The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Holmes aces his way to 1st-round lead at Riviera
In a round where Tiger Woods kept missing short putts, J.B. Holmes took the lead because of a tee shot that needed no putting at all.
Holmes made a hole-inone with an 8-iron on the par-3 sixth hole, followed with a birdie and wound up with an 8-under 63 for a oneshot lead over Jordan Spieth when the first round finally ended Friday in Los Angeles.
“It was awesome to see that,” Holmes said about his ace.
The ball landed well behind the pin on the left side of the bunker and spun back some 20 feet on the rain-soaked greens of Riviera.
“Hit it exactly how I wanted it, and it went in,” Holmes said. “It looked good the whole time.”
Spieth first was set to tee off at 7:22 a.m. Thursday until the round was scrapped after his opening tee shot on No. 10 and eventually began anew seven hours later because of the rain. He played six holes Friday morning to complete a bogey-free round of 64.
Woods didn’t start his 10th appearance at Riviera as a pro until Friday morning, and while he got off to a rough start with a pair of three-putt bogeys, he answered with four straight birdies around the turn. But then he threeputted from long range on the 12th. The real blow was on the par-5 17th, where he missed a 20-foot birdie putt, and then his 30-inch par putt missed the hole.
All four bogeys were from three-putts.
“I hit it well and putted awful,” Woods said. “Four three-putts is ridiculous.”
Justin Thomas and Adam Scott, whose lone victory at Riviera came in 2005 over 36 holes because of the rain, were in the group at 66. Jimmy Walker shot 67, as did Bill Haas, back at Riviera after he was involved in a fatal car crash last year.
Everyone will face a long day before the end of the week. The plan was to make the cut this afternoon, play until dark and then try to wrap up Sunday. Two years ago, Dustin Johnson had to play 36 holes on Sunday.
Spieth took advantage of the restart on Thursday. His opening shot on the par-4 10th hit the cart path twice and went into shin-high grass so thick that it would have been hard work just to get it out. The round was scrapped, and he returned for a routine par. He made the rest look easy except for the 13th hole, where he hooked his tee shot into a eucalyptus tree, played a slice on the outer side of the trees and got up-anddown for par.
European Tour: Thomas Pieters battled the wind to shoot a 6-under-par 66 and move into a four-way tie for the lead after the second round of the European Tour’s World Super 6 in Perth, Australia. Pieters is joined by Panuphol Pittayarat, Matthew Griffin and Ryan Fox at 8 under at Lake Karrinyup.
LPGA: Karrie Webb had one of those moments during the Women’s Australian Open on Friday that might have made her feel like one of the weekend golfers following her behind the spectator ropes at The Grange, or watching on TV. Short-siding herself in a bunker on the par-3 14th, five-time champion Webb hit it across the green and watched it dribble into a bunker on the other side. She ended up taking a double-bogey 5 on her way to a 74 and is seven strokes behind second-round leaders Wei-Ling Hsu and Madelene Sagstrom in Adelaide, Australia.
“I’m disappointed not to play better,” Webb said.
Sagstrom had her second straight 67, while Hsu shot 69. They were both at 10-under 134. American Nelly Korda, who shot 66 Friday, and Australian Hannah Green (69) were among those tied for third, three strokes behind.
PGA Tour Champions: Playing partners Sandy Lyle and Stephen Ames matched the course record at 8-under 63 to share the first-round lead in the Chubb Classic at Naples, Florida. Lyle topped a leaderboard for the first time in 155 career starts on the 50-and-over tour. The 61-year-old Scot won the 1985 British Open and 1988 Masters.