Small, enthusiastic crowd sees Snedeker soar to lead
For much of Thursday, therewas a large crowd a top the Vivint Houston Open leader board at Memorial Park, where a small but often enthusiastic crowd had gathered to watch PGA Tour golfers play for the first time in more than six decades.
Good news on all counts, actually. Logjams are fun, although Brandt Snedeker eventually broke this one up with back-to-back late birdies that allowed him to post a 65 and build a two-stroke cushion on the half-dozen gents not socially distancing in second place.
And any crowd on a golf course in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic is to be conditionally celebrated.
“Pretty much everyone was wearing a mask that I saw, so I felt very safe out there on the course,” said Scottie Scheffler, the 24year-old Texan who was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year last season and who was among six who shot 67. “It’s just definitely good to see people out here again. I think it’s great that theyhave the freedom to come out here and watch. The energy is definitely different than when it’s just us playing.”
Scheffler has a vested interest in both. His parents, down from Dallas, were among those following his round.
Tournament officials sold 2,500 tickets that got snatched up quickly. Under normal, non-COVID-19 pandemic circumstances, the refurbished track a few miles west of downtown, which last hosted a Tour event in 1963, could handle, ballpark, 25,000. “Ballpark” is apt here, because without the efforts of Astros owner Jim Crane, a scratch golfer himself, there might be no tournament here for fans or players to attend.
In short, nobody should have been complaining about anything on either side of the virtual gallery ropes, the occasional user-error errant swing notwithstanding. Snedeker, for one, wasn’t.
“I drove it great, and around this golf course, you have to be in the fairway. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long day for you,” he said. “I did a great job of that, made some putts and birdied every par 5 out there. This course is a long, tough golf course, so to play well you need to take advantage of the scoring holes, which I did a great job of today.”
Many wondered if the venerable public course, even after its $15 million makeover, would be up to the challenge of the modern pro. It was. Multiple players used the adjective “tough.” Despite the perfect weather, not a single player managed a bogey-free round. Even the guy who helped course architect Tom Doak tweak it had to have been impressed. Brooks Koepka managed only a 72, two swings over par.
“Obviously, having a hand in (the redesign) is special, so you want to play well,” Koepka said. “But I just hit it terrible today.”
He had company. For example, world No. 1 Dustin Johnson. Returning to competition after a six-week COVID-19 hiatus that included11 days isolated alone in a hotel room, he also struggled home with a 72. Last season’s FedEx Cup champion started with a birdie on his first hole, No. 10, but then endured five bogeys over the rest of the back nine.
He and the four others ranked in the top 20, Tyrell Hatton (10), Adam Scott (15), Tony Finau (17) and Hideki Matsuyama (20), were all within three strokes of each other. Finau is 1 under after his 69, Matsuyama matched par with a 70, Hatton had a 1-over 71, and Scott was another swing behind at 72. Finau and Scott have also recently recovered from COVID-19. Some 16 players total are known to have been infected.
Phil Mickelson, who returned to Houston in large part because the COVID-delayed Masters will finally be played at Augusta National next week— with no fans attending — had two more double bogeys (two) than birdies (zero).
At one point, five players were in the clubhouse sharing the lead with 67s, and two otherswere on the back side at 3 under. Scheffler, 24, was already 3 under through four holes and would be the only one other than Snedeker toget to 4 under on the day. Buthe closed with a bogey on 18.
The soon-to-be 40-yearold Snedeker, who has put up competitive rounds of 59 and 60 in a career that has seen him win nine PGA titles, birdied No. 13, only to cancel that out with a bogey at 14 before the rapid-fire birdies lifted him clear of the field.
Harold Varner III was 1 over through his first 13 holes before he reeled off four consecutive birdies, followed by a closing par fo r67. Also two swings behind Snedeker were Cameron Davis, Michael Thompson, Carlos Ortiz and Jason Day, who shaved five strokes off par on the front nine after staggering through the turn at 2 over.
Varner may be only 5foot-8, but he flat out pulverizes a golf ball off the tee and, hence, is a fanfavorite. The feeling is mutual.
“I like showing off, I like performing, so it’s good for me,” Varner said of having any kind of gallery back in the mix. “I think people need people right now. It’s an important thing. Obviously, (there are) a lot of masks, but inside I know they’re smiling, excited to be out here.”
Note, however, that Varner’s most recent competitive round, in Bermuda last week, required 80 swings. (He confessed that “focus can be an issue” when folks get crazy celebrating his prodigious drives.) That tournament allowed 500 fans to attend each day, ending a Tour spectator bant hat had been in place since March because of COVID worries.
Like Varner, Finau enjoys playing to — and with — a crowd.
“When they said my name on the first tee,” he said, “it was cool to have some people cheer. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard that.”