Recap of the day
Early wave: In a tournament where 20-under or lower has won in three of the last five years, birdies are the name of the game in Vegas and Nick Taylor came up with seven of them and an eagle in his opening 63. That was good enough for a two-shot lead over Brian Gay, Sam Ryder and a certain Phil Mickelson. Adam Scott was in a group at 5-under.
Late wave: The trade-off between the greens firming up but the ball flying further in the heat meant there were some decent numbers in the afternoon too. Brian Harman came in with 7-under 64 while Brian Stuard and Maverick McNealy expanded the -6s to a five-man group in T3. Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay - the last two winners at TPC Summerlin - signed for 66s.
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Leaderboard: -8 Nick Taylor, -7 Brian Harman, -6 Brian Gay, Sam Ryder, Phil Mickelson, Brian Stuard, Maverick McNealy.
Notables: -5 Adam Scott, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, -4 Brandt Snedeker, Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson, -3 Tony Finau, Hideki Matsuyama, -2 Gary Woodland, Ryan Moore, Joaquin Niemann, -1 Brooks Koepka.
Revised outright betting:
9/1 Cantlay, 14/1 Scott, Harman, DeChambeau, 22/1 Taylor, 25/1 Morikawa, Simpson, 28/1 Mickelson, 33/1 B Koepka, Berger, Matsuyama, Finau.
Friday weather forecast
A very pleasant desert day. Temps have already hit the mid-60s by 9am and they peak at just under 90 by 4pm. Winds also drop a little in the afternoon which is good news from the p.m. wave.
Leaders after at 18 holes
Nick Taylor (63) – Ranked 2nd in SG: Off The Tee after hitting all 14 fairways although only 70th on Approach. Gained a fraction under 2.5 strokes with the putter and perfect scrambling.
Brian Harman (64) – Elite ball-striking today, the left-hander pelting 12 (of 14) fairways and missing just one green. Made four straight birdies from Nos. 16 thru 1.
Phil Mickelson (65) – Birdied all the par 5s and gained 3.726 strokes Tee to Green, hitting 15 GIR in the right number. Reined it in off the tee and was rewarded with 11 fairways.
Fate of the favorites
Brooks Koepka (70) – Five birdies was okay but four bogeys was not. This is the sort of round Koepka has been churning out in non-majors although rust can at least be used as an excuse this time after five weeks off. Hit just 12 GIR. His brother Chase Koepka (66) beat him by five!
Patrick Cantlay (66) – An eagle, four birdies and a bogey for Cantlay, who has finished first and second here in two visits. Hit all 18 greens and ranked 1st for SG: Tee to Green (4.489). The concern? A negative SG: Putting figure (110th).
Hideki Matsuyama (68) – No bogeys but just three par breakers. Gave himself a bunch of opportunities (hit 17 greens) but ranked 115th in SG: Putting.
Adam Scott (66) – Clean card and another fast opener following his R1 65 at the Safeway Open. He’ll hope not to follow it with a pair of 73s like he did there. Missed just two greens and putted well.
Quotes
Nick Taylor (63): “It was gettable. It was very benign in the morning with the wind. Greens are relatively soft and rolling well. Again, I hit a lot of fairways, was able to attack, and I took advantage of the par-5s. It was just a really solid day overall.”
Brian Harman (64): “The ball-striking is finally starting to come around. You know, always been able to putt it pretty good. I can remember being younger and being able to hit it a little bit better. So I’ve been trying to get back to some of that stuff, a little bit more natural, and seems to be working pretty well.”
Phil Mickelson (66): “It was a good round. After the bogey on the 1st hole I played some really good golf. I kept the ball in play and hit a lot of fairways. Right now my iron play is really good, and so if I continue to give myself chances from the fairways I’m going to hit it close enough to make birdies. Excited to play some good golf again.”
Sam Ryder (66): “I’m really happy, comfortable on these greens. My last round I played here I shot 9-under in the final round last year and was able to get the putter rolling. I’m very aggressive because I feel like I can make a lot of putts. I’m not really scared of the come-backers because they’re nice, pure bent greens.”
Brooks Koepka (70): “Just knocking off the rust of five weeks off. You know there will be a little bit of rust; I didn’t think I played too bad. I hit good golf shots and got penalized a couple times. A little sloppy. But I feel just fine.”
Road to victory at TPC Summerlin
2018/9 Bryson DeChambeau – R1: 5th, R2: 4th, R3: 1st
2017/8 Patrick Cantlay – R1: 6th, R2: 8th, R3: 4th
2016/7 Rod Pampling – R1: 1st, R2: 1st, R3: 2nd
2015/6 Smylie Kaufman – R1: 26th, R2: 48th, R3: 28th
2014/5 Ben Martin – R1: 19th, R2: 5th, R3: 1st
Notes: Stretching back a couple of years further and Webb Simpson (6th after R1) and Ryan Moore (leader after R1) got fast starts. Add in DeChambeau and Cantlay and there’s a trend - if top players start well in Vegas, they often go on to hit the jackpot.
Fate of the 18-hole leaders at Silverado – where did they finish?
2018/9 Peter Uihlein 23rd
2017/8 Whee Kim 2nd
2016/7 Rod Pampling 1st
2015/6 David Hearn 25th, Mark Hubbard 35th, Tyler Aldridge 43rd, Michael Thompson 50th
2014/5 Martin Laird 18th, Stewart Cink 33rd
Notes: It’s a mixed set of results. Kim and Pampling rode fast starts to big finishes but none of the others even made the top 15.
Focus on – Phil Mickelson
Lefty has been talking a good game during this off-season but a missed cut on his 2019/20 debut at the Safeway Open last week raised some eyebrows. Given his history in the Golden State, If Phil can’t play well in California, perhaps we should be concerned.
But, he certainly walked the walk today. In some ways, this is classic Mickelson. Playing poorly, flicking a switch and turning things around quickly. But, in another way, today’s round was very un-Phil. Why? Instead of trying to blast the ball into orbit, the obsession with driving distance was put to one side.
“Out here the fairways are pretty tight and you can get at every hole here. You can birdie every hole here if you hit it in the fairway.
“So I’m just hitting these little low cuts. They’re not going very far, but they’re in play. My iron play right now is really good, so I just want to give myself chances with my irons.”
Expanding on the current state of his game, Mickelson added: “I’ve had an awful six months. Let’s separate that for a second. I was very close last week to playing some good golf and I played the par-5s 4-over par. Played them 3-under today and I shoot 6-under, so it was a pretty easy fix. It’s an area that is usually a strength to my game that last year was the worst part of my game.
“So just fixing par-5s, playing them a little smarter, making birdies on them, and not making mistakes. So of it’s been a pretty easy fix. I’m really looking forward to the next three rounds. I feel like my game is a lot better again than the scores have been showing. I’m excited to play and play some good golf.”
Yep, he may turn 50 in June, but gamers should write Lefty off at their peril.
Focus on – Brooks Koepka
Koepka revealed in the build-up that he’d been battling a knee-injury last season, forcing him to go under the knife following the TOUR Championship.
“I had some stem cell done on my knee. My patella tendon was partially torn, so just rehabbing that. Spent the first probably three, four weeks just rehabbing that and been back hitting balls. I can finally practice again, which is nice, without pain.
“I finally feel 100 per cent and hopefully stay that way for the rest of the season. I’d been battling it there for the last four months of last season.”
So, how did it feel after today’s first round in five weeks?
“It’s nice to walk on hills and not have to worry about it. It was interesting at the British. Being on awkward lies, ball below your feet, and I couldn’t get on my left side. So it’s nice to feel good, you know, and hopefully carries through the season.”
