First-round notebook – Turning Stone Resort Championship
* Tim Petrovic chipped-in twice during his round of 6-under 66, posting seven birdies and one bogey. It represents the third time this season that he has opened a Tournament with 66. Petrovic posted 66 at the John Deere Classic where he finished T5 and the Wyndham Championship, finishing T24.* Tim Petrovic has held the 18-hole lead/co-lead twice previously in his career. Petrovic shared the first-round lead at the 2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic, eventually finishing second. He also shared the lead after round one at the 2008 Bob Hope Classic, finishing T44.
* Tim Petrovic and Leif Olson share the lead at 6-under 66. Matt Kuchar, John Senden and Vaughn Taylor are one stroke back at 5-under 67. Seven players completed the first round at 4-under 68. Colt Knost (1-under thru 15) is the leading player of those yet to finish.
* Preferred lies “through the green” are in effect for the first two rounds. The last time preferred lies “through the green” (as opposed to “closely mown fairway only”) were allowed on the PGA Tour was at the 2005 BellSouth Classic, which was also the last time it snowed during a Tournament.
* Leif Olson (66), a 28-year-old native of Denver is a rookie on Tour after advancing through all three stages of the 2008 PGA Tour Qualifying School where he began the final round T25 and shot 5-under 67 to earn his card on the cut line.
* Leif Olson has made four cuts in 17 starts this year, including three consecutive in July. He entered this week at No. 214 on the money list with $64,966. Olson’s only PGA Tour start entering 2009 was a missed cut at the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
* Leif Olson equaled his career low round on the PGA Tour with his first-round 66. Olson also shot 66 in round two of the Wyndham Championship – his most recent round on Tour before Thursday’s opening round at Turning Stone.
* Leif Olson has never held the lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA Tour.
* No rookie has won on Tour this year – something that hasn’t happened since 1998. Last year, rookies Dustin Johnson and Marc Turnesa both won during the Fall Series.
* John Senden (67) has played 13 of the last 14 events on the PGA Tour schedule dating to the AT&T National. The only Tournament he missed was the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for which he was not eligible. Senden will return to his native Australia for a month off after this week.
* John Senden hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation in round one. Senden leads the Tour in Greens In Regulation with a 70.54% average coming into the week.
* John Senden is one of three players at Turning Stone who played at THE Tour Championship last week. Senden, who finished 24th in the FedExCup Playoffs, is joined by fellow Australian Marc Leishman (75), who is favored to win Rookie of the Year honors, and this week’s defending champion, Dustin Johnson (69).
* Speaking of Australians, 17 of the 24 Australian members listed in the 2009 PGA Tour Media Guide are at Turning Stone this week, along with Michael Sim (making 18 of 25) who is playing on a sponsor’s exemption. Sim (5-over thru 15) is the ninth player in Nationwide Tour history to earn a Three-Win Promotion to the PGA Tour after his victory at the Christmas in October Classic in Kansas City. He took four weeks off during the FedExCup Playoffs.
* Australian Matt Jones, a Monday qualifier this week, posted a bogey-free 68 in the first round.
* Robert Allenby (77), ranked No. 30 on the Official World Golf Rankings, is the highest-ranked player in the field. Others in the top-50 here this week include Ben Curtis (35th/71), Dustin Johnson (40th/69), Rory Sabbatini (42nd/73) and Jeev M. Singh (49th/70).
* Nicholas Thompson bogeyed the par-5 18th hole to post 4-under 68 however he was not the best player in his family today. Thompson’s 14-year-old sister Alexis lies one stroke off the lead, in second place, at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama after a 7-under 65.
* The low round of the 2008 Turning Stone Resort Championship was 6-under 66 by Davis Love III in the third-round. The Tournament 18 hole record is 8-under 64 shot by Jeff Maggert and Jarrod Lyle, both in round two of 2007.
* Kevin Stadler (68) opened the first round with a birdie and closed it with birdies at his last two holes. Stadler also holed a 117-yard pitch-shot for eagle at the par-5 eighth hole and posted his lone bogey at the 13th hole after driving into the water hazard right of the fairway.
* Kevin Stadler has five top-25 finishes this year including a playoff loss to Ryan Moore at the Wyndham Championship.
* Craig Stadler, father of Kevin, is competing at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship this week at the Baltimore Country Club on the Champions Tour. Stadler senior shot 1-over 71 in the first round and lies six strokes behind leader Lonnie Nielson.
* Two players who won on the Champions Tour this year in their debut appearances – Tom Pernice Jr. (SAS Championship) and Michael Allen (Senior PGA Championship) – are in the field this week. Pernice shot 71 while Allen posted 72, breaking a string of eight consecutive rounds in the 60s at Turning Stone’s Atunyote course, where he was runner-up in 2007.
* Adam Scott (68) recorded seven birdies and a double bogey in the first round, hitting 14 of 18 greens and taking 28 putts. This represents the fourth time this season Scott has posted a first-round in the 60s.
Score Tournament Eventual Finish
68 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial T64
69 U.S. Open T36
66 Wyndham Championship MC
68 Turning Stone Resort Championship TBD
* Thursday’s opening round kicked-off National Breast Cancer Awareness month. The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York is one of the Tournament beneficiaries this year. Breast cancer survivors were admitted free on Thursday and everyone was encouraged to wear pink during the first round to bring awareness to the cause. Co-leader Tim Petrovic showed off his pink socks during his post-round interview.
* The Kodak Challenge hole this week is the par-3 11th at Atunyote which played 201-yards in the first round. The competition celebrates beautiful holes and memorable moments on the PGA Tour. Players must play at least 18 of the 30 Kodak Challenge holes throughout the season to compete for $1 million and the Kodak Challenge title. A player’s lowest score relative to par on his best 18 Kodak Challenge holes will be counted. Kodak Challenge leader Kevin Streelman, at 13-under, made par at the 11th hole in round one to maintain his lead.
* A unique “Smile & Win” spotter promotion awards instant prizes to fans wearing Kodak lanyards throughout the course at the Turning Stone Resort Championship. The free lanyards can be picked up at the Kodak Fan Photo Zone on hole #13 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day of the Tournament. Winners will be randomly spotted throughout the Tournament. A variety of instant prizes will include Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Cameras, Turning Stone Resort merchandise and one lucky grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 Frys.com gift card.
* Matt Kuchar (67) was bogey-free in the first round. Also bogey-free were John Senden (67), Vaughn Taylor (67), Ken Duke (68), Jimmy Walker (68), Matt Jones (68), Robert Garrigus (69), Casey Wittenberg (70), Brian Vranesh (71) and Ben Curtis (71).
* Mathew Goggin withdrew after a first-round 79. Tommy Armour III withdrew after nine holes of round one with a back injury. Jeff Klauk withdrew after a first round 79 with a foot injury.
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