Buick Open, Round 1 (PGATOUR.com)
July 30, 2009
CONDITIONS RECEPTIVE TO SCORING (3 p.m.): In the morning wave, Steve Lowery took advantage of near-perfect conditions at Warwick Hills, shooting a bogey-free, 9-under 63. On the front (his back-nine), Lowery posted seven birdies on Nos. 1-4 and 7-9 for a 7-under 29, tying the 9-hole scoring record at Warwick Hills. (See the chart below for the others who've achieved that feat.)
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Lowery's 63 is also two strokes off the course-record 11-under 61, set twice by Billy Mayfair in 2001's final round and again by Tiger Woods in round two of 2005. It's also three shots off Lowery's career best, a 12-under 60 in the final round of the 1997 Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.—Doug Milne
Front-nine 29s at Warwick Hills Player Round Year Trevor Dodds Third 1987 Kenny Perry Second 2001 Vijay Singh Third 2005
Steve MATTESON MAKING A MOVE (2:40 p.m.): The morning wave pretty much shredded Warwick Hills and some in the afternoon groups are doing the same. Troy Matteson is 6 under through his first 11 holes with two eagles and two birdies ( to follow live with Shot Tracker).
Senden's first eagle came on the par-5 13th, where he was one of three players to make eagle after chipping in from just off the putting surface. Senden's second eagle of the day came on the par-4 second hole, where he holed out from 135 yards. One more and he'll match the record for number of eagles by a player in this tournament (see chart below).—Brian Wacker
Most eagles in one tournament: Buick Open Eagles Player Year 3 Fred Couples 1994 3 Hal Sutton 2000 3 Steve Flesch 2002 3 Carlos Franco 2003 3 Tiger Woods 2005 3 Matt Jones 2008
DALY UPDATE (2:35 p.m.): Tiger Woods isn't the only player off to a slow start at the Buick Open. John Daly is 1 over through his first six holes with two bogeys and a birdie. Unlike Woods, however, Daly has been wild with the driver, hitting just 1 of 5 fairways so far and 3 of 6 greens in regulation.
Then there's Greg Chalmers. He played his first nine holes in even par with nine straight pars before rolling off six birdies over his final nine holes for a back-nine 30 and a 6-under 66.—Brian Wacker
TIGER UPDATE (2:20 p.m.): This is not the kind of start Tiger Woods was looking for. He is 2 over through his first six holes with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 5. On the second hole, he three-putted from just inside 12 feet. Similarly, it took Woods three shots to get home from just off the back of the fifth green, two-putting from just inside 6 feet. On the bright side, Woods has hit all five fairways and has only missed two greens in regulation so far. There's a lot of golf to go, but Woods will have to turn it around at some point if he wants to avoid missing the cut.—Brian Wacker
SENDEN MATCHES SEASON LOW (1:55 p.m.): Not to be overlooked on the leaderboard is John Senden, who matched his season-low today with a round of 64— a score he shot for the fourth time this year, most recently before today in the final round in Memphis.
Today, Senden hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation—despite hitting just 5 of 14 fairways. He also had 10 one-putts and at one point made five straight birdies en route to a back-nine 31. He, like leader Steve Lowery, had a very good approach shot distance to the pin at 28 feet, 10 inches and his putts made distance was 5 feet, 8 inches.—Brian Wacker
MORE ON LOWERY (1:30 p.m.): Seeing Steve Lowery's name atop the leaderboard at the Buick Open is more than just a subtle surprise. Lowery had just two top-25s this season and one of those came at the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship in January. The other came in Milwaukee two weeks ago, where he closed with a final-round 66 to snag a tie for 24th.
His 63 was his best score of the year by two strokes—he shot a 65 in the second round of the 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer—and he's only made five more cuts than he's missed this season.
