Thursday
Sep092010
Kuchar's 64 leads while Moore ties one on
Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 5:23PM
Writing from Lemont, Illinois
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The leader at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club after one round? Matt Kuchar, a fine fellow who couldn’t speak to his 7-under-par 64 – because he had a sore throat.
The man chasing him in the 107th Western Open? Ryan Moore, the iconoclast from the Pacific Northwest who, dressed in a sweater and tie – a look in vogue on the links decades before BMW carjacked the tournament name – birdied seven of Dubsdread’s last eight holes for a back-nine record 29 to total 6-under 65.
The rest of the field? They’ll play catch-up, or try to, beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, when the second round commences.
That portion of the championship may be contested under equally docile conditions. With virtually no wind all day and only a few pernicious pin placements, fully 26 of the 70-player field broke Dubsdread’s par of 71. The real surprise was that, aside from Ian Poulter’s 5-under 66 and the 67s posted by Charlie Wi and Retief Goosen, nobody else broke 68, which might have been the real par for the day.
The reason? Bumpy, slow greens, pockmarked with ball marks that haven’t completely healed over a long, hot, wet summer. Apparently, no amount of tender loving care by course superintendent Ken Lapp, who has a Sub-Air green conditioning system at his command, could counteract the inability of time to heal many a small wound.
As a result, the greens had to be slowed down, more than a few putts that players thought were on line eventually were off line, and birdies failed to appear.
This is not to say that the condition of Dubsdread’s greens duplicated the waffle boards that played the part of many of Medinah No. 3’s greens during the 1999 PGA Championship, or the even more baffling surfaces filled with spike marks that made putting during the 1995 PGA at Riviera a lottery. In fact, many of the greens were next to perfect, at least before the traffic of the day. But others were less than perfect putting surfaces, which the picky pros prefer.
Consider the words of Phil Mickelson, whose 1-over 72 leaves him in an 11-way deadlock for 34th. He skipped Wednesday’s pro-am – with the permission of the Western Golf Association and the Tour – and played at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook.
“That’s in great shape,” Mickelson cooed. “The greens there were just pristine, and I had a nice relaxing day and was able to get my game sharp.”
And Dubsdread?
“It’s interesting,” Mickelson said.
That’s Tour talk for “I wouldn’t be here unless we were playing for $7.5 million.”
Mickelson’s never finished better than 26th on Dubsdread, so perhaps his comments should be taken with a snifter of salt. But Tiger Woods was of the same mind, saying after Wednesday’s pro-am round, “the greens are a bit spotty out there.”
He took 29 putts on Thursday, and those that was too many en route to a sloppy 2-over 73. He’s wallowing in 45th, along with a cast of characters including Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy and Y.E. Yang.
“I had a hard time getting the speed,” Woods said. “I had a hard time hitting the putts hard enough, I really did. I putt a lot on memory, obviously, and it’s hard to make myself hit the putts this hard when I know how they used to putt.”
Kuchar and Moore had no truck with the conditions of the greens. Then again, Moore was in the day’s first group and Kuchar was on the sixth pair off the 10th tee in the morning. They had the best of the conditions, and will play Friday afternoon, as the field is flipped for the second day.
“I was driving it well; I was actually doing everything well,” Kuchar said, barely. “It felt very good.”
Then he left to tend to his sore throat, which brought on laryngitis. His game was fine, and included an eagle 3 at the par-5 15th, which helped him to 5-under 31 on the back nine, and six birdies. It was the best he’s played at Cog Hill since winning the U.S. Amateur on the pre-Rees Jones version of the course at about this time a baker’s dozen years ago.
Moore’s sartorial style failed to overshadow his considerable game, but for the first 10 holes, more than a few in the gallery of about 18,000 were probably saying, “Who’s that guy wearing the tie?”
The answer came beginning on the par-5 11th, when he followed a poor drive, so-so second and an unsatisfying approach by holing out for birdie.
“I just got a little positive momentum going from there,” said Moore, who burst upon the scene in 2004 by winning every amateur title in sight, including the Western Amateur, U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship.
A little? How about a career back nine? Moore birdied the 12th, then commenced a string of birdies on the 14th that was halted only when he ran out of holes. It may continue on Friday afternoon. The collection of perfection brought Moore in with a 65, with the back-nine 29 a Western Open and Dubsdread record.
What, exactly, was going on?
“I had no idea,” Moore said. “I wasn’t paying attention at all, to be honest. I played with Marc Leishman today, a great guy. We were just having fun, chatting it up walking down the fairways.”
Chatty Moore’s bombed drive on the 15th, a 321-yarder, left him a 203-yard 5-iron. That put him on the edge of the green and two putts from 24 feet for an easy birdie. He rammed a 157-yard 8-iron to 6 feet on the 16th, a 145-yard 9-iron to 9 feet on the 17th, and a 182-yard 7 iron to 11 feet at the last. Birdie, birdie, birdie.
“They weren’t gimme putts, but they were just very straightforward,” Moore said. “Some days you get putts that are easy to read from 10 feet, and some days you get 5-footers that have three breaks in them somehow.
“It’s weird.”
As was, by modern standards, his outfit. Sweater and tie? Not even Payne Stewart went that far, but Moore does on occasion, and Thursday, with a high of 67 degrees, was such an occasion.
“I bought it a couple days ago,” he said of the red-on-red tie. “I liked it to start the day. I was just walking around a store and thought, you know, I might wear some ties this week. It just sounded good.
“Everybody in the crowd absolutely loves it. Everywhere I go, anywhere I’ve worn it, they love it. It’s funny, (but) that was certainly not the purpose at all. I love this look. I love that golf kind of used to have that look, and I like to wear it when I can, when weather permits.”
Whatever works. When a 66 is next to your name, a loincloth would work.
