“My feels are a little off and that’s something I’m going to have to get used to”.
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Ryan Palmer is the leader at 11-under 133 after posting a 67 on the North Course.
And the former world No 1 enjoyed his own happy ending, as a crucial birdie at the final hole ensured he would make the cut in his eagerly-awaited comeback event, the Farmers Insurance Open.
“Just unfortunate it happened, but I made a good putt, had a couple really good putts down the stretch and had a good finish”, Rahm said. In his mode of tempered expectations, the star returned to PGA Tour golf after a one-year absence with an even-par 72 built from 12 pars, three birdies and three bogeys. He carded two bogeys over the next three holes, however, which helped create a massive logjam at the top with 18 holes to play.
But during the second half of his round on the front nine, Woods battled back up the leaderboard, with birdies on the first, fifth, seventh, before dropping a shot on the eighth. Entire golf world breathing a sigh of relief. “I fought hard. I was trying to post a number, which I was able to do”. “I felt like if I could get something manageable around the greens I could come up with a birdie, but I was in a tough spot when the ball landed in the bunker”.
The 14-time major victor will play his first weekend rounds at a US Tour event since the 2015 Wyndham Championship. He kept his patience, chipped in for eagle at the turn, and then finished with a handsome approach to 12 feet on the par-5 eighth and a 20-foot birdie putt on the ninth.
Woods made four birdies, one bogey and one double bogey during his round on the North Course, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean just north of San Diego.
There’s a reason Woods has gone so long August 2015 at the Wyndham Championship without making a cut.
And then there’s Phil Mickelson, playing a home game of sorts on a golf course he played on as a youth, right in the mix at 6-under thanks in part to an eagle on No. 13 and a closing birdie on 18. The longest of his birdie putt was from just inside 2 feet on No. 10 that got him back to even par for the round.
“I’ve dreamt of winning on the U.S. Tour”, he said. Jason Day took his 73 from the first day and had a 64.
Finau shot a 2-under-70 on the South Course after beginning the tournament with a 7-under 65 on the North Course Thursday.
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The tournament’s elevated viewing deck, the Grey Goose 19th Hole and Flight Deck, has been expanded and includes a court for petanque, French lawn bowling. He hit just 21.4 percent of the fairways Saturday, including some mindbogglingly wayward drives over his first nine holes, and that led to him finding only 50 percent of the greens in regulation.
