Bob Tway now leading first round of Greater Hickory Classic on Champions Tour
Bob Tway came one shot close to equaling the course record at the Rock Barn Golf and Spa at the Greater Hickory Classic at the Champions Tour when he pulled a stunning nine-under, 63. The first day of the $1.75 million tournament turned out to be one of
the record breaking events on Champions Tour when no less than 69 out of 81 field broke par while Mike Goodes fell one shot shy of matching the record for the lowest front nine scores with his 28. Tway, however, prevailed till the end of the day, with his
solid putting throughout the first round.
"I still have that desire to get better," said the 52-year-old. "I don't know if you ever think anybody is due in this darn game, I think the thing is I still really enjoy practicing. I enjoy playing. As long as I feel that passion for it I'll continue to
do it. As soon as I lose that I'm out of here."
Tway overtook the charging field with a whopping ten birdies, just dropping one shot at par-five, 14th. Some 23 players are contending for the top slot within four shots away from the lead. The hot weather and scorching heat has turned the greens
faster and the players switched over to direct shots to take the advantage of the sweltering weather.
"Right now the ball is going forever," Tway said. "You're hitting clubs off the tee that you wouldn't even have dreamed of last year."
54-year-old Goodes was one of the players who rattled the field with a spree of jaw-dropping eight birdies in his front nine, but could not keep up with the pace in his back nine.
Goodes acknowledged with a big grin. He is looking for his second victory on the Champions Tour after 2009. "The front nine was fun. I would have liked to have played it again for the back nine," he said.
Four players are tied for the second spot in the tightly contested first round at the Rock Barn Golf and Spa including Tommy Armour III, Joe Ozaki and Mark Wiebe and Goodes, trailing the leader by one shot. Another three players are tied for the sixth including
Mark Calcavecchia, Mark O'Meara and David Eger, just two shots behind Tway.
The weather is predicted to remain the same for the next two rounds of the tournament and Tway expects a score of 20 or better to eventually win the title. The PGA Championship winner of 1986 will have to use his first round advantage to tame the difficult
par-72, 7,046 yards Rock Barn course to grab the winner’s share of $262,500. The course is designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. with a rating of 74.7.
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