Greensborn, NC …
Shane Lowry and Seamus Power refused to wilt in near meltdown conditions posting four under 67s on the opening day of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Lowry was one-over through five holes but completed his closing 13 in four-under including three birdies in a four-hole stretch from his 11thon the Sedgefield Country Club course.
Seamus Power has good cause to stand tall after shooting 67 on day one 2017 Wyndham Championship.
Power, and teeing-up in Greensboro for a first occasion, birdied his. first three holes and then ‘thinned’ a wedge at the last for birdie in a similar score as Lowry’s
Daytona’s Matt Every raced to the clubhouse lead holing his second shot for an eagle ‘2’ at the first on route to a nine-under par 61 on the par 70 lay-out and one clear of Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.
Last year’s victorious USA Ryder Cup captain, Davis Love 111, and now aged 53, didn’t drop a shot in a six-under 64
Lowry is contesting the $US 5.8m event for a second year running and sharing 42nd place a year ago
“I played good this morning and felt very comfortable out there with all parts of my game,” said Lowry.
“I didn’t quite hit it close enough as the pins were very tricky while the greens were starting to firm-up.
“So, other than the heat I was comfortable and I am going to go and have some lunch in the air-conditioned clubhouse and then maybe hit 10 balls and go back to my hotel because it is just so hot.
“You can’t properly practice in this heat and it is all about conserving your energy”.
And after the toughness of last week’s PGA Championship, Lowry was also pleased to get back onto a golf course where he didn’t have a driver in his hand on every hole.
“I played here at Sedgefield on Tuesday and it felt like the easiest course in the world after last week”, he said.
“Last week was just brutal and it will be interesting how many players will go back there next year for the Wells Fargo.
“Maybe if they had the rough a little shorter like here this week and the greens a little softer then I might consider it”.
Power was staring at an uphill 143-yard wedge shot at the last and delighted when it rolled to two-feet for a virtual tap-in birdie.
“I was trying to force the shot and it just got a little thin, so lucky to get away with that and I would take a birdie on the last there any day”, he said smiling.
And Power is unconcerned given he is lying 123rd on the FedEx Cup money list and just two places inside the top-125 who at the end of this week will retain full 2017/18 season membership and also qualify for next week’s opening event of the FedEx Cup Play-Offs.
“I actually feel pretty good and you know in the back of your mind what is at stake and all that stuff but this is a 72-hole tournament and if you start thinking about that stuff you could be exhausted come Sunday,” he said.
“So, it’s there and you know you have to play well but it was of those things you cannot control and all you can do is play as well as you can”.
Graeme McDowell birdied his opening two holes but then struggled with just one other birdie but five bogeys in a one-over 71.