– Tim Cronin
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The leader at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club after one round? Matt Kuchar, a fine fellow who couldn’t speak to his 7-under-par 64 – because he had a sore throat.
The man chasing him in the 107th Western Open? Ryan Moore, the iconoclast from the Pacific Northwest who, dressed in a sweater and tie – a look in vogue on the links decades before BMW carjacked the tournament name – birdied seven of Dubsdread’s last eight holes for a back-nine record 29 to total 6-under 65.
The rest of the field? They’ll play catch-up, or try to, beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, when the second round commences.
That portion of the championship may be contested under equally docile conditions. With virtually no wind all day and only a few pernicious pin placements, fully 26 of the 70-player field broke Dubsdread’s par of 71. The real surprise was that, aside from Ian Poulter’s 5-under 66 and the 67s posted by Charlie Wi and Retief Goosen, nobody else broke 68, which might have been the real par for the day.
The reason? Bumpy, slow greens, pockmarked with ball marks that haven’t completely healed over a long, hot, wet summer. Apparently, no amount of tender loving care by course superintendent Ken Lapp, who has a Sub-Air green conditioning system at his command, could counteract the inability of time to heal many a small wound.
As a result, the greens had to be slowed down, more than a few putts that players thought were on line eventually were off line, and birdies failed to appear.
This is not to say that the condition of Dubsdread’s greens duplicated the waffle boards that played the part of many of Medinah No. 3’s greens during the 1999 PGA Championship, or the even more baffling surfaces filled with spike marks that made putting during the 1995 PGA at Riviera a lottery. In fact, many of the greens were next to perfect, at least before the traffic of the day. But others were less than perfect putting surfaces, which the picky pros prefer.
Consider the words of Phil Mickelson, whose 1-over 72 leaves him in an 11-way deadlock for 34th. He skipped Wednesday’s pro-am – with the permission of the Western Golf Association and the Tour – and played at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook.
“That’s in great shape,” Mickelson cooed. “The greens there were just pristine, and I had a nice relaxing day and was able to get my game sharp.”
And Dubsdread?
“It’s interesting,” Mickelson said.
That’s Tour talk for “I wouldn’t be here unless we were playing for $7.5 million.”
Mickelson’s never finished better than 26th on Dubsdread, so perhaps his comments should be taken with a snifter of salt. But Tiger Woods was of the same mind, saying after Wednesday’s pro-am round, “the greens are a bit spotty out there.”
He took 29 putts on Thursday, and those that was too many en route to a sloppy 2-over 73. He’s wallowing in 45th, along with a cast of characters including Jim Furyk, Geoff Ogilvy and Y.E. Yang.
“I had a hard time getting the speed,” Woods said. “I had a hard time hitting the putts hard enough, I really did. I putt a lot on memory, obviously, and it’s hard to make myself hit the putts this hard when I know how they used to putt.”
Kuchar and Moore had no truck with the conditions of the greens. Then again, Moore was in the day’s first group and Kuchar was on the sixth pair off the 10th tee in the morning. They had the best of the conditions, and will play Friday afternoon, as the field is flipped for the second day.
“I was driving it well; I was actually doing everything well,” Kuchar said, barely. “It felt very good.”
Then he left to tend to his sore throat, which brought on laryngitis. His game was fine, and included an eagle 3 at the par-5 15th, which helped him to 5-under 31 on the back nine, and six birdies. It was the best he’s played at Cog Hill since winning the U.S. Amateur on the pre-Rees Jones version of the course at about this time a baker’s dozen years ago.
Moore’s sartorial style failed to overshadow his considerable game, but for the first 10 holes, more than a few in the gallery of about 18,000 were probably saying, “Who’s that guy wearing the tie?”
The answer came beginning on the par-5 11th, when he followed a poor drive, so-so second and an unsatisfying approach by holing out for birdie.
“I just got a little positive momentum going from there,” said Moore, who burst upon the scene in 2004 by winning every amateur title in sight, including the Western Amateur, U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship.
A little? How about a career back nine? Moore birdied the 12th, then commenced a string of birdies on the 14th that was halted only when he ran out of holes. It may continue on Friday afternoon. The collection of perfection brought Moore in with a 65, with the back-nine 29 a Western Open and Dubsdread record.
What, exactly, was going on?
“I had no idea,” Moore said. “I wasn’t paying attention at all, to be honest. I played with Marc Leishman today, a great guy. We were just having fun, chatting it up walking down the fairways.”
Chatty Moore’s bombed drive on the 15th, a 321-yarder, left him a 203-yard 5-iron. That put him on the edge of the green and two putts from 24 feet for an easy birdie. He rammed a 157-yard 8-iron to 6 feet on the 16th, a 145-yard 9-iron to 9 feet on the 17th, and a 182-yard 7 iron to 11 feet at the last. Birdie, birdie, birdie.
“They weren’t gimme putts, but they were just very straightforward,” Moore said. “Some days you get putts that are easy to read from 10 feet, and some days you get 5-footers that have three breaks in them somehow.
“It’s weird.”
As was, by modern standards, his outfit. Sweater and tie? Not even Payne Stewart went that far, but Moore does on occasion, and Thursday, with a high of 67 degrees, was such an occasion.
“I bought it a couple days ago,” he said of the red-on-red tie. “I liked it to start the day. I was just walking around a store and thought, you know, I might wear some ties this week. It just sounded good.
“Everybody in the crowd absolutely loves it. Everywhere I go, anywhere I’ve worn it, they love it. It’s funny, (but) that was certainly not the purpose at all. I love this look. I love that golf kind of used to have that look, and I like to wear it when I can, when weather permits.”
Whatever works. When a 66 is next to your name, a loincloth would work.
– Tim Cronin
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