Showing posts with label FarmersinsOpen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FarmersinsOpen. Show all posts

1/29/2016

Dunne Fits Right in at Farmers

AP
PGA Tour newcomer Paul Dunne looked at ease in his firts outing carding a three-under-par 69 to finish round one three shots off the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

Dunne, at the tournament thanks to a sponsor's invite, shot a sole bogey to sit in a 19-way tie for 15th which also included Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson.

Offaly's Shane Lowry also made a solid start at Torrey Pines, going round in a one-under 71 

Americans Scott Brown and Andrew Loupe shared the lead as home players occupied the first seven places after the first round.

The duo were tied on six under par after both opened with rounds of 66 with Brown having eight birdies and two bogeys in his round.

Brown played the more difficult South Course whereas Loupe's opening round was on the North Course.

Brown said: "I hit it really well coming in, the last 11 holes. I made a couple of length putts and capitalised on the short ones.

"It's a hard golf course, if you're out of position you are immediately playing for par. Fortunately I drove it good and hit a lot of good iron shots today," Brown added in an interview on the PGA Tour website.

Loupe had two eagles, four birdies and two bogeys as he and Brown led fellow countrymen Billy Horschel, Patton Kizzire, Tom Hoge, Rob Hoppenheim and Harold Varner III by a single stroke.

A seven-way tie on five under par included Americans Gary Woodland, Brendan Steele, Scott Stallings, Matt Every and Chesson Hadley.

Also sharing eighth place were South Korea's KJ Choi and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama.

Defending champion Jason Day had gone into the tournament hoping to be competitive despite suffering from a virus but he ended the opening round tied forth 76th on even par in a group which also included England's Brian Davis.

English pair Greg Owen and Paul Casey both shot one over par rounds of 73 to be in a tie for 90th place.


1/27/2016

PGA Farmers is Dunne Deal


Paul Dunne is relishing the chance to take a big step towards his "overall goal" when he makes his PGA Tour debut at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday.

The Greystones hit the headlines last summer when he became the first amateur since 1927 to share the lead of the Open Championship after 54 holes, before eventually finishing 30th at St Andrews.

The 23-year-old went on to gain his European Tour card via the qualifying school in November but is taking advantage of a gap in his schedule, and a sponsor's invite, to play in the United States, where he attended the same college as former US Open champion Graeme McDowell - the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Dunne said playing on the PGA Tour is his ultimate ambition. 

"I'm very excited to make my PGA Tour debut this week and spend a few weeks in California," said Dunne, who turned pro after helping Great Britain and Ireland to Walker Cup glory.

"I set my goals at the start of the year to just try to improve every day." 

"When I was playing in college I was always striving to turn pro and play golf on a professional tour and I was excited to get my European Tour card back in November. Now I have a few weeks off the European Tour I'm really excited to see what the PGA Tour has to offer.

"Category 16 status on the European Tour is for Q-School graduates, so it doesn't get you in every event.

When I was looking at the schedule I knew I had the first couple of events in South Africa [he finished ninth in the Joburg Open] and then my category wouldn't get me into the events in the desert swing.

"So I knew I had a good break in tournaments and then we just sought places to play and looked to America. We were lucky enough to get invites over here.

"Obviously the overall goal for me would be to end up on the PGA Tour so any exposure I can get to that early is great.

"In terms of goals for the week, I kind of set my goals at the start of the year to just try to improve every day - get better each week and let results take care of themselves. So I'm just going to keep working on my game and hopefully I put some good scores together."

World number two Jason Day is a doubt for the defence of his title at Torrey Pines after being laid low by a virus.

Day pulled out of the pre-tournament pro-am but hopes to be fit enough on Thursday to play the opening round of the £4.5m event, one of the five tournaments he won in 2015.

The last time he missed a pro-am, he went on to shoot 61 in the opening round of the Barclays and win for the third time in four starts.

If Day does miss out, the event can still boast an impressive field, with new world number four Rickie Fowler making the 17-hour journey from Abu Dhabi after winning his second European Tour title on Sunday.

Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose are also competing.


2/10/2015

Lowry Mastering Dizzy Heights

Getty Images
Shane Lowry is up to a career high No 40 in golf's official world rankings with Rory McIlroy remaining out on top.

A closing 68 at the Farmer's Open open saw the Offaly native miss the play-off by just two shots.

The Clara man completed his opening tournament of 2015 and first event in 10 weeks in a tie for seventh on seven-under with Martin Laird of Scotland (69), Nick Watney (73) and Jimmy Walker (73).

Having struggled with the South Course on Thursday with a disappointing 74 Lowry bounced back with a second round 67 on Friday. Having dipped again with a 72 for the third round Lowry saved much of his best golf for last.

This stirring effort was good enough to clinch for Lowry his first top-10 finish in the US, just two outside a four-man playoff between JB Holmes, Harris English, Jason Day and defending champion Scott Stallings for the 2015 Farmers Open title.

Rory McIlroy remains No 1 in the rankings with a lead of more than four points over Henrik Stenson while Tiger Woods fell to 62nd, his worst mark since the year he joined the PGA Tour in 1996.

Lowry famously won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur, and within six years is set to make his Masters debut at Augusta National in April.