The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Curry shoots 4-over 74 at Web.Com Tour event
Golden State Warriors’ guard Stephen Curry shot a 4-overpar 74 Thursday in the opening round of the Web.Com Tour event. Thomas Pieters leads the Bridgestone Invitational by one.
AKRON, OHIO » Rory McIlroy had his best friend on the bag and his best start on American soil in 18 months. For Jordan Spieth, it was more of the same with two long putts and another comment filled with bravado directed at his caddie.
Both of them opened with a 3-under 67 at the Bridgestone Invitational, leaving them two shots behind Thomas Pieters of Belgium.
Pieters, playing only for the sixth time since he challenged briefly at the Masters this year, holed a 30foot birdie putt on his final hole at Firestone to finish a day of good scoring with a one-shot lead over Russell Knox.
The opening two rounds were moved up to the morning because of a forecast of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
McIlroy split with J.P. Fitzgerald, his caddie of nine years, after the British Open. He decided to use Harry Diamond, who played amateur golf for Ireland and was the best man at McIlroy’s wedding, for the Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship next week.
It didn’t have much bearing on McIlroy’s game, which was fine. McIlroy won at Firestone the last time he played it in 2014.
“We both did the numbers and I sort of consulted him a couple of times. Yeah, it was good,” McIlroy said. “There was a couple of shots that I hit or a couple of clubs that I pulled that I maybe should have just thought a little bit more about. It’s been a while since I’ve paced yardages off and written notes in my book.”
One of them was at No. 9, his last hole, when he went some 50 feet long on his approach and three-putted for bogey. Even so, it was a solid start, and that’s what has held back McIlroy in recent months when he missed three cuts in four tournaments, and then started poorly at the British Open.
Spieth has no such concerns, having won two straight events going into this World Golf Championship with an eye toward next week at the PGA Championship and his shot at becoming the youngest player to complete the Grand Slam.
The opening round was no place to lose ground in such good scoring conditions. Dustin Johnson did his part with a 68. He hasn’t won since the Match Play just two weeks before his staircase injury that knocked him out of the Masters. Johnson only wants to give himself a chance to win, and he says all the parts are in working order for that.
Bubba Watson, also showing signs of getting his game turned around, was also in the group at 67 that included Kevin Kisner and Jon Rahm.
Curry shoots 74
Stephen Curry pumped his right fist, raised his arms in the air with club in hand and gave a firm shoulder bump to caddie Jonnie West, his golf partner on road trips with the Golden State Warriors.
After three bogeys in five holes of his professional golf debut, a birdie was worthy of celebration.
There was the animated, confident Steph that NBA fans know so well, the twotime league MVP finally feeling it and making the tough shots on the challenging course at TPC Stonebrae while competing in a tournament one step below the PGA Tour.
With a bogey on the last hole, he had a respectable 4-over 74.
“It was an amazing experience, I’ve been looking forward to this since I found out and to finally hit my first shot in tournament play was a really, really nervous moment but it was everything I hoped for,” Curry said. “If you told me I was going to shoot 74 going into the first round I’d take that all day, every day. I’m pretty happy with it.”
Curry drew 300-plus fans to the Web.com Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic in Hayward, California, where Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice has played a few times in the past.
The star point guard of the champion Warriors high-fived fans between holes on the picturesque course providing panoramic views overlooking San Francisco Bay, and he chatted with the other two in his threesome, Sam Ryder and defending champion Stephan Jaeger. Both will be on the PGA Tour next season.
Curry missed badly on his opening tee shot. The drive landed off a hill and bounced perfectly into the cup holder of a golf cart.
Curry finished the par-5 15th by sinking a 5-foot, downhill birdie putt. He made par on No. 16 then survived a tee shot to the bunker and a near stumble climbing out of the sand on the par-4 18th and made about an 8-footer to save par. That prompted a triumphant club tap to his shoe and Curry then held up the ball sporting a big grin.
Curry began his round on the back nine. He made the turn in 2 over.
The top 65 and ties from the 156-player field will make the cut. Curry, playing on a sponsor exemption and one of three amateurs in the field, was outside the top 140 and five shots below the cut line as the first round was headed for a conclusion.
Wie out in front
Finishing fast after a slow start, Michelle Wie birdied her last three holes Thursday for an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead in the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland.
Wie bogeyed the par-5 second hole at Kingsbarns Links, and that was the last of her mistakes. The 27-year-old American shot 30 on the back nine and wound up one shot ahead of I.K. Kim of South Korea.