Alex Noren put a lot of effort into improving his wedge game, and on a tranquil day at Port Royal Golf Club on Thursday, it paid off as he fired 10-under 61 to lead early starters by two shots.
Despite the slight breeze, Noren was perfectly focused and took aim. With 11 birdies, he tied the tournament record, and his 61-hole score was two strokes better than his lowest on the PGA TOUR.
Robert Garrigus, Dylan Wu, and Vince Whaley were all at 63.
“There are plenty of wedges out there, and the conditions were really easy. However, after returning from Japan, where I had trouble with the wedges, I much improved them. I’m just incredibly delighted. Receiving a 10 under was wonderful. I had a really bad round a long time ago.” Nuren said.
His prior best came at the AT&T Byron Nelson last year’s second round, as he shot a 63.
On the PGA TOUR, it was the second week in a row with low scores, following a resort course that Tiger Woods created in Mexico. Last week, Erik van Rooyen prevailed at 27-under par.
Van Rooyen made the decision to withdraw and visit his best buddy, who is battling cancer in the latter months of his life in Minnesota. Garrigus, a former winner of the Tour, who had obtained a sponsor exemption at the last minute, took his spot in the Bermuda field.
Since April 2022, a questionable run of 20 tournaments, Garrigus has failed to make the cut in any PGA TOUR or Korn Ferry Tour event.
“I’ve been focusing on my short game a little bit, but I can’t claim I’ve been training particularly hard because my game was flawless today. I think it’s only been a month or so since I last played a few times. I believe I succeeded in shaking off the rust and having fun today, which is why I came out. It was a great time.” Garrigus said.
At 6,828 yards, Port Royal is one of the shortest courses on the PGA TOUR, and its best defence is the wind off the Atlantic. With the sun, palms, and views of the island, players had little resistance as the wind took a vacation.
After next week, the top 125 in the FedExCup standings maintain full status on the PGA TOUR and receive cards for 2024, while those in the top 150 receive some status.
Wu and Noren are secure. Since Whaley and Garrigus are much outside of the top 150, this week takes on even greater significance.
With his opening 66, Adam Long made a little bit of history. Large fairways are found in Mexico, and Long didn’t miss one over the entire previous week. He had hit the final two fairways in Las Vegas and the first eleven at Port Royal.
That’s 69 times in a row. A previous record on the PGA TOUR was 59 consecutive fairways.
“If nobody had approached me in the past 24 hours to say something, I doubt I would have given it as much thought as I did. But I definitely had the intention of starting. If you hit a hybrid on the first fairway, it will be quite difficult to hit the second one. Fortunately, I was hitting into the wind a little bit, so I hit a driver and managed to hang in the fairway precisely in the middle. I was just coasting after that.” Long said.
