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Go to golf.azcentral.com to read about former ASU star Jon Rahm having another brush with the rule book. practice in Dallas, he also hung out with a couple of Michaels in Cabo – Phelps and Jordan.
Then, it turned out, a missing piece to the puzzle of winning the Claret Jug came on the practice ground ahead of his first round. That’s when his coach, Cameron McCormick, offered him a piece of gum.
“I was 1-under through two, and I thought I better keep it in and it’s still in now,” Spieth said. “Payne Stewart used to do it and it served him well.”
A check of the forecast also ignited Spieth. As delightful as Thursday was, it will be equally dreadful on Friday. Steady winds are expected to reach 25 mph, lots of rain is supposed to fall, as will the temperatures.
“I thought today’s round was extremely important, as they all are, but given the forecast coming in, I thought you really needed to be in the red today,” Spieth said. “You can certainly make up ground, in a round like tomorrow, and we’ll see it happen, but being able to kind of play with shots or play a little more conservatively, you make a bogey, because you don’t try to do too much on a day like tomorrow, that’s nice and very helpful.
“… I think experience plays a big role in dealing with conditions at an Open Championship. And I feel like I’ve got a lot of experience for having played four. Had a chance to win. I’ve been on good ends of the draw, bad ends of the draw. I’m kind of prepared for the worst, having experienced it before. And understand that I can still make pars that way. You control the ball off the tee, keep your hands dry, and you grind from inside 10 feet or you make a mid-ranger for par, something to keep the momentum going, that’s important for tomorrow. Being mentally prepared is key. I think I’m going into it, at least going into it the right way, and we’ll see if I hold that together.”
Koepka hadn’t played since he romped at Erin Hills in Wisconsin to win the U.S. Open. In fact he only played one round before arriving in England. But once he got here, he played every day leading up to the championship.
He said he wasn’t concerned “one bit” about the inactivity.
“I’ve done the same thing for years, so it shouldn’t take too long to get back into it. But it was nice to get over here early and just kind of get a feel for the golf course and just kind of play again,” Koepka said. “It’s more mental with me, just being mentally recharged and being relaxed.
“… If I start playing four or five weeks in a row, everything just seems to get nonchalant. It just doesn’t ever seem like I’m fully ready to play.’’
SYLVANIA, Ohio - Gerina Piller shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday in the Marathon Classic to take a onestroke lead over U.S. Women’s Open champion Sung Hyun Park and Peiyun Chien.
Winless on the LPGA Tour, Piller had nine birdies and a bogey in the first round at Highland Meadows. The American birdied four of the first five holes and four of the last eight.