First-round notebook – BMW Championship
Steve Stricker has never finished outside of the top 20 in a PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup event. Last year, he finished first at The Barclays, T9 at the Deutsche Bank Championship, third at the BMW Championship and T17 at THE Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola. He has T19 and T13 finishes under his belt so far this year. With a 4-under 66 on Friday, he is now a collective 66-under par in Playoff events.Due to the wet conditions, preferred lies in closely mown areas through the greens were in effect during Friday’s first round.
Camilo Villegas posted a 5-under 65 in the first round of the BMW Championship to take a one-stroke lead over Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Tim Herron, Andres Romero and Stuart Appleby.
Although at a different course than Bellerive Country Club, Villegas has played well in the past at the BMW Championship. In 2007, he trailed by one stroke after the first and second rounds before finishing T7. That finish propelled him into the 30-man field for the THE Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
This marks the second time in Camilo Villegas’ PGA Tour career that he has held at least a share of the 18-hole lead in a Tour event. He opened with an 8-under 63 at last year’s Deutsche Bank Championship before eventually finishing T9.
The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just seven of 38 stroke-play events on the PGA Tour this season, including most recently Chez Reavie at the RBC Canadian Open. Incidentally, dating back to 1970, the first-round leader/co-leader at the BMW Championship has gone on to win seven of 38 times, including most recently Jim Furyk in 2005.
Vijay Singh, who is coming off victories in the first two events of the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup, opened with an even-par 70. He was one of 47 players out of the 69-man field to post a par-or-better round on Friday.
Four players have finished inside the top 10 in each of the first two Playoff events. The list includes Vijay Singh (two-time winner), Sergio Garcia (T2/Barclays, T5/Deutsche Bank), Mike Weir (T7/Barclays, 2nd/Deutsche Bank) and Justin Leonard (T7 in both). Of that group, Garcia had the best start this week with a 2-under 68.
Of the four PGA Tour rookies competing in the BMW Championship, 2008 Zurich Classic of New Orleans winner Andres Romero got off to the best start with a 4-under 66. The others are Chez Reavie (67), Martin Laird (69) and Kevin Streelman (70).
A T5 at last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship helped Tim Herron jump 51 spots to No. 48 on the FedExCup points list, thus earning a spot in the BMW Championship. He continues to ride that wave of momentum, posting a 4-under 66 on Friday.
Dudley Hart (67) managed the only bogey-free round on Friday.
With a 2-over 72 on Friday, Bubba Watson saw his PGA Tour-leading streak of consecutive rounds at par or better snapped at 10. The current best streak belongs to John Riegger, Justin Leonard and Vijay Singh, with nine straight rounds. Riegger isn’t participating this week, while Leonard and Singh opened with rounds of 69 and 70, respectively.
Dean Wilson (69) was the only player in the field with an eagle during the first round. He performed the feat on the par-4 12th hole.
The first-round scoring average at the par-70 Bellerive Country Club was 69.725. The par-4 10th hole played the toughest at 4.435, while the par-5 eighth hole was the easiest at 4.551.
Bellerive Country Club has hosted two Major Championships, with both won by players hailing from southern Africa. South African Gary Player won the 1965 U.S. Open, while Zimbabwean Nick Price came out on top at the 1992 PGA Championship. South African Tim Clark is hoping for the same success this week at the BMW Championship. He opened in impressive fashion with a 3-under 67.
Speaking of Clark, he is making his 168th career start on the PGA Tour this week and is seeking his first win. In that span, he has recorded six runner-up finishes, 30 top-10 finishes and 72 top-25 finishes. He is the Tour’s all-time leading money winner amongst players who have not won, with earnings of $11,248,852 (No. 71 all-time).
Thirty six holes will be played on Saturday, with the second round beginning at 7:00 a.m. with threesomes off of Nos. 1 and 10. The third round will begin immediately after. Players will not be re-paired between the second and third rounds. The last time the entire field played 36 holes in a single day was the 2005 INTERNATIONAL.
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