St. Jude Classic - first round latest
Very early days at TPC Southwind in Memphis, but so far Lee Westwood seems to be living up to his "best player never to have won a major" tag. The Englishman stands atop the leaderboard at the first round of the St. Jude Classic, having played the last nine holes (Westwood started today's play on the 10th).
The world No. 3 got off to a flier, carding four birdies and an eagle over the space of seven holes to lead by a stroke at the mid-point of the opener, six-under-par 29 after nine holes. Westwood is trailed by DJ Trahan, in second place on five-under, while Chris Riley and Gary Woodland are both tied for third place on four-under.
Westwood was only belatedly invited to take part in the competition, the 37-year-old's initial omission supposedly a result of the fact that one of his sponsors is in direct competition with a former backer of this event. Westwood himself cannily referred to the lack of an invite in a press conference, and hey presto - soon afterwards, a place at the Classic miraculously became available.
While there's plenty of time for Westwood to lose ground, so far he looks in formidable shape; perhaps next week's US Open can prove his first major win. For now though, Westy is focused on Memphis. Rory McIlroy is yet to tee off. We'll bring you more details once the first round has been wrapped up.
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