Hunter Haas and Adam Scott share the first round lead at AT&T National on PGA Tour
If the Congressional Country Club played any easier for this year’s US Open, Aronimink, in the first round of AT&T National this week, made sure to draw some sweat out of the field. As the opening round came to a conclusion here on Thursday, June 30, there
was little doubt that the course is probably in its best shape ever, with only 28 players out of 120 breaking par.
Australian Adam Scott and American Hunter Mahan Haas settled for a joint lead with their scores of four-under, 66 each. Both players carded five birdies in their respective rounds and dropped just one shot to grab a one-shot lead over a group of four players,
who finished for a joint second with their scores of three-under, 67.
"It's a great golf course, obviously, but in great shape," Scott said. "But they've set the course up beautifully. The greens are perfect and they've got very generous fairways, but severe rough, which is a nice balance. There are good scores out there,
but you have to play well."
Scott missed the cut at the US Open this year with a single shot and is hailed as one of the finest players to have come out of Australia in recent times. He pulled in birdies on Par-four, 3rd and 4th from a jaw-dropping 20 feet and
25 feet respectively to gain an early lead in his opening nine. He sank another birdie at par-4, 18th from another 15 feet to share the lead with Haas.
Scott is working with Tiger Woods’ caddie Steve Williams and was reluctant to proceed with his AT&T bid after a disappointing run at the US Open. He changed his plans at the last moment.
Haas also met early success in his opening back nine when he pulled in four straight birdies on 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. The burly American was also surprised at high scores on the leaderboard and admitted that
he was expecting scores to be a lot lower.
"I said, 'Wow, I thought the scores would be a lot lower than that.' And that's just kind of where I put my mindset on the scoring and how to play this golf course," Haas said.
The tournament has a purse of $6.2-million with a winner’s share of $1,116,000 and precious 500 FedEx Cup points.
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