First-round notebook – Buick Open
* John Senden may have taken some inspiration from fellow Australian Nathan Green, who won last week’s RBC Canadian Open. Following a bogey at the first, Senden rebounded with nine birdies, including five in a row on Nos. 11-15 en route to an 8-under 64. He trails Steve Lowery’s 9-under 63 by a stroke.* John Senden is enjoying a solid year with four top-10 finishes in 21 starts, the best being T4s at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the St. Jude Championship presented by FedEx, where he fired a final-round, 6-under 64.
* John Senden’s 8-under 64 matches his low round of the year. He previously posted a 64 in round four of the 50thBob Hope Classic presented by Arnold Palmer.
* Something about Warwick Hills has caught the eyes of Australians in the field as five players from Down Under sit amongst the top-15 They are:
Player Round-One Score/Position
John Senden 8-under 64/2
James Nitties 7-under 65/T3
Greg Chalmers 6-under 66/T7
Marc Leishman 5-under 67/T13
Rod Pampling 5-under 67/T13
Over time, there have been 28 Australian winners on the PGA Tour who have combined for 133 official PGA Tour wins. There are 15 Aussies in the field this week.
* In the morning wave, Steve Lowery took advantage of near-perfect conditions at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club to fire a bogey-free, 9-under 63 and take a one-stroke lead in round one. On the front (his back-nine), Lowery posted seven birdies on Nos. 1-4 and 7-9 for a 7-under 29, tying the 9-hole scoring record at Warwick Hills. The others who’ve achieved the feat on the front:
Player Round Year
Trevor Dodds Third 1987
Kenny Perry Second 2001
Vijay Singh Third 2005
* Steve Lowery’s 9-under 63 is two strokes off the course-record 11-under 61, set by Billy Mayfair in 2001’s final round and again by Tiger Woods in round two of 2005.
* Steve Lowery’s 9-under 63 is three strokes off his career best, which was a 12-under 60 in the final round of the 1997 Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.
* Heading into this week, Steve Lowery had made 12 of 20 cuts, with season-best finishes being T24s at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and two week’s ago at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
* Steve Lowery was 11-14 (78.6%) in fairways hit, 15-18 (83.3%) in greens hit and needed just 24 putts.
* Steve Lowery is competing in his 10thBuick Open, with a best finish being T12 in 2005, the only Buick Open in which he posted all four rounds in the 60s. Last year, in a tie for 76th, he missed the 54-hole cut.
* This marks the 19th time Steve Lowery has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead. Of the previous 18, he was only able to convert the 2000 Southern Farm Bureau Classic into victory.
Since 1984, the only International player to break into the winner’s circle at Warwick Hills has been Vijay Singh (1997, 2004, 2005).
* Troy Matteson made two eagles en route to a 6-under 66. His first eagle came with a chip-in from 22 feet eight inches at the par-five 13th. He then holed out for an eagle-two from 135 yards at the par-4 second.
* It should come as no surprise that Woody Austin finished the day among the top 25. Austin, who won at Warwick Hills in his first start here in 1995, has finished no worse than T7 in his last three starts here, including two consecutive runner-up finishes. In round one, he posted a bogey-free, 4-under 68 and sits at T24.
* Tiger Woods, playing in his first Buick Open since winning it for a second time in 2006, didn’t get off to the start he was hoping for. But after bogeys on the second and fifth holes, he righted the ship with birdies at seven, 10, 12, 14 and 17 for a 1-under 71.
* Tiger Woods is competing in his ninth Buick Open. Of those previous 32 rounds, he has never posted a round worse than even-par 72, which was just once. The other 31 rounds have all been below par. His lone par score came in round one of 1997, his debut to Warwick Hills.
* In the unlikely event that Tiger Woods misses the cut after tomorrow’s second round, it would be just the first time in his professional career of missing consecutive cuts. He missed the cut two weeks ago at the British Open following rounds of 71-74.
* Canadian amateur Matt Hill missed the cut on home soil last week in his second PGA Tour start at the RBC Canadian Open. Making good use of a sponsor’s exemption this week, he opened with a 3-under 69 Earlier this summer, the upcoming senior at NC State became just the second Canadian to win the NCAA Championship (James Lepp was the first).
* Augusta, GA native Vaughn Taylor made eight birdies and gave up just one bogey en route to a 7-under 65 in round one. He trails Steve Lowery by two. Taylor is coming off three consecutive missed cuts at the AT&T National, John Deere Classic and last week’s RBC Canadian Open.
* Vaughn Taylor is competing in his fourth Buick Open. He missed the cut in 2005 and 2008, but claimed T4 honors here in 2006, thanks to a third-round, 9-under 63 to tie his career-low round.
* South Korea’s Y.E. Yang matched his low round of the year with a 7-under 65 in round one and will begin Friday’s second round just two shots off Steve Lowery’s lead. Yang, who won The Honda Classic in March, is competing in his first Buick Open.
* Scoring average: Round One
Front: 35.548 Back: 34.555 Total: 70.103
* Jim McGovern withdrew during his round with a knee injury.
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