Klauk leads season-opening Panama Movistar Championship
PANAMA CITY, Panama – Jeff Klauk rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt from off
the 18th green to finish up a 6-under-par 64 in the opening round of the
Panama Movistar Championship, the first Tournament on the 2008 Nationwide
Tour schedule. Klauk’s efforts put the St. Augustine, FL resident atop the
leaderboard by one stroke after the initial 18 holes of the $600,000 event.
Veteran Scott Dunlap (65) is alone in second place with Ben Bates, Brendon
De Jonge and Pablo Acuna are next in line with 66s at the Panama Golf Club.
“I’ve just been ready to go,” said Klauk, who was in the second group off
the morning tee as the Tour began its’ 19th season. “It’s been a long time
since I’ve gotten off to a decent start. I just want to get to the next
level.”
Klauk, a Nationwide Tour veteran with 152 career starts over the past six
years, kicked off his year with a couple of pars before rolling in a
30-foot birdie putt at No. 3 and a 35-foot eagle putt at No. 4. He added
three more birdies before the finishing hole, including one at the
502-yard, par-4, 11th hole, which was the toughest hole on the par-70
course and played to a scoring average of 4.462.
“I wanted to come out and play like I did during the second half of last
year,” said Klauk, who made 11 cuts in his final 12 starts in 2007. “I want
to keep that momentum going.”
Klauk, a member of three NCAA Division II national championship teams at
Florida Southern College, changed his off-season strategy and spent more
time on the golf course and less on the driving range in hopes of improving
his No. 34 money ranking from a year ago.
“I can sit on the range forever and just hit balls. I can get real
technical and worry about my swing,” he said. “It’s all about scoring out
here.”
The biggest focus of Klauk’s winter work was the short game. “If you look
at all the great players on the PGA Tour, they’re awesome from 100 to 125
yards in,” said Klauk. “That’s the area I’m trying to get a lot better at.
Out here on the Nationwide Tour, you’ve got to make a lot of birdies.”
One additional benefit to Klauk was the agronomy change at TPC Sawgrass,
where he practices on a regular basis and his father, Fred, is the course
superintendent. “TPC doesn’t overseed anymore and so it’s all Bermuda grass
now,” he said. “Rather than hitting out of overseeded Rye grass rough and
such, I’ve gotten to prepare on Bermuda. I’ve never had that opportunity
before because of the overseed. It’s been a big help practicing on the same
grass that we play on.”
Klauk’s 64 was one shot off the course-record of 63 set by 2006 winner
Tripp Isenhour in the first round. It was also the best round for Klauk at
Panama Golf Club, where he is playing for the fifth consecutive year. He
tied for ninth in the Tournament’s inaugural year (2004) but missed the cut
the next two years and finished T58 last year.
“I’ve been hitting the ball very well but my coach and I have been
working on the mental side of the game,” said Klauk, who missed the cut in
his only PGA Tour start, the 2003 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. “I had
some shoulder surgery and some health issues the past couple of years and
sometimes it’s not easy to get your confidence back. A lot of it is just
believing in yourself.”
First Round News & Notes: The 2008 Nationwide Tour season got underway at
7:10 Thursday morning with Daniel Summerhays hitting the first tee shot off
the first tee. The initial threesome played prominent roles in the “firsts
of 2008.” Summerhays hit the first shot of the season, playing partner Tom
Byrum made the first birdie of the year (No.1) and the third member of the
group, Bob Heintz, made the first eagle of the year (No. 4)…Brent Geiberger
withdrew prior to the start of the round (sickness) and was replaced by
Canadian Brad Fritsch…Three of the Tournament’s four previous champions are
in the field this week. Defending champ Miguel Carballo (72), 2006 winner
Tripp Isenhour (72) and 2005 winner Vance Veazey (73)…The first-round
scoring average for the par-70 course was 72.865, making it the toughest
opening round in the Tournament's five-year history and the second-toughest
overall (final round, 2004, 73.238).
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