Round 1 Notes – PODS Championship
Play was suspended at the 2008 Pat 2:10 p.m. due to a dangerous situation –
marking the first rain delay of the season. Play resumed at 4:40 p.m. and
was eventually suspended due to darkness at 6:20 p.m. with 72 players left
on the course. The first round will resume at 7:30 a.m., with the second
round beginning at 8:45 a.m.
The only tournaments affected by weather delays this season are the Bob
Hope Chrysler Classic (15-minute frost delay on Saturday) and the FBR Open
(frost delays each of the first three days). The last weather-related
suspension at the PODS Championship came during the second round in 2002
when lightning suspended play at 5:47 p.m.
Bart Bryant holds the clubhouse lead with a 6-under 65, one stroke ahead of
Kenny Perry, Jeff Maggert, Stewart Cink and Lee Janzen (thru 15 holes). The
three-time PGA TOUR winner has made the cut in four of five starts this
season, with a T16 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic his best outing.
Should his lead hold up when the first round is completed on Monday, it
would represent the fourth time in Bart Bryant’s career he has held the
first-round lead. The others came at the 1996 Sprint International
(finished T54), 2005 TOUR Championship (1st) and the 2006 Bay Hill
Invitational (T20).
Bryant is making his seventh start at the PODS Championship. After missing
the cut in his first appearance in 2000, he has made five consecutive cuts,
with a T12 in 2007 his best showing.
History hasn’t been kind to first-round leaders of the PODS Championship.
Since the inaugural event in 2000, the first-round leader/co-leader has
gone on to win just once in seven attempts (K.J. Choi, 2002).
Jeff Maggert’s 5-under 66 is his best opening round of the season (69, Sony
Open in Hawaii) and equals his season-best round at the Bob Hope Chrysler
Classic (Rd. 4). The 66 in Palm Springs was Maggert’s last sub-70 score,
marking a span of 15 rounds without breaking 70.
Dudley Hart withdrew prior to the start of the first round with a shoulder
injury. He was replaced by Jon Mills, who is currently 1-under through 16
holes. Mills also gained the final spot at this year’s FBR Open after Arron
Oberholser withdrew. He went on to a season-best T34 that week, one of four
made cuts in six starts this season. Mills is back on TOUR after finishing
fourth on the 2007 Nationwide Tour money list.
Monday Qualifier Ted Purdy, who opened with 2-under 69, is being assisted
this week by 16-year-old caddie Kenny Cavender. The two met earlier this
week when Purdy successfully Monday Qualified at the Fox Hollow Golf Club.
Cavender is playing his junior season on the golf team at nearby Mitchell
High School.
Four past champions of the PODS Championship are playing this week,
including defending champion Mark Calcavecchia (1-under thru 13 holes),
2005 winner Carl Pettersson (67), 2003 champion Retief Goosen (70) and 2000
winner John Huston (1-over thru 10 holes). All four players are seeking to
join K.J. Choi (2002, 2006) as the only multiple winners of the event.
In addition to Hart pulling out of the tournament with a shoulder injury,
Kevin Na (76) had to withdraw following his opening round with flu-like
symptoms.
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