Jason Day and Zach Johnson lead in Boston as Hurricane Earl stops game for 80 minutes
The TPC in Boston, Massachusetts was serene and calm before Hurricane Earl came to visit the area. Although golfers in the morning group completed the first round of the Deutsche Bank Championship with ease, the rest of the golfers had to fight it our against stiff winds and poor grass conditions.
At the end of the day, Jason Day and Zach Johnson were on top of the leaders’ board with a score of 63. Even though Johnson and Day were eager to finish their rounds, nature had other plans. Rain followed by lighting caused play to stop for 80 minutes. Seven golfers played in the morning half and all the players shot seven-under-par 64.
When the horn was blown which signaled the end of the first round, Jason Day in an interview yelled ‘Hallelujah.’ The weather did not hamper his performance on the day since he had already done the best he could with a perfect eight-birdie. As other players fretted about the field and tried to beat hurricane Earl, Day had done his bit for the day.
The players who took advantage of the good weather with a score of 64 included Ryan Palmer, Brian Davis, D.J Trahan, Charley Hoffman, Ryan Moore, Rory McIlroy and Hunter Mahan.
The sky kept getting darker with stiff rainfall as Geoff Ogilvy birdied at the 18th. Steve Stricker closely followed him as the defending champion shot 65 along with Fredrik Jacobson and Matt Jones. Luke Donald also shot 65 as he bounced back from an opening bogey, accompanied with seven birdies in the next 11 holes and ending with a bogey at the fifteenth and a birdie at the 16th hole.
“Obviously, this morning was probably a little bit more ideal, no wind, sunny and drier,” Donald said, “but it certainly wasn’t playing too difficult out there this afternoon.”
For some golfers, the last part of Donald’s statement didn’t turn out to be true. The famous carnivore of golf is one good example. That’s right, Tiger Woods who finished on the 65th position at the previous event of the FedEx up, scored a 72 at the end of the first day. The world’s number one golfer was amongst the thirteen golfers who did not achieve to shoot par or better. As rain poured down, Woods struggled from the outset because of the four bogeys in his first six holes. He saved his score by assembling three birdies before his turn was over. According to Woods, he just didn’t have it today and he wasn’t doing what he was supposed to be doing.
Woods will surely need to show his best this week if he wants to make it to the next round of the FedEx Cup. Looking at his condition, coming in the top 70 golfers might not be as easy as Tiger Woods thinks it is.
Along with progressing towards their win in the FedEx cup, all the players of the Deutsche Bank Championship are hoping to be picked for the Ryder Cup. Those who haven’t really qualified automatically and are hopeful about the captain’s picks really need to show Captain Corey Pavin as to what they can do during this event. Woods being picked for Ryder is a high possibility. However, a poor performance could cost him his world number one ranking which has been attached with Woods for more than five years now.
It is obvious that everyone wants to become the number one player, but right now, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker appear to be in contention for the title along with Woods. Even though Phil currently stands at the number two rank, Stricker could easily ride past Woods and take the number one spot as well. If the defending champion manages to save his title, he can take Tiger’s spot as the number one golfer with Woods finishing outside the top nine and Mickelson finishing outside the top three.
With the competition getting even more interesting, it is a good thing that Earl won’t stay in Boston for long. According to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, the storm is anticipated to pass within 50 miles to 100 miles of Cape Cod and will then enter Canada. If the field is in good conditions and no trees have fallen, the championship will continue as scheduled at 7 a.m. local time on Saturday.
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