When Lee Westwood arrived at PGA National Thursday afternoon, he glanced at the scoreboard and upon seeing a 61 from Aussie Matt Jones, he wondered if Jones skipped a couple of holes on the beastly, unforgiving Champions course.
Jones’ 61 was very real and it was mind-boggling that someone could go out and birdie half the holes and shoot nine-under par on a course where the winning score is typically between nine and 12-under for 72 holes.
Jones was fortunate to get out early. The greens were receptive and the winds hadn’t come up to their afternoon confusing levels and all Jones did was play about as perfect a round as possible with birdies on half of the holes.
“I play golf for a living,” Jones said, matter-of-factly. “I mean, I should be able to shoot a good golf score occasionally. It doesn’t happen as much as I want. But yes, I’m very happy with it. I was very calm, I was very relaxed out there. I’m normally a bit more amped-up and hyped-up and I had a different goal this week, to be a little more calm than normally and walk slower. I was just managing the golf course and hitting good shots,” Jones added. “It was a very good day.”
An understatement at best from the man who has one Tour win, the 2014 Houston Open. He can go low. Matt has shot 64 twenty times on Tour but this effort was his career-best.
“Whatever Matt Jones is doing, I want to see it because 61 out there is incredible,” said Open Champion Shane Lowry, who shot 67 on Thursday to put himself in the hunt. “That’s just incredible. It’s just so hard, so tricky,” Lowry added. “There’s a lot of disaster holes.”
Anyone who has played the course can relate to how Lowry described the course. It’s a course that can devour a high-handicap player. Best advice for resort players? Bring a lot of golf balls.
Even the pros get humiliated at times, often in the stretch of holes, 15, 16 and 17 known as the “Bear Trap” as a nod to course re-designer Jack Nicklaus. On Thursday, Graeme McDonald, a former U.S. Open champion, played those three holes in six-over par, making quadruple-bogey at the par three 15th and a double-bogey at the par three 17th. Ouch!
Jones went so low that he was three shots better than the next low scores — a pair of 64s that belonged to Aaron Wise and Russell Henley.
The afternoon winds were steady at 10-12 miles per hour but it was the tricky gusts that had a lot of players scratching their heads when their shots came up short or finished off line.
One of the head-turners on day one was Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker. Stricks fashioned a sweet 66. He hit 14 greens and as he said: “I gave myself a lot of good looks (at birdie).”
It’s certainly not the most distinguished field but a true variety of names. Defending champion Sungjae Im inserted himself into the conversation with a 68 and maybe, just maybe Rickie Fowler, who lives nearby in a palatial estate, can stick around for the weekend. Rickie has struggled mightily as of late but managed to get around in even-par 70. Westwood, who quipped about the 61, managed an even par 70. “I think 70’s a pretty good start,” said Westwood, who has back-to-back second at the AP Invitational two weeks ago and last week at The Players.
Brooks Koepka is at home, also nearly, nursing his newest ailment — a bum right knee. But his younger brother Chase, who is about half his size, got enough television time on Thursday afternoon for Brooks to get excited. Chase put up a one-under par 69 with a chance to stay around for four days.
A front was pushing its way through Florida on Thursday and was expected to reach Palm Beach County Friday morning.
It was supposed to bring cooler weather and perhaps more wind.
Jones will be a late starter and the course typically plays much tougher in the afternoons. The Aussie has a tough number to follow-up on, and that’s been one of his issues. Jones can go low but he hasn’t been the best at keeping it together for four days.
He finished tied for 55th at The Players and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in his last two events.
Seventy-two holes presents a lot of danger, as Shane Lowry pointed out.
Long way to go, bogeys to be made, disasters to be avoided, Bear Traps to avoid.
Welcome to The Honda.
