Par for the pros at PGA National in Palm Beach is 70. On a very blustery first day only 8 players broke that number.
Par is all relative. I remember the great Christy O'Connor surveying the wind and rain swept links at St Andrews from under his tam on the first tee, turning to a spectator that had offered him some encouragement and saying, " I'll take 5 over 77 right now and just go back to the clubhouse for a wee dram "
Fred Couples in 'teaching lessons from a pro' said that par for Tiger on most PGA tour courses was not 72, but 68 because he expected as part of his course management to birdie the 4 par 5's.. ( that was the old Tiger )
Yesterday's par was really 73.8 and the wind is blowing again today so expect more of the same..
Mike Weir started in a gale on the back nine yesterday where he made 5 bogey's and a double in 6 holes but finished with 2 birdies. He staggered in with 77 and is +2 today through 7 as I write. Lorne Rubenstein is walking with Mike and you should read his blog by clicking on Lorne Rubenstein on the right side of this article. Mike missed 6 putts from inside 5 feet !!
Stephen Ames had a very creditable 73.
In many cases like the par 3, 186yd 17th, the toughest ranked hole on the day 12 players found a watery grave and several others went wading, par is actually stealing a shot on the field.
Of note the leader Spencer Levin has some local ties as he was the 2007 Canadian Tour Player of the Year and he also won the Porter Cup which is a Buffalo/ Niagra Falls area tournament that Jack Armstrong's wife has been running for years. Remember this Californian is in great form right now. He lost last week in Cancun in a playoff with Jonathan Wagner and was in the top 12 both weeks before.
Keep your eye on the really great ball strikers like Sean O'Hair and John Senden and of course Justin Leonard the little wind player from Texas in these conditions
Here is the leaderboard (play underway in round 2)
1 2 Spencer Levin -3 11:30am* color info 67
T2 5 6 Matt Kuchar -2 8* -1 color info 69
T2 7 41 Sean O'Hair -2 7 -2 color info 70
T2 17 Stuart Appleby -2 12:24pm* color info 68
T2 46 Charl Schwartzel -2 12:51pm* color info 68
T2 32 Kyle Stanley -2 1:09pm* color info 68
T7 2 59 John Senden -1 11 -1 color info 70
T7 13 74 Cameron Tringale -1 5 -2 color info 71
T7 44 Jeff Overton -1 12:51pm color info 69
T10 1 37 Chris Couch E 11* E color info 70
T10 1 51 Carl Pettersson E 9* E color info 70
T10 1 72 Justin Leonard E 9* E color info 70
T10 10 27 Rory Sabbatini E 8 -1 color info 71
T10 8 34 Y.E. Yang E 8* 2 color info 68
T10 1 68 Roland Thatcher E 11:30am color info 70
T10 1 136 Ricky Barnes E 11:57am color info 70
T10 1 23 Matt Bettencourt E 12:33pm* color info 70
T10 1 -- Lee Westwood E 12:33pm color info 70
T10 1 73 Hunter Haas E 1:00pm color info 70
Nationwide Tour
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Overnight rains, a soggy golf course and hovering afternoon storms caused a major disruption in the first round of the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open, where only half the field managed to get started. There were 7½ hours of delays, compared to just 3½ hours of actual play.
When darkness settled on the Bogota Country Club course, Darron Stiles was at 4-under par through 13 holes and leading by one. Australians Matthew Giles and Ewan Porter, South Africa's Garth Mulroy, Tommy Biershenk of South Carolina and India's Rahil Gangjee were at 3-under and had all played at least 10 holes after several starts and stops.
Canucks
Richard T Lee is just in T26 E 71
Chris Baryla T56 +1 72
Andrew Parr and Bryan DeCorso haven't played yet
Bryan Angus
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