Lowery also doesn't rank in the top 50 in any major statistical category on the PGA TOUR and comes in at 165th in scoring average at 71.59. Thursday, though, he hit a lot of fairways and greens and made the putts he needed to with 12 one-putts, including seven of them over his final nine holes. That, folks, is how you shoot 63.—Brian Wacker
TIGER ON THE COURSE (1:10 p.m.): Tiger Woods, fresh off just the fifth missed cut of his career, is on the golf course at Warwick Hills, where he's hoping wide fairways and big greens will help him straighten out his game. Plus, he's won there twice and twice been a runner-up.
In yesterday's pro-am, Woods shot 5 under, citing the soft conditions. Well, they appear to still be soft, hence all the low numbers so far, which Woods predicted there would be under those conditions. Now let's see what he can do.
"I worked on my speed," said Woods of his pro-am round. "I finished the hole early, and putted around a little bit until I got my speed on the greens, and after that I played the golf course normal. You can get a little bit of work in, but obviously you can't get as much work in as you normally would on a true practice round."
Track Woods' round live with Shot Tracker by .—Brian Wacker
LOWERY THE LEADER (12:30 p.m.): Steve Lowery is the early clubhouse leader at the Buick Open, where he just closed out a 9-under 63 with three straight birdies to cap a 29 on the front nine at Warwick Hills.
Lowery, who started on the back nine and at one point made four straight birdies, hit all but three greens in regulation and missed only three fairways. But the real key to the lowest round of his season was his proximity to the hole—just 28 feet, 8 inches—and his putts made distance—6 feet, 4 inches. Those rank eighth and third in the field, respectively.
Both of those stats are considerably better than his season averages. Coming into this week, Lowery ranked 155th on the PGA TOUR in proximity to the hole at 36 feet, 7 inches and 69th in putts per round at 28.83 (he took 23 putts Thursday).—Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Lowery's scorecard from today ( to replay it with Shot Tracker):
WHERE'S VIJAY? (12:15 p.m.): Tiger Woods has won the Buick Open twice and finished runner-up twice. Jim Furyk won here in 2003 and has eight top-10s in 14 starts at Warwick Hills. Woody Austin finished second each of the last two years and has six top-10s in 14 starts. They're all in the field again this year. So where's Vijay Singh, a three-time winner of this event?
Singh is busy preparing for six tournaments through August and September, acording to Camp Singh—four of those are Playoff events. So even though Singh has had plenty of success here, his 46-year-old body, which has been beaten up a bit this year, needed to energize itself for a run at defending his FedExCup title.—Brian Wacker
SENDEN ON A STREAK (12 p.m.): We've got a new leader at the moment in John Senden, who has birdied his last five holes and 6 of his last 7 to get to 8 under on the day.
That's a pretty good stretch for anyone, much less someone coming off back-to-back missed cuts at the RBC Canadian Open and the British Open. Senden has gone low this year, though, shooting a final-round 64 at the St. Jude Classic presented by FedEx, where he finished in a tie for fourth, and 65-64 on the weekend at the HP Byron Nelson Championship to finish seventh. He also had an opening-round 65 at the Shell Houston Open. Follow the rest of Senden's round live with Shot Tracker by .—Brian Wacker
ONE LEGEND ON ANOTHER (11:40 a.m.): For those of you who missed Bob Seger's press conference following his pro-am round with Tiger Woods, here are some highlights from the interview, which was pretty entertaining, Seger was in golf nirvana to say the least.—Brian Wacker
Bob Seger interview highlights Q. What did Tiger tell you as far as advice on your golf game?
BOB SEGER: He's just a very nice guy. You know, very personable and very nice to a lot of people out there. And oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what a thrill, you know. I mean nine putts on the front nine. He didn't miss a putt on the front nine. I went 9-under, so that helped. (Laughs). He missed one fairway all day, 18. And he hit every par-3, so 17 for 18. You see that and to be eight feet away, wow, what a thrill. What a great golf thrill. I mean I'm a golf fan. My wife and I go to tournaments all the time. We play together all the time, my wife and I. So it's just a really interesting golf nirvana right there. Eight feet away watching the best maybe who ever was.
