Eagle, late birdies give Kuchar lead
Matt Kuchar eagled the par-5 13th and added two late birdies and a big par save on the rowdy par-3 16th hole Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Waste Management Phoenix Open in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Coming off a seven-week break, Kuchar shot a 7-under 64 in perfect afternoon conditions at TPC Scottsdale for a one-stroke lead over defending champion Hideki Matsuyama and Brendan Steele.
“I was able to be home, able to be dad,” Kuchar said about the layoff. “The boys got to play basketball. Got to go to the games and it was great fun for me. My boys are 9 and 7. Getting into golf. In the afternoon, we’d sneak out and play a few holes.”
The crowd was estimated at 103,420 on the stadium layout.
“Someone told me it was 5 million,” Kuchar joked. “So many people out here. It’s a good buzz. It’s a good vibe.”
He made a 25-foot eagle putt on 13.
“Chased a 3-wood up on the corner of the green, and it was a pretty straightforward 25-footer,” Kuchar said. “That was a lucky place to be on that hole. Some of these pins were hard to get at. That was one that was hard to get at.”
Matsuyama had a bogeyfree round in the morning. Last year, he beat Rickie Fowler in a playoff.
“I wish I knew why I play well here,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “I did hit the ball very well today, hit a lot of greens, a lot of good shots.”
He won four times worldwide late last year, taking the World Golf ChampionshipsHSBC Champions in China, two events in Japan and Tiger Woods’ unofficial Hero World Challenge in December.
Steele holed out from 194 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th
“We were trying to land it about 10 yards short,” Steele said. “Little outside right, and I pulled it just a touch. It landed about a yard left and about 4 yards short and went in the hole.”
John Peterson, Robert Garrigus, Scott Brown, Byeong Hun An and Chris Kirk shot 66. Fowler, 2015 winner Brooks Koepka, two-time champion J.B. Holmes, Steve Stricker, Martin Laird, Webb Simpson, Graham DeLaet and Alex Cejka were at 67. Stricker is making his first start of the year. He will be 50 on Feb. 23.
Fowler made a 16-foot par save on the par-4 11th — his second hole of day — after driving into the water. “To par the first three holes was nice. I could have easily been 3 over,” he said.
Phil Mickelson opened with a 68 in his third consecutive start in his return from two sports hernia surgeries to top playing partners Justin Thomas and Adam Hadwin, the latest players to shoot 59. Mickelson, 46, parred the final nine holes after birdieing Nos. 8 and 9 to get to 3 under.
“I’ll take 3 under,” he said. “I’ve got to get it a little bit better off the tee tomorrow. My iron play has been pretty good, so I should be able to make some birdies if I get the ball in play.”
Other tournament
Dubai Desert Classic: Missing fairways, missing greens and piling up the putts, Tiger Woods got off to a rough start at Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The 14-time major winner failed to record a birdie and shot a 5-over 77, 12 shots behind leader Sergio Garcia (65). “I left probably about 16 putts short. I just couldn’t get the speed of these things,” Woods said.