" Cold and rainy with a pretty strong wind in places. Great day for golf !!" was the message I received from Rod Spittle after his round of -1 70 left him T5 at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco. Out in 35 with 1 bogey and 2 birdies, Rod was rock solid with 9 pars coming in.
Only 7 players broke par, and the lead is shared at -3, 68 by Jay Haas and Fred Couples..Tom Lehman who leads the Schwab Cup race is also T5 at -1 70 and his main contender Mark Calcavecchia is T8 at E,71.
full leaderboard click http://www.pgatour.com/s/leaderboard/
Meanwhile on the season ending Canadian Tour event the Desert Dunes Classic in the Coachella Valley, Stuart Anderson took advantage of benign conditions to open up a 3 shot lead with a sparkling -8 64.Other Canadian notables Adam Hadwin and Jim Rutledge opened with E, 72's.
for live scoring click http://www.pgatour.com/s/leaderboard/
Here an edited version of the press release from CanTour Director of Communcations Scott Pritchard.
Known as one of the windiest places on earth, the Coachella Valley, home to Desert Dunes Golf Club certainly didn't show her teeth on a considerably docile day. Stuart Anderson took advantage of the scorable conditions continuing his fine play on the Canadian Tour shooting an 8-under-par 64 to take the opening round lead at the 2011 Desert Dunes Classic.
Anderson, a four-time Canadian Tour winner, is looking to clinch his second consecutive win of the year and keep the momentum going into second stage of PGA TOUR Q-School.
"My game is clicking right now and I'm really in a good state both professionally and personally," admitted Anderson. "In order to win this week I'm going to need to keep playing solid and keep the momentum going from first stage and the Canadian Tour Championship," added Anderson, who finished T3 at first stage of PGA TOUR Q-School easily advancing to second stage.
Anderson's bogey free round was his fifth consecutive round in the 60's dating back to his win at the Canadian Tour Championship. Anderson is quick to point out that while his solid play to date is great, his year would be considered a disappointment if he was unsuccessful in his bid to advance to the final stage of PGA TOUR Q-School.
"The next couple of weeks will be the year for me," confessed Anderson who will be heading to Murrieta, CA for second stage of the grueling Q-School test. "As well as I've played this year if things don't go well at Q-School I'm going to consider this a disappointing year."
Trailing Anderson by three shots is Dan Buchner of Seal Beach, CA, Matt Daniel of Vancouver, BC, Chris Killmer of Bellingham, WA and Andy Matthews of Ada, MI. Coincidently Buchner, Killmer and Matthews are all coming off solid Q-School showings after the first stage.
Other notable scores included a 1-under-par 71 for local boy Byron Smith. Smith playing alongside defending champion Adam Hadwin, who shot 72, is looking for a little redemption this week after failing to advance through first stage of PGA TOUR Q-School last week. Champions Tour member and Canadian Tour legend Jim Rutledge opened up with an even par round of 72 matching sponsor exemptions four time PGA TOUR winner Notah Begay III and former PGA TOUR member Tom Demsey.
This is the second annual Desert Dunes Classic which is being played at Desert Dunes Golf Club in Desert Hot Springs, CA. The Desert Dunes Classic is scheduled between the first and second stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School to help keep players sharp for the final stages of one of the toughest tests in golf.
Desert Dunes was acquired by a Canadian ownership group in late 2009. The Desert Dunes Classic is part of the group's comprehensive, long-term improvement plan for the facility.
Play in round 2 is just wrapping up at the WGC-HSBC in Shanghai with Freddie Jacobsen in the lead, a full report to follow.
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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