Q. Did Tiger have a good sense of your career and who you are?
BOB SEGER: I gotta tell you this. This is funny. About five years ago I met Tiger—he won't remember, but Al Sutton took me to the Ryder Cup room. So I met everybody. Phil wasn't there. He was off doing something. But I met everybody on the team except for Phil, and Tiger goes up and I'm taking pictures with all the golfers' wives, all Furyk and Saxon. Tiger is right here. And I see Tiger off in the corner he's talking to Chris, young Chris, and he says, "who's he?" He had no idea who I was. (Laughs). He was 25 at the time, 25, 26.
Q. Bob, you've done some pretty cool things in your time. How does this compare with some of the other cool things that you've done in your life?
BOB SEGER: I've played golf for about 16 years, but this is it. This is top of the—I mean you can't get better than this. This is really something.
For the complete interview transcript, click here.
LOTS OF RED, BUT NO RECORDS (11:25 a.m.): Tiger Woods doesn't tee off until about 90 minutes from now, but there's already plenty of red on the leaderboard in the opening round of the Buick Open, where Steve Lowery is currently alone atop the leaderboard at 6 under through his first 14 holes.
In the in-case-you're-wondering department, though, they've got a ways to go before any records are set (unlike last week where there were records set for consecutive birdies and most holes-in-one). The lowest 18-hole score ever shot in the Buick Open is a 61—by Tiger Woods in the second round in 2005 and by Billy Mayfair in the final round in 2001—and the lowest opening-round score is a 62, shot by Sonny Skinner in 1997.
Who (or where) is Skinner? He's a club pro in Georgia who has played in four Nationwide Tour events this season, missing the cut in each of them.—Brian Wacker
LOWERY GOING LOW (11:15 a.m.): It's not the that Mark Calcavecchia made at last week's RBC Canadian Open, but Steve Lowery has climbed into contention on the strength of four straight birdies on the front nine at Warwick Hills ( to follow his round live with Shot Tracker).
After making the turn in 34—Lowery started on the back—he hit each of his next four approach shots inside 13 feet before rolling in the four birdie putts. That moves Lowery into a share for the lead at the moment. Not surprisingly given the size of Warwick Hills' fairways and greens, the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am champion has hit 9 of 11 fairways and 11 of 14 greens in regulation so far. As a result, he's one-putted nine holes so far.—Brian Wacker
WILLIAMSON OUT FAST (11 a.m.): Jay Williamson has played in 340 PGA TOUR events and never won. Well, he's trying to change that quickly this week. He's the early leader right now, playing his first 13 holes at the Buick Open in 6 under ( to follow his round live with Shot Tracker.
Williamson didn't waste any time getting off to a fast start with birdies on 5 of his first 6 holes. The only blemish so far was a bogey on the par-5 16th hole, where he three-putted from 13 feet. Of course, Williamson got off to a good start here last year, too, shooting an opening-round 68 before failing to break 70 the rest of the week.
Among the players chasing Williamson: David Duval, who is 4 under through his first 10 holes. Duval, who was a runner-up at the U.S. Open, hasn't made a cut since, but is playing much better this week with only 14 putts so far and 7 of 10 greens in regulation.—Brian Wacker
Groups We're Watching Tee time Players 8:12 a.m. ET, Hole No. 10 
David Duval, Lee Janzen, John MerrickJanzen was T5 last week and has three top-25s in the last two months. Duval hasn't made a cut since his U.S. Open T2. 12:45 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10 
Nathan Green, K.J. Choi, Brandt SnedekerGreen is looking to build off his first victory. Snedeker was T5 in Canada. Choi needs to kickstart a lackluster year. 12:54 p.m. ET, Hole No. 10 
Tiger Woods, Jonathan Byrd, Todd HamiltonWoods can equal his win total from 2008 by winning here. His playing partners have five career wins combined. Live Essentials 
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