James

Nitties

The 36-year-old opened on the back nine of the course used three times this week and a birdie at No. 10 was a smart start, but he soon made a double bogey-6 at the 14th. His response? He made birdie at 15, 16, 17, 18, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. No less than nine red numbers in a row, joining Mark Calcavecchia (2009 Canadian Open) and Rayhan Thomas (2017 Dubai Creek Open) in the record books, with Bernd Wiesberger having an asterisk next to his name having done it on preferred lies at the 2017 Maybank Championship. “I’m pumped,” he said. “To be a part of a world record is pretty cool. I had a good chance for that tenth birdie but I wouldn’t do that to Mark. I definitely have the world record for best bounce-back stat because I holed the nine birdies and I preceded it with a double-bogey. I was a little peeved off that I made the double from the middle of the fairway.”

Back in 2011 Nitties bested Jonas Blixt in the Midwest Classic, but their careers have gone in different directions since. Blixt is secure on the PGA Tour, Nitties ended his time on the Web.com circuit in late 2015. His immediate return to the Australasian Tour was successful, earning a win in the South Pacific Open and two top five finishes followed but the last of those was in early 2016. He’s missed the cut in his two starts this year but was placed T1 in November’s Australian Open after a second round 65 and has a course logbook of T12-T30-MC which includes an opening 68 in 2013 which had him T1.

The Aussie is just 9-for-16 on the Web.com this season. That slots him at 96th on the money list. That falls almost perfectly in line with his all-around ranking of 87th. A repeat of 2011 would be clutch this last in the season and go a long way in securing TOUR status for Nitties.

Nitties double-bogeyed the 10th hole to start his round today and was still 2-over at the turn, but another birdie barrage on his back led to his second straight inward 31 to finish one stroke off the early clubhouse lead. Thus far, he’s hit 25 GIR and taken 53 putts, sinking 11 birdies along the way.

The Aussie is proving to be a streaky rookie. With a solid start to his season that included a pair of Top 6s and two other Top 25s, he went dormant for three weeks before a T-17 at La Cantera. Today’s loop of TPC Las Colinas featured 12 GIR and just 24 putts en route to six birdies, four of which he drained in succession to end his round.

Nitties has been out since withdrawing late before the start of the John Deere Classic due to a neck injury. Tread cautiously. This will be the rookie’s first Buick Open.

Not a big surprise on this withdrawal. Nitties had to withdraw from the John Deere Classic and canceled playing in Monday’s Rockford (Il) Pro-Am due to a neck injury.

Leave it to an Aussie to emerge atop the leader board after what may have been the most challenging conditions of the year on Thursday. The rookie hit 15 GIR and took 28 putts, drained seven birdies and has the outright clubhouse lead as the second wave plays. He held a share of the 18-hole overnight lead at the FBR en route to a T-4 finish, and has had a delightful start overall to his season.

It was mentioned in the Rockford Register Star that Nitties has pulled out of the Rockford Pro-Am, which follows the John Deere Classic, due to a neck injury. He is not qualified for the British Open at Turnberry next week.

The Aussie was a late scratch at the John Deere due to a neck injury, causing him to also pull out of this coming Monday’s Rockford (IL) Pro-Am. Frankly, that he’s held up as well as he has in his rookie year with reactive arthritis is impressive. Just be cautious if you want to put him in play next week.