By ALEX MICELI
Golfweek Contributing WriterSpeed of play is always an issue, but majors tend to be even slower. This week isn't any different, but the PGA has been trying to speed up play putting players on the clock to force them back into position.
Sergio Garcia's group was put on the clock on the 16th hole, but Garcia maintains that the speed of play is dictated by the design of the course as much as slow play.
“There's a lot of holes where two greens are close to each other, so you have to wait for the other guys,” Garcia said. “The other guys are hitting and you have to wait for them to hit. The putt I missed on 16, I probably missed it because I rushed it a little bit, tried to hit it before Hunter Mahan; he was on 13.”
Anthony Kim's group played the front nine unimpeded, but had to wait on every shot on the back nine.
“If you're going off two tees, you can’t just push the people that are just making the turn," Kim said, "because you got the back nine people coming through.”
Still hurting: Jim Furyk had a busy schedule planned, starting with the British Open and ending with the Tour Championship. In that stretch, Furyk was going to play eight of nine weeks, with his only lay-off coming at Greensboro. But when he had to pull out of the WGC-Bridgestone last week due to a back ailment, Furyk’s momentum from his win in Canada – and his proposed schedule –went out the window.
Now after shooting a first-round 75 on a course that is tailor-made for his game, is Furyk’s remainder of the season in doubt?
“I think it’s a play-it-by-ear type of thing,” Furyk said of playing in all four FedEx Cup events. “I would say right now I plan on playing all those events.”
Furyk is No. 2 on the points list and will need to recover quickly to have a chance over the four-week playoff stretch.
El Pato sinks: U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera had just made birdie on the par-5, fifth hole to get back to even par in the afternoon. Then disaster struck. He hit his tee shot on the par-3, sixth hole, a cut 8-iron, into the bushes left of the green. Cabrera was still in-bounds, but decided to take an unplayable lie and hit his third from the tee. He pulled his next shot left, this time out-of-bounds. Cabrera teed up his fifth shot and hit it in the water, eventually three-putting for a 10. Cabrera would make the turn in 44 and finish the round shooting an 81, 16 shots off Graeme Storm's lead.
Posted: 8/9/2007
print
email
discuss
