Danny Lee broke through with his first PGA Tour victory last month at Greenbrier and he’s been impressive since.
After a fourth place at the Quicken Loans National last week, Lee was the best of the best at Firestone Thursday with a five-under par 65 that left him with the first round lead at the WGC Bridgestone.
Jim Furyk came to the 18th tied with Lee and his approach from the middle of the fairway was nothing short of horrible as it flaired short, right and into the trees. From there he missed an eight-footer for par and settled for a 66.
Furyk was tied at four-under with Graeme McDowell, who has been a virtual ghost on the leader boards this season. McDowell has struggled mightily but found some answers out on the difficult Firestone layout. Greens were firm and fast and the rough long enough to make errant tee shots pay a price.
Two familiar contenders were two shots back with 67s: Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose.
Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, two of the pre-tournament favorites, had their good and bad moments. Day looked as though he would join Fowler and Rose but bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes, his 16th and 17th of the day, put him back at one-under par 69.
Spieth simply sputtered most of the day, trying to get back in the swing of things. He hit a great approach then holed an eight-footer for birdie at the 18th to shoot even-par 70.
“I saw some flashes of great stuff and some flashes of rust,” was how Spieth described his day’s work. “Certainly the way this course is playing,” Spieth added, “I’m not out of it.”
Spieth played with Open champion Zach Johnson who finished his day shooting 70 with Spieth.
