Round 1 Notes – AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
First-Round Notes – Thursday, February 7, 2008Four past champions of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am are competing this week: Vijay Singh (2004), Davis Love III (2001 and 2003), Phil Mickelson (1998, 2005, 2007) and Peter Jacobsen (1995).
Past Champions Leaderboard through Round 1:
- Davis Love III (2001, 2003) 2-under-par 70 SH
- Vijay Singh (2004) 2-under-par 70 PB
- Phil Mickelson (1998, 2005, 2007) 1-under-par 71 PH
- Peter Jacobsen (1995) 1-over-par 73 PH
Davis Love III (SH), making his first start since the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship, is playing in his 22nd consecutive AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am dating back to 1986. The two-time champion at the AT&T event has a total of seven top-10s in 21 starts, including a T4 last year. He tore tendons in his left ankle that required surgery and rehabilitation when he stepped in a hole during an informal round of golf in late September of 2007.
After starting the day 4-over-par through 10 holes, defending champion Phil Mickelson (PH) went birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie on Nos. 11-14 and finished the day with a 1-under-par 71.
Kent Jones (PB) holds the second 18-hole lead of his PGA TOUR career after a 6-under-par 66. Jones held a 1-stroke lead over K.J. Choi and Mark Brooks at the 2002 Buick Open before finishing T14.
Kent Jones 18-hole statistics
Driving Distance 261.5 yards
Driving Accuracy 12 of 14 85.7 percent
GIR 14 of 18 77.8 percent
Putts 26
Putting Average (GIR) 1.571
Fresh off his playoff win over Phil Mickelson at the FBR Open last week, J.B. Holmes (SH) posted a 4-under-par 68 on Thursday. Holmes is second in FedExCup points through five events, with 4,958 total points, just four points behind K.J. Choi. After winning the 2006 FBR Open, Holmes opened with a 71 in his next start at the Nissan Open en route to a T51 finish.
John Mallinger (PH), who earned 37 percent of his Regular Season FedExCup points last year with a third-place at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (1,700 of 4,600), is off to another strong start at the event this year. He is T2 after posting a 4-under-par 67.
Roland Thatcher (SH) sits T2 through 18 holes after a 5-under-par 67 with just 22 putts on the day.
This guy’s short game is good – Chris Riley (PB) hit just seven greens on the day but scrambled to save par 10 of 11 times. Riley finished at 1-over-par 73.
Todd Demsey (SH) the 1993 NCAA Champion at Arizona State, returns for his second stint on the PGA TOUR after earning his 2008 card via a final-round 64 at the TOUR’s Qualifying School. Demsey played the PGA TOUR in 1997, and in 2002, while playing on the Nationwide Tour, had two operations to remove a benign tumor behind his left sinus going into his brain. In 2007, doctors discovered the benign tumor had returned. He has been cleared to play and made his 2008 debut at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Rookie Brad Adamonis (SH) posted a 5-under-par 67. In September, 2005, Adamonis quit golf to teach golf classes at Johnson & Wales University in Miami with the understanding they would let him go to PGA Tour Qualifying School for one last shot at golf, where he finished T49 to earn full Nationwide Tour status for 2006. Father Dave was the golf coach and executive director of the golf management program at Johnson and Wales (2005 NAIA National Champions) but became severely ill with three forms of cancer, prostate, lymphoma and throat/tongue. Brad and his brother Dave Jr., along with a family friend, in his father’s place, ran the program until his father recovered.
Just four of the 14 players among the top-10 through 18 holes have compiled PGA TOUR wins – led by Tim Herron’s four. Others include Olin Browne (three), J.B. Holmes (two) and Mark Wilson (one).
There were five bogey-free rounds over the three courses on Thursday: Pebble Beach (Kent Jones, Tim Herron), Poppy Hills (Steve Allan, Justin Leonard), Spyglass Hill (Jim Furyk).
Twenty-four of the PGA TOUR's 25 rookies are in the field this week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Of that grouping, seven managed to card rounds below par on Thursday: Brad Adamonis (67), Y.E. Yang (69), Jason Day (69), Alejandro Canizares (70), Marc Turnesa (70), Michael Letzig (70), and Matt Jones (70).
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