Corey Pavin takes the game in the Administaff Small Business Classic
Critics were silenced when U.S. Ryder Cup striker, Corey Pavin, shot a 6-under-par 66 on Friday to take one-shot lead at the Champions Tour's Administaff Small Business Classic. The tournament carrying a purse of $1.7 million was taking place at the Woodlands
Country Club in Texas.
Pavin was out of competitive golf for 45-days as he was serving the Ryder Cup team as a captain. The 51-year-old returned two weeks ago from Celtic Manor, tied for 57th spot in the Senior Players Championships and then rested for a week.
However, on Friday the striker shed off the feathers of laziness and ripped the course with his irons. He chose the front nine as his teeing ground and picked a birdie on the first hole of par-5. The American rolled in a 4-foot birdie putt to grab the attention
of the field, which was presuming Pavin as no threat.
With a gap of three holes, he picked up two more birdies and wrapped up the first half of the round with a 33. On his way to the back nine, the 51-year-old drafted two consecutive birdies on the first two holes to amaze the crowd.
With his putters working well, Pavin once again rolled a 7-foot putt on the par-3, 14th, but the ball missed the pin and the player earned the first bogey of the round. To counter it off, he smashed a wedge on the next hole and recovered it with a birdie.
On his way to the club house, the striker once again lifted his wedge and rolled a beautiful putt at the closing hole to wrap up the round with a 66.
The leader was chased by Mark Wiebe, who was one stroke behind with a score of 67. The player teed off from the back nine and delivered a bogey free round of five birdies to take the second spot of the leader board. Initially Wiebe showed no signs of early
chase, but when he made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th it became evident that the player was eyeing the prize money of $255,000.
Two strokes behind was Russ Cochran, who had to struggle on the front nine to finish at par. The player missed two shots at the 8th and 9th, but recovered them with three birdies in the back nine. He was chased by ten players at 2-under,
Jay Don Blake, Jay Haas, Loren Roberts, Larry Nelson, David Frost, Tom Pernice, Jr. Allen Doyle, Eduardo Romero, Mike Goodes and Hal Sutton.
22 players managed to keep the score in the realms of under-par, while the rest of the field struggled on the greens of Woodlands Country Club. Kenny Perry was one such player. The veteran, who holds 14 victories on the PGA Tour in his belt made his Champions
Tour debut with a 6-over 78. The good part of his round was that he had only one double-bogey in 18 holes, unlike others.
Steve Lowery picked five bogeys to draft a round of 75. Like Perry, Lowery too was on his Champions Tour debut. As for the defending champion of the tournament, John Cook, he wrapped the play with an even par. The player teed off from the front nine and
smacked two early birdies in the opening holes. The initial impression turned positive for the champion, but by the middle of the round, he lost his momentum. On his way to the back nine, Cook helped two birdies, one double bogey and one bogey to level par
the first round of the Administaff Small Business Classic 2010.
The leader of the Schwab Cup, Bernhard Langer managed a 79, whereas, Fred Couples who is currently standing in the second spot of the rankings made a 71.
This is it for the first round of the Champions Tour's Administaff Small Business Classic, which was taking place at the Woodlands Country Club in Texas.
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