Jeff Overton defies the odds to grab first round lead at HP Byron Nelson Championship
Jeff Overton moved past his competitors in the first round of HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort at Dallas Fort worth Texas and is now leading the tournament with one shot. Overton broke the taboo on the second hole when he sank the
10-footer on 220 yards par-three, and went ahead to card five more birdies to close the round with a six-under, 64. He was one shot clear of the Ryan Palmer who settled for the second position with five-under.
"That broke a lot and I thought I missed it, and it actually went in," Overton said. "And next thing, I was able to hit a lot of great shots and strike out early. I never had a chance of making bogey from there."
Overton has not won a title on the tour in four years and has made all the cuts except one for the current season, though this season has been more of a disappointment for the player. In his 12 ventures, his best finish was not better than 20th.
"I hope this is the beginning of a good streak for me," Overton said. "I've been hitting it really well the last three or four weeks, just have not made my putts all year."
The course at Four Seasons Resort was thrashed by a ferocious hail storm on Tuesday, while some referred the size as half of a golf ball. The greens were meandered and rolled again and again by the staff both during the pro am and later during the practice
sessions. To ensure level playing field, the players were allowed by the organizers to treat any depressions as the ball marks and to handle them accordingly.
Sergio Garcia, even with a battered finger, came out to be a formidable foe for the contenders on the sunny Texas morning. The 31-year-old Spaniard, who had been lamenting about his injury and a possible pull out, opened his round with an eagle, leaving
the field and the crowd stunned and bamboozled. He finished in a group of nine tied for the third spot with his four-under, 66.
"It's funny how golf is sometimes. Yeah, rarely practice at all and then we get there," said Garcia. "I hit it and I saw guys on the green saying `In' and I thought, `Perfect!' I couldn't have started in a better way."
Garcia pulled in a splendid wedge for 116 yards to sink his first hole, the 10th. He is currently ranked at 73rd in the world rankings and will need a strong finish in coming weeks to break into Top 50 in order to qualify for the US
Open next month. Garcia pulled out from the qualifiers in wake of deteriorating finger injury. He is tied with Jeff Quinney, Scott Piercy, Will Strickler, Chris Riley, Josh Teater, Joe Ogilvie and Dustin Johnson for the third spot.
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