Round 1 Notes – FBR OPEN
First-Round Notes (Partial) – Thursday, January 31, 2008There was a 30-minute delay to the start of the first round due to frost, pushing the first tee time back to 8:10 a.m. Play was then suspended for 10 minutes due to frost at 8:28 a.m. Darkness led to the final suspension at 5:58 p.m., with 24 players yet to complete their round. The first round will resume at 7:40 a.m., with the second round beginning at the same time.
At the time of the suspension, Charles Warren and Kevin Sutherland shared the first-day lead of the FBR Open after posting matching bogey-free 6-under 65s. Should that lead hold up, it will mark the second time in Warren’s career that he has held/shared the 18-hole lead. He opened with a 10-under 62 at the 2005 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, eventually finishing T3. Sutherland is winless in seven previous events where he held the first-round lead, with the most recent coming at the 2007 AT&T Classic (T16).
History hasn’t been kind to first-round leaders of the FBR Open. Since the event moved to the TPC Scottsdale in 1987, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just three times in 21 previous years (Tommy Armour III in 1990, Steve Jones in 1997 and Tom Lehman in 2000).
Camilo Villegas, who played in the same group as Warren, nearly matched his partner with a bogey-free 67.
Charles Warren and Camilo Villegas have been paired together just once before, in the first two rounds of the 2007 Nissan Open. Incidentally, the third member of that group was Brian Gay, who is currently tied for third with Villegas at 5-under.
While they didn’t match Warren and Villegas’ first-round efforts, playing partners Kenny Perry and Brandt Snedeker shot matching 4-under 67s on Thursday.
Phil Mickelson, who opened with a 3-under 68, is seeking to become the FBR Open’s fourth three-time winner (Mark Calcavecchia, Gene Littler, Arnold Palmer). The first of Mickelson’s two titles here came in 1996, the last time the Super Bowl was hosted in the Phoenix area.
K.J. Choi, the current leader in the FedExCup point standings, opened with a 3-under 68.
Trevor Immelman, making his first start since undergoing surgery on December 18 to remove a tumor the size of a golf ball on his diaphragm, started off with a 3-under 68.
After missing the cut in his first two starts of the year, 2007 Nationwide Tour Player of the Year Nick Flanagan finished T67 at last week’s Buick Classic. The Aussie posted a 2-under 69 on Thursday.
Jon Mills, who gained the last spot in the field when Arron Oberholser withdrew on Wednesday, opened with a 1-under 70. Mills is back on TOUR after finishing No. 4 on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list. He missed the cut in his only previous start at the FBR Open, recording rounds of 72-72 in 2006.
Champions Tour member Fred Funk, who recently won the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai, opened with a 2-under 69.
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