Who is John Peterson?
That’s probably what half the population of Charlotte might be asking themselves after day one at the Wells Fargo.
He’s your leader. He shot 65 Thursday, six-under on a day when a lot of big-name guys didn’t produce.
But no one’s going to get excited about Peterson and his chances of being around the top come Sunday.
None of the five players that are two behind him will scare anyone. You really shrug your shoulders when you glance at the guys who shot 67 on Thursday at Quail Hollow.
The name that jumps out at you immediately is one Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy opened with a 68 on one of his favorite golf courses and he’s just a shot behind the grouping at 67 — Pete Malnati, Tyrrell Hatton, Johnson Wagner, Keith Stanley and Kyle Mitchell.
Like we said, that group of five won’t have anyone getting up at 6 a.m. to watch them play.
McIlroy is a different story.
“This is a big week for me,” he said after his opening round that could have been lower. And it was his driver setting things up for the most part. Starting on the 10th hole his back nine drives went: 328, 306, 341, 287, 314, 347 and 337. His 287 effort came from a 3-wood off the tee at the short par four 14th. The only betrayal from the big stick came at the 18th, where he found the water left on that devilish hole but still managed to save bogey.
On the front nine McIlroy bashed his tee shots: 331, 315, 319, 345, 331, 309 and 338. Huge all day.
“I played well. I struggled with my game in the pro-am (Wednesday). I was a bit apprehensive going out today. I didn’t know what to expect. I feel like my game’s in pretty good shape.”
The drive at 18 produced one of his two bogeys on the day. He offset them with five birdies, three of them coming on the par fives where his driver proved a major weapon.
McIlroy obviously got things straightened out on the range after the pro-am Wednesday.
“It’s funny, like I was hitting the ball left in the pro-am. I thought it was because I was getting underneath it. I thought my swing plane and my path, I was getting inside out,” he explained. “But I wasn’t at all, it was actually the other way, it was more clubface. The clubface was coming in just a touch left at impact, and then with the speed that I have, it just accentuates it.”
“I love this place. I play well. I feel like I don’t have to play that good and I can still get it around,” he said. “It’s a very comfortable golf course for me.”
It wasn’t as comfortable for the man who won here last August at the PGA. Justin Thomas stumbled home with a 73. Rickie Fowler’s one over, so is U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka, who only hit one fairway on Thursday. Masters champ Patrick Reed returned from his media tour to shoot 71 with a birdie on his final hole of the day. Jason Day’s 69 was the best of the rest of the names.
As for Tiger Woods, 31 putts put him in the house with an even-par round of 71.
