But as he was working his way through the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club with playing partner Rory McIlroy, a “fan” apparently threw a golf ball with an ear plug attached to it at two of the Top 5 golfers in the world.
Advertisement
The compressed timing of events is the reason he took three weeks off after the Masters.
“I don’t enjoy hitting balls, so actually it’s kind of fun”, Furyk said.
The Wells Fargo has been held here every year since 2003.
But the four-time major victor, who is the only member of the world’s top five yet to win in 2016, had to settle for an opening 73 on Thursday to lie eight shots off the clubhouse lead held by the Americans. Wrap that all up in a dire need to win and you’ve got an unimaginative, yet effective, pick. He was in sensational form at the beginning of the year but he’s gone off the boil a bit of late.
“We used to play at Firestone before the PGA, so we never really had a chance to go up and look at it”, he added.
Furyk, 45, has not played since September due to a left wrist injury that required surgery in February and he will have plenty of work to do if he is to secure a spot in his 10th consecutive Ryder Cup later this year.
Speaking ahead of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai last November, European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said he wanted to see the BMW PGA Championship offering more prize money than its current “unacceptable” 5million euros.
“A few of them I saw and obviously spoke to, but it’s hard when there’s a lot of people around them, you talk to one person, they think you talked to them, so it’s just hard”, Varner said. “That’s the tough part”, Scott said.
Michelle Wie had a 71. DeLaet has now made the cut in 10 of 13 events overall this season and has cracked the top-25 four times.
Fourth-ranked Stacy Lewis, the 2012 victor, had a late bogey in a 71.
The 37-year-old says his pitching game was on-song throughout the round, and finished off with a polished chip for birdie on the par-four 18th hole.
Reed was only a couple of makeable putts away from winning in Texas so his long game is clearly in good shape – he’s now 13 on tour in Shot Gained Tee to Green – and if he can convert those putts down the stretch – easier said than done needless to say – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him challenging come Sunday evening.
Japan’s Haru Nomura also shot 72. On Quail Hollow Club, Chappell has made the cut in four of his five appearances and has a couple of top-20 finishes.
Advertisement
Defending champion Kris Tamulis had a 76.
