McGirt shoots six-under 64 to lead by
three at Bridgestone Invitational
AKRON, Ohio -- Golf in Ohio must bring out the best in William McGirt.
One
month after his first US PGA Tour victory at the Memorial, McGirt looked
just as good two hours up the road at the Bridgestone Invitational. In
his World Golf Championship debut, he opened with six birdies and
finished with a 45-foot par for a 6-under 64 and a 3-shot lead.
An Ohio sweep? That has happened only four times, and McGirt made a strong guess at the answer.
"Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods and Tiger Woods?" he said. "That would be pretty special company."
He left out Greg Norman in 1995 (Memorial and World Series of Golf). But that makes it no less a select group.
McGirt
had some decent company behind him after an opening round of warm
sunshine and fast conditions at Firestone. Jason Day, the world's No. 1
player, was among three players at 67, while Jordan Spieth managed to post a 68, despite having only one birdie attempt (he missed) in his first 10 holes.
"I wasn't supposed to shoot 2 under today," Spieth said.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson
had a U.S. Open kind of round -- 15 pars, two birdies and a bogey --
for a 69. His big celebration was walking off the 11th green to learn
his alma mater, Coastal Carolina, had just won the College World Series
for its first national title. His golf wasn't bad, considering he didn't
practice much last week while celebrating his first major (and 32nd
birthday) in The Bahamas.
"I didn't expect a whole lot today," Johnson said. "I always expect to play well, but this golf course is playing tough."
Only 17 players of the 61-man field broke par. The first round ended with only 58 players.
Daniel Berger withdrew after his opening tee shot with a shoulder injury. Brooks Koepka withdrew after 13 holes because of an ankle injury.
Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, playing at Firestone for the first time since 2009, withdrew after a 78 because of what was described as a torn labrum.
The field was missing Rory McIlroy and Masters champion Danny Willett, among several European Tour players who opted to play the French Open this week.
McGirt
had never played in a WGC until he became eligible with his play-off
victory at Muirfield Village a month ago. He showed up at Firestone on
Sunday, played nine holes and rode in a cart on the back nine.
"I
fell in love with the place because length is not everything out here,"
McGirt said.
"You have to drive it in the fairway. You have to drive it
in the correct spots in the fairways to be able to attack pins. I love
it because you can't stand up there and just hit it as hard as you want,
go find it and hack it on the green.
"It's an old, traditional-style
golf course, which I absolutely love. I don't know, maybe it's something
with Ohio I like."
The most peculiar round belonged to Spieth,
who said he has been in a lull the past month as he searches for
something in his swing, particularly his wedges.
It had the look of a
score closer to 74 or 75, except the former Masters and U.S. Open
champion kept hanging in there with pars.
One shot hit a tree and
bounced forward over the water into a bunker. He whiffed on a 7-iron
that left him a tough pitch, but he managed to save par from 8 feet.
He
ended the front nine with par-saving putts from 20 feet and 25 feet. It
wasn't until the 15th hole that he had back-to-back birdie putts, and
he started converting them. He holed the last four.
"I'm really
just searching for something that isn't far off, that's real simple,"
Spieth said. "It really is only taking place on my scoring clubs, but
that's where you need them. It's close. It's almost there. And when it
clicks, we're definitely in business, the way the short game is."
Emiliano Grillo and Jimmy Walker were at 67 with Day, while Spieth was joined by Rickie Fowler, Anirban Lahiri and Charley Hoffman.
Day
said he felt a burden lifted when he made his announcement to not play
in the Olympics because of Zika concerns, but he didn't think that
equated to his golf.
It was a tidy round with only one bogey and four
birdies and a pair of tough par saves from a bunker on No. 9 and behind
the green on the par-5 16th.
"It was just kind of a weird feeling
of a day where I kind of made some good pars, kept the momentum going
and all of a sudden I shot 67," Day said. "I've just got to keep
grinding until Sunday is over."
Russell Knox had a 74 to be T41 at the end of the first day.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 70
| 1 | -- |
| -6 | F | -6 | 64 | -- | -- | -- | 64 | |
| T2 | -- |
| -3 | F | -3 | 67 | -- | -- | -- | 67 | |
| T2 | -- |
| -3 | F | -3 | 67 | -- | -- | -- | 67 | |
| T2 | -- |
| -3 | F | -3 | 67 | -- | -- | -- | 67 | |
| T5 | -- |
| -2 | F | -2 | 68 | -- | -- | -- | 68 | |
| T5 | -- |
| -2 | F | -2 | 68 | -- | -- | -- | 68 | |
| T5 | -- |
| -2 | F | -2 | 68 | -- | -- | -- | 68 | |
| T5 | -- |
| -2 | F | -2 | 68 | -- | -- | -- | 68 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T9 | -- |
| -1 | F | -1 | 69 | -- | -- | -- | 69 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T18 | -- |
| E | F | E | 70 | -- | -- | -- | 70 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T26 | -- |
| 1 | F | 1 | 71 | -- | -- | -- | 71 | |
| T33 | -- |
| 2 | F | 2 | 72 | -- | -- | -- | 72 | |
| T33 | -- |
| 2 | F | 2 | 72 | -- | -- | -- | 72 | |
| T33 | -- |
| 2 | F | 2 | 72 | -- | -- | -- | 72 | |
| T33 | -- |
| 2 | F | 2 | 72 | -- | -- | -- | 72 | |
| T37 | -- |
| 3 | F | 3 | 73 | -- | -- | -- | 73 | |
| T37 | -- |
| 3 | F | 3 | 73 | -- | -- | -- | 73 | |
| T37 | -- |
| 3 | F | 3 | 73 | -- | -- | -- | 73 | |
| T37 | -- |
| 3 | F | 3 | 73 | -- | -- | -- | 73 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T41 | -- |
| 4 | F | 4 | 74 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | |
| T48 | -- |
| 5 | F | 5 | 75 | -- | -- | -- | 75 | |
| T48 | -- |
| 5 | F | 5 | 75 | -- | -- | -- | 75 | |
| T48 | -- |
| 5 | F | 5 | 75 | -- | -- | -- | 75 | |
| T51 | -- |
| 6 | F | 6 | 76 | -- | -- | -- | 76 | |
| T51 | -- |
| 6 | F | 6 | 76 | -- | -- | -- | 76 | |
| T51 | -- |
| 6 | F | 6 | 76 | -- | -- | -- | 76 | |
| 54 | -- |
| 7 | F | 7 | 77 | -- | -- | -- | 77 | |
| T55 | -- |
| 8 | F | 8 | 78 | -- | -- | -- | 78 | |
| T55 | -- |
| 8 | F | 8 | 78 | -- | -- | -- | 78 | |
| 57 | -- |
| 9 | F | 9 | 79 | -- | -- | -- | 79 | |
| 58 | -- |
| 12 | F | 12 | 82 | -- | -- | -- | 82 | |
| WD | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | 78 | -- | -- | -- | 78 | |
| WD | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | 55 | -- | -- | -- | 55 | |
| WD | -- |
| -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
Labels: US PGA TOUR
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