Travelers Championship: Webb Simpson delighted with a four-under 66
On Thursday morning, before the tee off, there was cheer all around, as the troika of Webb Simpson, Bubba Watson and Keegan Bradley were to start off at the Travelers Championship.
Webb Simpson was introduced as the US Open Champion and there was a huge applause for him.
After round one ended, he said, “I never really dreamed that I would hear that, but when I heard it, I kind of smiled inside”.
The newly crowned US Open champion has all reason to smile at the end of the day one, as he shot 4-under par 66 to finish the day at T5.
The world number 5 is just two shots adrift to the leader David Mathis, who scored a hole in one at the 11th hole. If he had not aced the eleventh, then probably Simpson would have been leading.
Going in to the tournament, analysts had high hopes from the world number 8, as he was in good form. Moreover, there is no doubt that did he not perform well.
Surely, his fans would be happy as well after his first round performance. Simpson teed off from the front nine, and started on a strong note.
He birdied the first, sixth, twelfth, thirteenth and fifteen hole to go 5-under par. However, in the last three holes, he, for some reason, lost focus.
He registered a bogey on the sixteen before steadying the ship and scoring pars on the last two holes.
Last year, at this time around, Simpson also scored a 4-under par after the first round but that included seven birdies and three bogeys.
This year his performance in the first round has been steadier, although he could only manage five birdies as compared to the seven last year, but there was only one bogey to his account.
Judging by Webb Simpson’s first round performance, it seems that he has gotten over the thrill of the US Open victory and his focus is shifted back to playing golf again.
Obviously, when one wins a major tournament, such as US Open, it takes time for a player to get over that victory. However, being a professional golfer, the focus should only be playing golf.
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