Rookies shine at Honda Classic
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida — One reason Martin Kaymer enjoys the Honda Classic is because he doesn’t feel as though he has to make a bunch of birdies.
On such a serene Thursday at PGA National, that was required to keep pace.
A pair of PGA Tour rookies who last played this course at Q-school for the Web.com Tour, Cody Gribble and Wesley Bryan, each opened with a 6-under 64 in the morning and it stood the rest of the day. The wind never really materialized. The greens remained soft from a big rain the day before.
More than half of the field was at par or better.
Kaymer, a two-time major champion from Germany playing on a sponsor exemption, chipped in from behind the 17th green for birdie and closed with a two-putt birdie from 40 feet for a 65. He was one shot behind, along with Anirban Lahiri of India.
“I felt very calm over the ball,” Kaymer said. “I enjoy the golf course. When you stand on the first tee, you don’t feel like you need to make five or six birdies. It’s a ball-striking golf course, but even level par or 1-over par is a very good round.
“It was very soft and there was not much wind,” he said. “Once you miss the fairway, it was actually OK from the rough because the greens are soft. I’ve not played the golf course in easier conditions.”
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter found it the same way. They were part of a large group at 66. Sergio Garcia was headed in that direction until he pulled his tee shot left on the par-3 fifth hole and made double bogey, added a pair of other bogeys and recovered with a birdie on his final hole for a 68. He was in the group with defending champion Adam Scott.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., were at 1-under 69.
“If the weather stays good and it’s able to dry out, I don’t see the golf course getting any easier,” Fowler said.
It was an important start for Poulter, who is playing on a medical extension from a foot injury last year and has only six PGA Tour events left to earn either $220,301 US or 154 FedEx Cup points to retain his full status.
“I’m on borrowed time,” said Poulter, who has slipped to No. 206 in the world. “A win would be nice. I have to think that I’ve got a chance, I really do. The situation I’m in, I have to be aggressive, but I’ve got to be careful. I can’t make many mistakes.”
Bryan is coming off his best tournament, a tie for fourth at Riviera in which he got within two shots of Dustin Johnson toward the end of the third round. It took him a while to get going in warm, calm weather, and he finished with a 30 on the front nine.
Gribble already has won this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship last fall while the top players were in Shanghai. He missed four straight cuts on the West Coast and finally got his swing back to where he wants it. Along with birdies on three of the par 3s, he hit all 18 greens in regulation.