He will benefit from an earlier tee time on Friday, and his ability to deal with the wind and rock-hard greens is well-known.
PETTERSSON GIVES BACK A SHOT (5:30 p.m.) -- Carl Pettersson was cruising at 5 under before he arrived at the par-4 seventh, where he blew his tee shot well right and had to pitch out. The Swede, who has seen his Official World Golf Ranking drop from 61st to 231st in twp years, is gunning for his second top-10 of the year.
STEWART CINK UPDATE (5:06 p.m.) -- After going out in 43, it appears Stewart Cink is going to break 80 after racking up a couple of birdies down the stretch.
Cink is 5 over and could make a run at the cut line with a big day on Friday. With an early tee time looming, he will certainly have a shot at it.
Another Presidents Cup player, Ryo Ishikawa, doesn't look he will be around on the weekend. He's already 7 over after 11 holes.
PADRAIG DIDN'T GET TO MEET OBAMA (4:49 p.m.) -- Helen Ross files this report on Padraig Harrington's 11-hour trip to the White House on St. Patrick's Day, where Harrington and 150 other people attended a 6 p.m. reception.
Harrington flew by private jet, which is a good thing because he brought a full set of Wilson clubs for the President to use. If he had flown commercial, Harrington would have been at least $25 lighter. Maybe $100 if it was his second checked bag. All for the privilege of waiting 30 minutes for the bag to arrive in baggage claim.
As far as Padraig on the course goes, he's having a big day. He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 11th, then birdied the 12th to get to 3 under.
HERE IS HOW FOWLER CAN MAKE THE MASTERS (4:32 p.m.) -- Rickie Fowler has never been to the Masters. But he has two ways and three weeks left to earn his way to Augusta National next month.
Fowler needs to either win the Transitions Championship this week or one of the next two events leading up to the Masters. His other avenue would be to move from 79th into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking released during the week of the Shell Houston Open.
Fowler is giving himself a chance, too. The 21-year-old phenom opened with a round of 67 on the Copperhead Course that left him two strokes off the lead. But he's trying to keep his mind clear and focused on the Transitions Championship.
"Once I'm out there and teed off, I'm not thinking much about that stuff," Fowler said. "Trying to get to the Masters for the first time, never been there, and I would really like my first trip to be there to play in the tournament. Obviously that's our main goal the next two weeks trying to play into the Top-50 in the world, and if not, three weeks to try to get a win.
"So obviously a win this week or next week, doesn't matter if it gets in the top 50 in the world, we are in the Masters. So go out, keep playing the way we did today, and should be no problem." -- Helen Ross
Here is a look at Fowler's scorecard:
SO NO, THEY PROBABLY WON'T BIRDIE 18 TO WIN (4:15 p.m.) -- The 445-yard 18th hole has tons of trees, 10 bunkers and a narrow green that doesn't like to hold a 5-iron approach.
Only five players have birdied the 18th on Thursday, and only one player -- Adam Scott -- had the power (316 yards) to go over the final two bunkers in play off the tee. He didn't birdie the hole, either.
Only 37 percent of the field is even hitting the green. David Toms' approach to 10 feet remains the closest anyone has gotten all day.
At 4.313 strokes per player, the 18th is easily the toughest hole of the day.
BYRD: PAR 3s ARE KEY TO SCORING (4 p.m.) -- The Copperhead Course has some of the toughest par-3s on TOUR -- only one of them, the 195-yard fourth, is under 200 yards. Imagine how tough they'd be with an old-fashioned 1-iron or 2-iron.
"I think every week on TOUR, our par 3s are getting longer and getting harder," said Jonathan Byrd, who shot 67, but 1 over on the par-3s. "They are just waiting for us to start hitting drivers on par-3s here and there, every other week. But you play the par 3s 1 over for the tournament, and here, maybe 1-over for the day, you're not losing too much ground."
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HOT START FOR FURYK ... AGAIN (3:47 p.m.) -- Jim Furyk just went out in 33 as he tries to break a losing streak that dates back to 2007.
Furyk torched Copperhead for a 65 in the opening round here last year -- but the wheels came off in a second-round 78 that nearly left him below the cut line.
Furyk's ability to hit low, controlled shots should give him the advantage this afternoon, as the wind has really picked up in Innisbrook. Furyk birdied three consecutive holes early after holding putts of 16, 22 and two feet.
In four starts this year, Furyk has been shut out of the top 10.
SHOCKING START FOR CINK (3:25 p.m.) -- Stewart Cink has enjoyed a solid 2010 so far, but the reigning British Open champion is 7 over after only eight holes on Thursday.
