First-round notebook – Frys.com Open
* Bob Heintz posted a 6-under 64 to sit just one stroke behind tournament-leader O’Hern. It is his second-best opening round of the season, falling one shy of the 63 he posted last week en route to a T19 finish at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Currently No. 171 on the money list, the Yale graduate entered this week with six consecutive made cuts.* D.A. Points, a 32-year-old native of Pekin, IL, birdied three of his first four holes en route to a 5-under 65 in his first-career start at the Frys.com Open. It represents the fourth time he has opened a TOUR event with a 65, one shy of his career-best opening round at the 2009 AT&T National (64, finished T31).
* Points, a four-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, is making his 28th start of the season and has already put up career-best numbers in top-10 finishes (3), top-25 finishes (6), cuts made (17), money earned ($1.1 million plus) and a career-best third-place finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
* Points’ 5-under 65 is his ninth sub-70 round in his last 10 attempts, dating to the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. The only round he didn’t post a round in the 60s during that stretch was a final-round 70 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (T18).
* Nick O’Hern birdied eight of the nine holes on the back nine at Grayhawk Golf Club on Thursday on his way to a 7-under 63 and a one-stroke lead over Bob Heintz and 2009 The Barclays champion Heath Slocum. His Frys.com Open record 7-under 28 falls one shy of the lowest nine-hole score this season, a 9-under 27 by Chris Riley during the second round of the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open.
* While he was perfect on eight of the holes on the back nine, Nick O’Hern recorded a bogey on the par-3 16th hole – this week’s Kodak Challenge hole. O’Hern sits No. 36 in the Kodak Challenge standings, while Scottsdale, AZ resident Kevin Streelman drained a 28-foot, 5-inch birdie putt on No. 16 to take a two-stroke lead over J.J. Henry. The 30-event competition concludes in two weeks at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic, with the winner taking home $1 million. Here’s a look at the current leaderboard:
1. Kevin Streelman 16-under
2. J.J. Henry 14-under
T3. Daniel Chopra 13-under
Nathan Green 13-under
Jason Gore 13-under
Steve Lowery 13-under
Bo Van Pelt 13-under
* It was a tale of two nines for Streelman on Thursday. He began his round on No. 10, posted six birdies and an opening-nine 6-under 29. A birdie on No. 1 and a par on No. 2 left him at 7-under through 11 holes, but he played the remaining holes in 7-over for an opening-round even-par 70.
* O’Hern’s 63 betters his previous best opening-round score on the PGA TOUR of 65, carded at the 2007 Memorial – his only previous first-round lead (finished T23) – and the 2008 Valero Texas Open.
* Currently No. 102 on the money list, O’Hern is making his 26th start of the season, with 16 made cuts and a season-best T3 at the Shell Houston Open. He missed the cut a year ago in his only previous start at the Frys.com Open.
* Eight Scottsdale, AZ residents currently sit within four shots of O’Hern after the first day of the Frys.com Open. The list at 4-under 66 includes Pat Perez, Ricky Barnes and Billy Mayfair, while Bryce Molder, Fred Couples, Martin Laird, Matt Jones and Michael Allen posted 3-under 67s.
* Three players in this week’s field have won on the Champions Tour this season, and all three posted solid opening-round scores on Thursday. Tom Pernice Jr. and Michael Allen opened with 3-under 67s, while Tom Lehman recorded a 68.
* U.S. Presidents Cup team captain and Scottsdale, AZ resident Fred Couples opened with a 3-under 67 in his first-ever start at the Frys.com Open, including five birdies in a six-hole stretch on Nos. 10-15. The recently-turned 50-year-old (October 3) is making his 16th start of the season, with three top-5 finishes already under his belt (T3-Northern Trust Open, T3-Shell Houston Open, T5-Wyndham Championship).
* Scottsdale, AZ resident Martin Laird followed up his first career PGA TOUR win last week in Las Vegas with a 3-under 67 on Thursday. The only player to win in back-to-back weeks in 2009 was Tiger Woods at the Buick Open and World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
* Mike Weir followed up his win at the 2007 Frys.com Open with a T4 finish in 2008. Playing in the afternoon wave, he opened up this year’s event in fine fashion as well with birdies on his first four holes en route to a 4-under 66.
* The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win just eight of 42 stroke-play events this season, most recently Steve Stricker at the Deutsche Bank Championship. The first-round leader/co-leader has failed to advance to the winner’s circle in the first two playings of the Frys.com Open.
* Sixty-eight of the 132 players in the field recorded under-par rounds on Thursday, while 92 posted par-or-better scores.
* Scoring Averages at the par-70 Grayhawk Golf Club:
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
Thursday 35.045 34.273 69.318
* The par-4 seventh hole played the toughest on Thursday, with a 4.455 average. The par-5 11th hole was the easiest, at 4.561.
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