Jason Dufner joins Ryan Palmer on top of the leaderboard at the Phoenix Open – Golf News
American professional golfer, Jason Dufner, carded two birdies on his final five holes of the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Scottsdale, Arizona, to level the score with his compatriot, Ryan Palmer,
on top of the leaderboard.
Dufner stopped his round on Thursday evening due to heavy frost on the course making the conditions difficult to play on.
He picked up the 15th and 16th holes for the birdie shots to finish at seven-under par 64 in the round.
Palmer was already at a similar score when he finished his round prior to when the event officials called off the day in the evening.
“Probably during my last three or four holes you could tell it (the darkness) was getting closer and closer so I was trying not to worry about it,” Palmer said afterwards.
“I knew I was going to be here in the morning for the second round, so I wasn't worried about if we had to come back and restart. So I just kept hitting shots and sticking to my game plan,” he continued.
“For the last putt it was a little dark I can say, but I'm glad to be done, and now I can get going in tomorrow's routine. Instead of getting ready for one hole, I can get ready for the whole day,” he added.
The play was again delayed on the second day due to lingering frost on the course, with 42 players waiting for the first round to resume.
However, when the round finished on Friday morning, Bo Van Pelt, Spencer Levin and Webb Simpson were in one-stroke deficit to both Palmer and Dufner to share the second position on the leaderboard.
Simpson is the top-ranked player in the field and among the favourites to win the tournament.
He was among the first group that finished the round on Thursday and a clubhouse leader until Palmer came and took his position later in the evening.
Phil Mickelson, who missed the cut in last week’s Farmers Insurance Open for the first time in the last 10 years, started his campaign in a better style when he finished three-under par 68 in the first round.
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