The first thing you need to know about this week’s stop on the PGA Tour’s Fall Series is that it is perhaps the longest tournament name on tour:
The Shriners Hospitals For Children Open. Most simply call it “The Shriners.”
Why they call it an “Open” is confusing because it’s not open to everyone.
The second thing you need to know is that after Thursday’s first round of play, the three co-leaders have a total of zero wins on the PGA Tour between them.
Here’s a rundown of what transpired at the TPC Summerlin, outside Las Vegas, taking in the good and the bad of day one:
The Good:
Three Relatively Unknown Leaders: David Hearn, Michael Thompson and Mark Hubbard are at the top of the field, they’re all in at seven-under par under pretty much perfect scoring conditions out there in the desert.
Pat Rodgers continues to show why he was able to play his way on to the PGA Tour last season. He’s been consistently good and once again he’s at the top, only a shot off the lead. He’s in at six-under but has a lot of company. There are seven others tied with him.
Jimmy Walker has made a name for himself winning events with weak fields and he’s at it again. Walker opened with a 66 and is one of seven players at five-under.
David Love III shot 68 and made old guys everywhere proud.
The Bad:
Rickie Fowler is the big name player in this field. Fowler, ranked a lofty fifth in the world, wasn’t real sharp over his first trip around TPC Summerlin. Fowler posted a one-over par 72 and is tied for 113th. Rickie needs to get it going on Friday or the only thing he’ll be doing over the weekend is taking in some shows on the Vegas Strip.
As bad as Rickie was, Brooks Koepka was worse. Koepka has risen to 12th in the world but sure didn’t look like it. He shot 74, three-over and sure likes like he’ll be headed home on Friday.
Emiliano Grillo, winner of last week’s Frys.com Open in his first PGA Tour event, was suffering from a victory hangover of sorts. Grillo was less than sharp in the first round and shot 74.
Robert Allenby’s career continues to spiral downward. He shot 75.
What was really bad? They didn’t even finish play, darkness set in. Slow play? You betcha!
Overall, scoring was pretty low on Thursday. It may take three or four under par to make the 36-hole cut.