The reason? The putter. Cink has used 17 putts in just eight holes, and coupled with his three greens hit so far, he's definitely struggled in the wind this afternoon.
PERRY'S BELOVED PUTTER WOUNDED IN ACTION (3:20 p.m.) -- Sometime around 2008, a man named Paul Hargarten gave Kenny Perry a older PING CRAZ-E to use, and Perry used it to rack up three victories at the age of 47. Perry, never a great putter, turned into the second coming of Brad Faxon at times. Ja-jing.
Fast forward to 2010 ... and the practice green at Kapalua for the season-opening SBS Championship. Perry stroked one last practice putt before heading to the tee, and the putter head fell off. Perry theorizes that Hargarten had thrown it into a lake earlier in the putter's career, which might explain:
1. Why he gave it to Perry in the first place.
2. Why the shaft rusted away from the inside-out.
Because putters are like cars -- they never work right again after an accident -- Perry has struggled to find the right feel for his putter, but he says its getting better. He has worked with PING engineers on a dozen different shafts for the putter head, which he refuses to retire.
"We are getting closer, so they are going to reshaft my old putter and make me two more like it and send it to Bay Hill on Monday," Perry said. "I have one now and I think it's okay. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but it will get me through the week."
DALY IN RED NUMBERS (3 p.m.) -- This much is known: Since hinting at retirement, seriously or not, John Daly has turned his game around.
Daly tied for 24th last week in the Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular, his first top 25 on TOUR since the 2007 Buick Open. And he's opened well on Thursday, racking up two birdies and five pars in his first seven holes.
He also hasn't lost much of his signature length off the tee. Despite losing a staff bag's worth of weight, he's still averaging 298 yards off the tee on Thursday at Copperhead. If he keeps this up, the production staff for his reality show will definitely be hanging around on the weekend with cameras in tow.
SOMEONE TELL WILLARD SCOTT (2:41 p.m.) -- Thursday was a day for important numbers at the Goosen household. Not only did Retief shoot a 67 that left him two strokes off the lead, his grandmother celebrated her 100th birthday back in South Africa.
"Unfortunately, I can't be there for the party this weekend, but it's nice to see she got to that age," Goosen said. A successful title defense at the Copperhead Course would be a pretty nice way for Goosen to honor his grandmother. He didn't make a bogey on Thursday and finished strong with a 16-footer for birdie at No. 16 after his drive strayed left of the cart path and a 5-wood to 5 feet for another at the 17th.
"You didn't really expect to play these last three holes 2 under," Goosen said. "They are playing pretty tough."
Good genes like his grandmother? "I hope so, yes,'" Goosen said. "Some days, the way you hit the golf ball, you're not really sure how long you're going to live, but, yeah, hopefully I can make it to the seniors."
Goosen, who birdied both par 5s on the front nine, said the wind presented quite a challenge in the first round. It's playing cross-wind on every hole, so judging shots is an iffy proposition.
"It's a hard course," said Goosen, who already has three top-six finishes in five starts this year. "You've got to play well. I won't say I'm playing very well, but to my eye it sets up very good and I tend to see the shots around here pretty good." -- Helen Ross
ROUND 1 LEADER ... GLAD I PLAYED THIS MORNING (2:20 p.m.) -- Garrett Willis is staying at home this week in Dade City, which is about 45 minutes -- "without traffic," he says -- away from Innisbrook. He's making the most of his sponsor's exemption, too, shooting a 65 to grab the early lead.
"I feel pretty good about being able to be at home and playing in front of family and friends," Willis said. "And more or less as soon as I leave here, I'm going to lay on my own couch. ... "It's a little bit of a long commute, but I was really prepared mentally coming into this week knowing that I had a week off to prepare and be able to rest."
The weather was unseasonably cold and wet last week, though, so Willis didn't get in too much extra practice. He played with some members at his home course, Lake Jovita last Wednesday, then came to Innisbrook on Sunday with John Huston and played 27 holes in about three-and-a-half hours.
"The course is playing very good," said Willis, who shot 30 on the back nine. "I was fortunate enough to get off early before the wind really started kicking up. I wouldn't want to be making the turn right now because the wind is very difficult out there. :That's one thing this golf course has is when the wind is blowing; it makes it very difficult out there. So I was happy to get done when I was." -- Helen Ross
Here is a look at Willis' card:
DIVIDED LOYALTY (2:17 p.m.) -- As noted earlier, Garrett Willis graduated from East Tennessee State in 1996 with a degree in Communications. But on Tuesday at the Transitions Championship, he was wearing a University of South Florida cap.
