PITTSFORD, N.Y. – David Hearn opened his first round of the PGA Championship with a bogey and closed it with another. Fortunately for him, they were sandwiched around plenty of much better numbers.
The Canadian, who just got into the field as an alternate last week, posted a 4-under 66 that had him near the top of the Oak Hill leaderboard through 18 holes.
“In between the first and last, I played some really solid golf,” Hearn said. “Obviously a little disappointed with the finish, but after that bogey on 1, got a birdie right back on No. 2 and that kind of got me back in the direction pretty quickly. In between that, I hit a lot of good shots, and yeah, really solid round.”
Hearn gained notoriety last month for losing to Jordan Spieth in a three-man playoff at the John Deere Classic. He’s using that experience as motivation this week.
“Disappointed that it didn’t quite go my way at the finish, but overall, played a really solid tournament,” he continued. “So it feels good for me to be in contention and I feel like I’ve been playing some really good golf the last few months. It’s nice to be in this spot early this week.”
