Unfortunately, the leader shot an incredible 66 yesterday, giving him a nine shot lead after round one! That’s just great golf! My round started with a bogey but then I settled down and played some of the most solid golf of the year. I parred everything up to the eighth hole, a par five. I ended up going for the green in two and just came up short. However, I was able to get up and down for my birdie to take me to even par on the day. I parred nine to shoot a fine 36 on the front. After pars on 10 and 11, I came to my nemesis hole, a 206 yard downhill par three with water on the left side. I put the ball into the water there at least 1 out of every 4 shots so I bailed out right into a bunker. I hit out to 15 feet and proceeded to three putt for double bogey. I doubled the next hole as well when I got into tree trouble and the collapse was on! Three pars in a row were followed by bogies on the last two for a 42 and my 78 total.
Overall, I’m disappointed in the score but pretty happy with the way I played. I didn’t really miss many putts so that’s a positive. I’m not really thinking about the cut right now; I’m going to play a bit more aggressively today in an attempt to fight for second place. I figure a score close to par is attainable right now for me and that’s my goal.
We’ll see how it goes!