"I've been an USF Bulls fan,'" Willis said. "I like to go to the basketball games. I like to go to the football games. ... I don't have any hat contract, so I figured, might as well support the local team."
This isn't the first time Willis has supported a rival. When he scored his first PGA TOUR victory -- the 2001 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open -- Willis, who is from Knoxville, used a Tennessee carry bag.
"I kind of support just wherever I live, being from Knoxville, but my coach is just happy when I play well I guess," Willis said, smiling. -- Helen Ross
SECOND WEEK OF WETTERICH'S COMEBACK (2 p.m.) -- Golf is a physical game. Just ask Brett Wetterich. He played on the 2006 Ryder Cup squad -- the only man ever to make the team less than a year after graduating q-school -- only to see his career derailed by a litany of injuries: Shoulder, wrist, knee. In that order.
In all, he's been out nearly two years. He made it back two weeks ago at The Honda Classic, where he shot 73-77 and missed the cut. He made just two birdies, showcasing a rusty putter that burned through 65 putts in two days.
Wetterich knows it'll come back. He still hits the ball with a same fervor -- he averaged 290 yards off the tee at PGA National two ago on a flat Floridian course.
Wetterich is playing on Thursday with fellow long bombers Andres Romero and Troy Matteson.
AFTERNOON WAVE TEES OFF (1:45 p.m.) -- Some big names have some late tee times on Thursday. Padraig Harrington is playing with Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink (follow their group with Shot Tracker). Perry birdied the par-4 first hole after sticking his approach to eight feet.
Ryo Ishikawa (Track him here) is playing with Greg Chalmers and Joe Ogilvie off the first tee as well.
ROUGH OPENER FOR SERGIO (1:27 p.m.) -- Sergio Garcia has always had the game to win in Florida: He's a great iron player who is used to hitting out of the rough. But his iron game let him down in the opener at the Transitions Championship.
Garcia hit just half of his greens and didn't get up and down enough to salvage a good score. He was left with a 73, which included five bogeys.
Garcia made it to the semifinals in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, but other than that, his PGA TOUR year has been a wash; he's failed to finish in the top 25 in a stroke play event.
FOWLER ON FIRE (1 p.m.) -- The Copperhead Course has some heavy rough, but the course is friendly to the bomb-and-gouge crowd. Case in point: Rickie Fowler, who is getting his first look at the tree-lined course.
The rookie is 3 under after 12 holes despite hitting only three of his first nine fairways. He has muscled every one of those appoaches from the rough onto the green, and he rolled in birdie putts of 11, five and 21 feet on the way to a 33 on the front side.
LESS VENOM FROM THIS COPPERHEAD? WAIT AWHILE (12:42 p.m.) -- The Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort is perennially in the top 10 toughest courses on the PGA TOUR. It's part of the reason this event's field grows stronger year after year despite its date in the middle of the Florida swing, where players' schedules are tight.
The course averaged well over a stroke over par in 2009, when Retief Goosen's 8 under was good for the win. This course has several personalities, however -- Jim Furyk opened with a 65 in 2009. He ended up barely making the cut when he shot 78 in the second round.
This is a course that grows exponentially harder with each passing day. The rough is worse on the weekend, and more importantly, the greens take on a cement-like feel by the time Sunday rolls around. On Sunday at 3 p.m., Copperhead turns into a bona-fide U.S. Open-style test, and that is why anything under par is spectacular.
In the middle of Round 1, the field is averaging a benign 71.644, but it will get a lot worse in the afternoon when the greens dry up and the wind refuses to let up.
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SPECTACULAR OPENER FOR WILLIS (12:24 p.m.) -- Nationwide Tour graduate Garrett Willis is already in the clubhouse with a bogey-free 65 despite a windy morning at the Copperhead Course.
Willis' driver misfired a lot -- he hit just half of his fairways -- but he holed putts from everywhere on the green and made a difficult up-and-down on No. 18 to finish his round.
The 65 matches Willis' low round on TOUR this year (65, Bob Hope Classic, first round). If Willis goes into the press tent for a post-round interview, it will be the easiest part of his day -- he graduated from East Tennessee State in 1996 with a degree in Communications.
• To replay Willis' round with Shot Tracker, click here.
O'HAIR FINALLY HEALTHY (12:06 p.m.) -- Excellent update on Sean O'Hair from Melanie Hauser, who caught up with the 2008 Transitions Championship winner in the TOUR insider this week.
Basically, O'Hair has been battling with a nagging forearm injury that has limited his practice time. O'Hair lives year-round in the Philadelphia area, but he gets around the climate issues with a state-of-the-art practice indoor range on his property. At times, he couldn't even do that, and even when he was able to play, a rusty short game frustrated him.
