Beginning off No. 10 tee, alternate and World No. 441 Rob Oppenheim twirled a 7-under-par 33-31=64 in the first round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, currently T4 on the leaderboard and two in arrears of past champ and clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau.
The 40-year-old was the last player into the 144-man field, not getting his ticket punched until this morning when Greg Chalmers withdrew. This is his fourth Shriners with missed cuts in each of the last three, including last year, where he opened with a prior-best 66 before trunk-slamming after a R2 74, and also in 2019 as an open-qualifier. The Massachusetts native arrived 2-for-3 on the season with a couple of finishes between T30 and T40, and a MC by five at last week’s Sanderson Farms (75-71). On 13 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation, he gained 2.304 strokes off-the-tee, 2.726 approaching and 3.305 tee-to-green. The Rollins College alum squared two bogey-4s at 17 (3-putt from 27'0") and 8 (3-putt from 74'7"), outflanked by nine circles at 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 3, 6 and 9. He posted 1.706 putts per GIR and 0.583 SG: Putting with 30 total putts. Oppenheim’s split featured three from between 13 and 20 feet, and also saved par at 3 from 15'5".