Recap of the day
Morning wave: Sedgefield lived up to its reputation and the field went low. Byeong Hun An thrashed an 8-under-par 62 to set the clubhouse target and then Mackenzie Hughes, Rory Sabbatini and Patrick Rodgers parked in a tie for second, one swing behind him on 63. Five men carded 64. Josh Teater, Brice Garnett and Seamus Power were slightly unexpected, but former winners Webb Simpson and Brandt Snedeker less so.
Afternoon wave: Sungjae Im joined his fellow Korean An at the top of the leaderboard with a 62 and Johnson Wagner settled in with the trio one shot back after a 63. Then the pack of five on 64 was stretched to nine with the addition of Ryan Armour, Ted Potter Jr., Jordan Spieth and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
Leaderboard: -8 Byeong Hun An, Sungjae Im, -7 Mackenzie Hughes, Rory Sabbatini, Patrick Rodgers, Johnson Wagner, -6 Josh Teater, Brice Garnett, Seamus Power, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Ryan Armour, Ted Potter Jr., Jordan Spieth, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
Notables: -5 Matthew Wolff, Paul Casey, -4 Si Woo Kim, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morrikawa, -3 Lucas Glover, -2 Patrick Reed,
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Revised outright betting: Simpson 6/1, Spieth 7/1, An 11/1, Im 11/1, Snedeker 14/1, Sabbatini 14/1
Friday weather forecast
Temperatures in the high 70s, the chance of rain high and, unfortunately, a good chance of thunderstorms too. Very little wind to blow it all away.
Leaders after at 18 holes
Byeong Hun An (62) – Eight birdies, ten pars and stellar tee-to-green. When he signed his card his SG numbers were strong: 5.442 Tee to Green and 3.068 Approach to the Green.
Sungjae Im (62) – Twice made back-to-back birdies and also notched a hat trick. Missed just two green in regulation and saved par both times.
Mackenzie Hughes (63) – Landed 17-of-18 greens in regulation and saved par the )one time he missed a putting surface, but three-putted 12 for his only bogey.
Rory Sabbatini (63) – Blitzed the back nine (his first) with four birdies and an eagle-3 for just 29 strikes. Added two more birdies and then tripped up on the ninth. 3.688 for SG: Approach the Green when he hit the clubhouse.
Patrick Rodgers (63) – Four birdies and a bogey on his first nine (the back), then splashed four par breakers in five holes from the fourth on the way home. Gained 5.222 strokes on the greens when he signed his card.
Johnson Wagner (63) – Seven birdies dotted around his card as he played wonderfully in approaching the green (ranked second with 3.839).
Fate of the favorites
Webb Simpson (64) – You kind of get the impression he likes this place. His 39th lap and the 17th time he’s needed no more than 66 blows to complete his card. Holed five birdie putts from outside ten feet.
Collin Morikawa (66) – Missed five greens in regulation, saved par four of those times and yet ranked 151st for SG: Around the Green (-1.795).
Jordan Spieth (64) – Ranked 135th for SG: Off the Tee (-1.459) and 108th SG: Tee to Green (-1.139), but second for SG: Putting (5.126).
Road to victory at Sedgefield CC
2018 Brandt Snedeker – R1: 1st, R2: 1st, R3: 1st
2017 Henrik Stenson – R1: 2nd, R2: 3rd, R3: 1st
2016 Si Woo Kim – R1: 41st, R2: 1st, R3: 1st
2015 Davis Love III – R1: 7th, R2: 3rd, R3: 10th
2014 Camilo Villegas – R1: 1st, R2: 7th, R3: 8th
Notes: Eight of the 11 winners here have all been inside the top ten at the end of 18, 36 and 54 holes, but the other three witnessed some early volatility. In addition to Kim’s start (see above) Sergio Garcia in 2012 was 20th after 18 holes and Webb Simpson in 2011 was 14th. Those three exceptions spent the rest of the week in the top ten.
Fate of the halfway leaders at Sedgefield CC – where did they finish?
2018 Brandt Snedeker 1st
2017 Matt Every 13th
2016 Rafa Cabrera Bello 5th, Kevin Na 10th
2015 William McGirt 14th, Tom Hoge 38th, Erik Compton WD
2014 Camilo Villegas 1st
Notes: In all there have been 17 first round leaders of this championship. Villegas and Snedeker were the second and third to prevail (following Arjun Atwal in 2010).
Focus on – Webb Simpson
An eighth first lap of 67 or lower in 11 starts at Sedgefield for Simpson, but keep a close eye out for what happens in round two. His last nine equivalents read: 64-65-63-67-69-67-67-64-68. In all he averages 66.50 in round two at this track.
Focus on – Martin Laird
The Scotsman has been making a late bid to make the Play-Offs in the last month. In the opposite field events during the last two weeks he completed back-to-back top tens (T6 at the Barbasol Championship, T7 in the Barracuda Championship), results which he hinted at when T11 at halfway in the John Deere Classic which preceded them (he eventually finished T37). He entered this week ranked 116th and a lap of 65 was a fine way to start protecting that position. This is his ninth start at Sedgefield and he has opened with a sub-70 lap every time. He’s only once (on debut) failed to break 70 in the second round.
Focus on – Josh Teater
The 40-year-old from Kentucky has had a poor 2019 season managing just one top 30 before the start of July. But he’s staged a mini-recovery that resembles that of Laird, if not yet quite so successful. He was T6 at the Barbasol and T13 in the Barracuda yet still resides at 165th in the FedEx Cup rankings. His need for something special is proved by the fact that despite thrashing an opening 64 his projected rankings is still only 149th.