He finally feels better. He told Hauser: "I definitely saw a huge improvement the last two days at Doral. And I'm quite excited about this week. I feel very comfortable on the golf course, and obviously I won here a year ago, and I kind of like how the game is falling into place. It's a good time to have the game come back.''
O'Hair is even par through 12 holes on Thursday, with just one bogey on his card. This is a busy stretch for O'Hair, who easily qualified for the World Golf Championships-CA Championship (he finished tied for 18th) and is expected to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, where he finished solo second last year.
SPECIAL TOURNAMENT FOR BYRD (11:45 a.m.) -- Because he's one of the TOUR's premier ball-strikers, Jonathan Byrd has always been tough at Copperhead -- he finished tied for eighth in 2007 and tied for 12th in 2009.
Byrd is already among the leaders on Thursday, parlaying an early tee time into a run of birdies that has him just one shot back at 3 under.
Last year in Tampa was particularly memorable for Byrd, who had his father, James Byrd Jr., watching his every shot in the final round
. At the time, the elder Byrd was in the final stages of brain cancer. Byrd, 65, passed away on July 7.
"I didn't think about it a whole lot today," Byrd said. "This was the last tournament my dad was able to come to, and we kind of felt that that was going to happen. Maybe that will come back this weekend. That's always a I welcome that.
"It's a good thing to have good memories of my dad. But yeah, I enjoy playing this golf course when I'm thinking about that, or I'm not; it's just a fun place to play."
Byrd's last top 10 on TOUR was his near-victory at last May's Memorial Tournament, where he tied for third. Byrd didn't play in another event three weeks after his father's death.
GOOSEN WORKS OUT THE KINKS (11:24 a.m.) -- Retief Goosen has always been one of the favorites at TPC Blue Monster, so his tie for 56th last week at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship was one of the surprises of the week.
Goosen struggled with his iron game in South Florida and headed right to the practice tee at Lake Nona, where he worked with swing coach Gregor Jamieson the early part of this week.
"Last week I struggled at Doral to find my game, and I drove it very bad," Goosen said. "When you drive it bad, you're struggling out of the rough."
Through 11 holes on Thursday, Goosen is still 2 under and bogey-free. He made only five bogeys on the Copperhead Course on his way to victory in 2009.
FAXON OUT OF THE BOOTH, BACK ON COURSE (11:08 a.m.) -- Brad Faxon has two day jobs these days. Last week, he was working for NBC at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship but he's at the Transitions Championship as a player.
Maybe he was inspired by Ernie Els' victory at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. Faxon teed off at 8:48 a.m. and has played his first seven holes in 2 under -- making three birdies and a bogey. That's an extremely positive start for the 48-year-old Rhode Islander. He has played in six events so far this year and only made one cut. He's played 17 rounds and just two have have been in the 60s -- and his last was an 80 at The Honda Classic. -- Helen Ross
HOT START FOR THE DEFENDING CHAMP (10:50 a.m.) -- Retief Goosen has already racked up three top-10s in 2010, and the 41-year-old is already climbing the leaderboard on Thursday at the Copperhead Course.
Goosen went out in 2 under, putting him just two shots off the lead, after hitting seven of the first nine greens. Goosen's birdies came on each of the course's two par-5s on the front side, which is no surprise: Goosen is second on TOUR in Par 5 birdie or better leaders:
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SINGH WITHDRAWS (10:35 a.m.): Prior to starting his first round, Vijay Singh withdrew Thursday morning due to a back injury -- and his loss is Jeff Maggert's gain. The Texan slipped seamlessly into that 8:27 a.m. pairing with defending champion Retief Goosen and Lucas Glover, and Maggert now is tied for the lead.
The three-time PGA TOUR champion, who tied for 12th last week in Puerto Rico, is 3 under through eight holes and tied at the top of the leaderboard with Jonathan Byrd and Brandt Snedeker. The other two members of Maggert's group are playing well, too, and are one stroke off the pace.
Graham Delaet is now the first alternate. -- Helen Ross
WEATHER UPDATE (10:30 a.m.): Temperatures at Innisbrook this week have been unseasonably cool and crisp. Thursday is no exception, with a high of 68 expected and partly cloudy skies overhead. A northwest wind of between 10-20 mph could bring jackets and sweaters into play, though.
The high on Friday could reach 70 while Saturday and Sunday should be in the mid-70s. Winds will moderate in the 5-10 mph range for the rest of the week, too. There is a very slight chance of showers today and again late Sunday afternoon but nothing that should cause any disruption. -- Helen Ross
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