Golf WNB Classic: Day 1, Pappas shares lead
Brenden Pappas and Ron Whittaker scored rounds of six-under par 66 to share their first-round lead Thursday at the WNB Classic in Midland, Texas. Both of them had amazing performance with eight birdies and two bogeys at the Midland Country Club. The leaders
of the day were one point ahead of seven others.
Seven of the players who finished the day with a 67 were Nate Smith, Andrew Svoboda, William McGirt, Major Manning, Gary Woodland, Alistair Presnell and Major Manning.
Pappas competed in his fourth Nationwide Tour of the year. He made his way to the top of the leader board by achieving five birdies on his first nine holes. Brenden followed second place from Alistair Presnell who also finished a bogey-free round an hour
before. Pappas scored in a couple of more birdies due to which he had gone two strokes. Unfortunately, he ended up with a bogey on the par-5 4th hole and par-3 8th hole.
PGA Tour Member Pappas said that he was taking lessons from David Frost five days ago. He mentioned that there were minute setup things. In the first nine holes, Pappas felt good but the old ‘bad’ habits started coming back to him on the back nine holes.
Brenden attained his 2010 PGA Tour card by coming at the twelfth position at Q-School last year. This South African Golfer has played in 19 PGA Tour events this year with his best finish T37 at the RBC Canadian Open.
Even though he is taking lessons from David Frost, he needs no assistance in putting. The 40 year old only required 24 shots in the game. The other leader of the game required the same number of putts as Pappas. Whittaker shot a 40 foot for birdie on the
3rd hole and also shot a 20-footer birdie on the next hole. In 2007, Whittaker almost won on the midland course tying with Tjaart Van Der Walt, Brad Adamonis and Vance Veazey at 10-under 278 at one point during the game. Unfortunately, he was eliminated
from the playoff when he didn’t make a six foot putt for par on the first extra hole. The playoff ceased seven holes later when Adamonis made a birdie over van der Walt.
Another player in the spotlight in the first round was Matt Davidson who got his best Nationwide Tour start in three weeks. Matt Davidson of West Windsor ended the day with a 4-under 68 yesterday. The 1999 Mercer County High School Golf Champion is ranked
no.64 on the Nationwide tour. Davidson tied with 10 other players for the 10th place. Unfortunately, Davidson had missed the cut in the last two tournaments of the Nationwide Tour.
Some players didn’t really have a smooth day on the first day. Blake Parks who finished 3 over par had a very bumpy day. As he went for his first shot on the tenth tee, the ball ended up dead left into the junk. After the tenth hole, he was 3 over par. Just
when one thinks things can’t get any worse, they do. On his eleventh hole, Parks got a double bogey making his score five over par.
“At that point I could either suck it up or just keep thinking about it,” Parks said. “I just pushed the first two holes out of my mind and started grinding.”
Blake got back into the game making 14 consecutive pars and then getting a bogey on his 17th hole of the day. Fortunately, Blake delivered a good shot that earned him a birdie in the 18th hole making a six-footer to end the first 18
holes at 3 over par.
Even though this end left him way behind the leaders, the Permian High School Graduate wasn’t worried about his performance. Optimistic Blake wanted to focus on the positives points of his game yesterday. Using this optimism and the experience, Blake will
be sure to be prepared for the next round.
With all the players now knowing where they stand, the game is yet to get even more competitive. Enthusiastic to win the playoff, the players are ready to tee off at 9 in the morning tomorrow.
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