First round of the Players Championship concludes with Ian Poulter and Martin laird at the top: Wrap-up Last-part
Continued from: First round of The Players Championship concludes with Ian Poulter and Martin laird at the top: Wrap-up Part-4
He said, "This is probably my favourite tournament, just love this golf course. Today, I just really managed my game really well, kept the ball out of the rough and had some great opportunities on the par 5s and was able to have a couple eagle putts”.
Another group of 11 players finished for a joint sixth including Michael Thompson, Harrison Fazar, Matt Kuchar, Kevin Stadler, Jhonattan Vegas, Jonathan Byrd, Adam Scott, Bill Haas, Ben Curtis, Brian Davis, and Korean Sang-Moon Bae.
Top-ranked players including Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Fredrik Jacobson and Stewart Cink finished for joint 37th, with their respective scores of one-under, 71 on the first day of the event.
Mickelson carded four birdies and dropped three shots in the 18-hole stretch, settling for a disappointing place on the leaderboard.
Interestingly, however, Mickelson was adamant that he played really well and he has a strong chance heading in the final showdown over the weekend.
He said, “I played really well today. So it was one of those days where I probably didn't get the score out of it that I should have, but I played really well”.
Westwood, who also finished for a low of 71, will require special efforts in the rounds ahead to shrug off the rust from over him.
Contrary to what the Englishman said the previous day, he believes that the conditions are pretty tricky and the course did not play up to his expectations.
He said, “It was a bit tricky out there. The wind felt like it was switching a little bit. It was tough to club”.
The European and American rivalry is likely to heat up over the weekend as both camps will be hoping to bag the title, often touted as the fifth major of the sport.
Young guns Keegan Bradley and Rickie Fowler finished for a disappointing joint 55th and will have to work their way up against a sturdy field at the star-studded event.
Fowler s coming out of excellent form and is still swallowing his long-awaited win last week on PGA.
Former World number one Tiger Woods fell for a low of joint 100th to fall out of contention in the opening round.
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