Time off didn’t hurt Leishman
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Marc Leishman left his golf clubs in his garage during the weeklong break from the FedEx Cup playoffs, and it didn’t change anything. He made 10 birdies in Thursday’s opening round of the BMW Championship for a 9-under-par 62 and a twoshot lead.
Jason Day made the biggest change of his career and had a 64, his best start in 16 months.
The race to the championship finale got off to a blistering start Thursday at Conway Farms Golf Club, and no one could top Leishman. He finished third two weeks ago at TPC Boston, then did nothing golf-related last week except practice putting in the room above his garage.
It was enough to help him run off seven birdies in a ninehole stretch in the middle of his round and match his best score on the PGA Tour.
“When you play golf and all you’re thinking about his making birdies,” Leishman said, “it’s a lot easier than trying to not make bogeys.”
Day made five birdies on the back nine to atone for a sluggish start in a tournament in which his expectations were up in the air. He decided last week that Colin Swatton, the most meaningful figure in his golf career, would no longer caddie for him, or at least the rest of the year. Day instead used an old roommate from his school days in Australia, Luke Reardon. If that wasn’t enough, he also changed putters.
That might not have been nearly as significant as the good vibes from a six-shot victory two years ago at Conway Farms. Whatever the case, he had no complaints about his lowest score since a 63 in the AT&T Byron Nelson in May, and his best opening round since a 63 at The Players Championship a year ago, which was the last tournament he won.
Day called Thursday a “good step in the right direction.”
Charley Hoffman, picked for the Presidents Cup a week ago, birdied his last two holes for a 64. Jamie Lovemark also had a 64 with a little more style, drilling a fairway metal over the creek to eight feet from the hole to set up an eagle on the par-5 18th.
Jordan Spieth, a runner-up in the past two tournaments to take over the No. 1 spot in the standings, turned a wild tee shot into a birdie on the opening hole, added a 30-foot birdie from off the green at No. 5 and settled down the rest of the way for a bogey-free 65.
Also at 65 were Keegan Bradley, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Tony Finau and Rickie Fowler.
Former Baylor School golfer Luke List shot a 68 and was tied for 24th.
The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after this week make it to the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club for a mathematical shot at the $10 million bonus, with odds significantly higher depending on the position in the standings. The top five players — Spieth, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson already are assured of being in that group — would only have to win at East Lake to claim golf’s richest prize.
List, who has earned $1.72 million in tournament winnings in the 2016-17 season, was 55th in the standings entering the BMW Championship.
Uihlein in lead
BOISE, Idaho — Peter Uihlein shot a 9-under 62 to take the Albertsons Boise Open lead, two weeks after wrapping up a PGA Tour card with a victory in the Web.com Tour Finals opener.
Uihlein birdied five of his last seven holes at Hillcrest Country Club. He had a one-stroke lead over Alex Cejka in the second of four events that will determine 25 PGA Tour cards.
Ryan Armour, second to Uihlein in Columbus, Ohio, to lock up a PGA Tour card, was two strokes back at 64, along with Ted Potter Jr.
Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golfer Jonathan Hodge and Athens, Tenn., native Eric Axley were part of the group tied for 54th at 69. Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger and Baylor School alum Keith Mitchell were among those tied for 109th at 72, while former Dalton High School golfer Blake Adams shot a 75 and was near the bottom of the field.
Canadian twist
PORTLAND, Ore. — Judith Kyrinis won the first all-Canadian final in United States Golf Association history, beating Terrill Samuel 4 and 3 in the final of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Waverley Country Club.
Kyrinis, 53, is a registered nurse and mother of three in suburban Toronto. She joined Gayle Borthwick (1996, 1998) and Marlene Stewart Streit (2003) as the only Canadian champions in the event for players 50 and older.
Samuel, 56, is a teacher in the Toronto area.