Blake

Adams

Since the Travelers Championship in late June, Adams has posted top 10s in every third start, an unusual pattern until you consider that he never really knows when his body will fully cooperate; that is, it’s reasonable that his aches and pains occur in cycles. However, it was just two starts ago that he shared 10th place at the Deutsche Bank, so he could be on his way to shattering that theory. He hit 14 greens at TPC Summerlin today and circled eight birdies, including a conversion of 14'10" at the 15th hole. But his highlight might actually have been a par save from just off the green at the thrid where he rolled it in from six yards after a poor chip. Adams was the ninth to sign for a 65 today.

Adams sprinkled in a ninth place tie at the Puerto Rico Open in the midst of a stretch where he missed the cut in four other events surrounding it. For the year, he’s cashed four times with the lone top-10 and no additional top-40 finishes. He finished tied for 57th at Redstone last year. He ranks 89th in the all-around ranking.

Adams went off in the second threesome off the first tee this morning, but scores are surprisingly high. At the time he signed his card, only nine in the morning wave were under par, and that includes golfers still on the course. Adams hit only eight greens in regulation but he limited the damage to three bogeys thanks to a tidy 23 putts. Among his five birdies were conversions of 11'2" and 20'0" at the first and sixth holes, respectively. It was in his second round at Harbour Town in 2010 that he hit only eight GIR but shot 63 thanks to four hole-outs and a PGA TOUR record-tying-low 18 putts.

Adams poured in seven putts from beyond 10 feet and signed his card leading the field in Strokes Gained-Putting. He split 12 (of 14) fairways, hit 13 greens in regulation and circled eight birdies. In the heart of five consecutive birdies on holes 5-9, he rolled in conversions of 18'2" and 16'10" at the seventh and eighth holes, respectively.

This is a joyous change of a pace for a guy that failed to break 74 in each of his most recent opening rounds. He got off to a hot start on Thursday, with three consecutive birdies beginning at the 10th hole at Redstone; the first two disappeared from 17'4" and 38'2", respectively. Adams converted his last of five birdies at the fourth hole where his try dropped in from 15'5". He also rolled in a par save of 11'8" at the 17th hole to retain a spotless scorecard. He hit 16 greens and took 29 putts during his two-day opener.

At the time he signed his card today, Adams co-led the field with 12 birdies, but he’s given back eight strokes due to two double bogeys in his opener and four bogeys in the second round. Overall, he’s hit 25 greens and taken a tidy 52 putts, but he can’t be pleased with his scores even though he’s lingering on the leaderboard.

The 10-under 74-68-68-68=278 total will give Adams his highest finish of 2012 and send him into the Transitions Championship riding a wave of confidence. In the final round, he only missed one fairway and two greens and finished the week inside the top 10 in GIR and top 15 in driving accuracy. His 22 birdies for the week led the field at the time of his posting.

Adams missed just one fairway of 13 and hit 13 greens. He required only 26 putts as well en route to seven birdies including a hole-out from the rough 18 yards out at the ninth hole. His lone blemish was a bogey-4 at the fifth hole where he failed to get up and down from in front of the green. He signed his card with very early possession of the clubhouse lead but it most certainly won’t last. Adams will play La Quinta Country Club in his second round on Friday.

Adams is showing no letup in what is his eighth consecutive week on the road. Granted, he’s played the weekend in just the last three, but you always wonder how his creaky body will hold up over time. He split 13 (of 14) fairways and hit 15 greens at Muirfield Village today. While he converted only three birdies, he sunk every putt inside 10 feet during his round -- one per hole.

It won’t hold for long but he’s first in the house near the top of the leaderboard. Adams split 12 (of 14) fairways today but managed only 12 greens in regulation. In true form that speaks to his sublime ability on and around greens, he buried eight birdies including rolls from 14'5" and 15'7" at the ninth and 12th holes, respectively. The highlight of the day was a hole-out for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 16th. He’s taken just 52 putts through 36 holes.