Luke Donald clinches joint lead in the first round of Children's Miracle Network Classic
World number one Luke Donald has decided to go all-out against the field at this week’s Children's Miracle Network Classic posting an opening round score of six-under, 66 to finish tied for the lead. Opening up his first round at the scenic Disney's Magnolia
& Palm Courses · Lake Buena Vista, Fla, Donald ended up in a log jam at the top with no fewer than seven players finishing at the top of the leaderboard. Donald is hoping to post at least runners up finish this week to regain the summit of the Money List he
lost to Webb Simpson a fortnight ago.
"Would have loved to have made a couple more at the end," Donald said of his six birdies. "I didn't hit the ball great the last few holes. I think you want to capitalize on the slightly easier course, and six birdies and no bogeys was a great start. It wasn't
that easy out there."
Other players contending for the top slot included James Driscoll, Arjun Atal, Nathan Green, Gary Woodland, Scott Stallings and Derek Lamely all posting six-under, 66 on the opening day. Simpson finished for a modest four-under, 68, in his blemish-free round
of four birdies. He is leading the money list with $363,029 and must be thoroughly enjoying his contentious position where Donald is desperately trying to take over him for the spot.
"It's a good start," Simpson said. "That's all you can ask for on day one. Looking forward to trying to improve tomorrow, just keep trying to climb the leaderboard."
Donald, known as an expert of avoiding bogeys, carded six birdies, most of them coming on the back nine. He is currently at the top of the European Tour Money List and is hoping to pull in a double-dip, leading both the money lists by the end of the season.
Another group of seven players are tied for the second spot including Scott Gutschewski, Steven Bowditch, William McGirt, Kris Blanks, Paul Stankowski, Ben Martin and Bio Kim. The total purse of the event is around $4.7-million with a winner’s prize share
of $846,000, enough to help Donald resurface as the Money leader on the PGA Tour yet again.
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