John Merrick shares the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic
John Merrick carded a four-under par 66 in the opening round of the PGA Tour’s FedEx St. Jude Classic, to tie for the first position on Thursday, June 7, 2012.
Jeff Maggert also posted the same score on the leaderboard at the TPC Southwind in Memphis.
Merrick got off to a quick start and carded three birdies on the first four holes that he played. However, a bogey on the par-four seventh hole put him back to two-under for the round.
“It was a nice day. Off to a good start,” he said. “Birdied the first hole, and I birdied the third and fourth hole. So it was nice to get off to a decent start”.
The back nine of the course also witnessed the same score, as he recorded three birdies and a bogey to finish the round.
He was unlucky to suffer a bogey on the 18th hole, as he was in the solo lead through 17 holes and the bogey pulled him back to four-under.
However, he was not too disappointed with his final score. He stated that he cannot expect each hole to turn into a birdie. Bogeys are a part of the game that can come at any time.
“Had a loose shot there on 18, but, you know, you're going -- can't hit every shot perfect out there. So I was really happy with today,” he said.
According to him, he played well off the tee and the driving was perfect throughout the round.
“My ball striking was very solid,” he said. “I hit a couple loose drives, I think on 7 and then on 18. Other than that I, kind of kept it in play, kept it in the fairways. That's kind of the only way you're going to score out here with the greens being so
firm and how windy it is”.
Golf commentators believe that it was a good round played by Merrick, especially when the course conditions were not very favourable and supportive to the players.
Moreover, he posted a score of four-under when only 27 players succeeded to break the par mark on the opening day. It is now expected that the tournament will witness some high scores this year.
Tags: