David Mathis takes early lead in Memphis

Little-known David Mathis took the lead after the first round of the St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind. Mathins, who is playing just his second season on the Tour and finished 13th on the Nationwide Tour money list last year, carded a first round 65 to take a one shot lead over the field.

Mathis leads by one from five players, including Robert Karlsson who lost in a playoff in this event last year. Karlsson’s round of 66 was matched by John Merrick, Kris Blanks, Kevin Kisner and Colt Knost, with recent HP Byron Nelson Classic winner Keegan Bradley and Fabian Gomez a further shot back on 3-under par.

Mathis isn’t a name that is familiar to many, and he turned pro back in 1997 after leaving university. Since then he has played on the lesser Canadian Tour and the Nationwide Tour. His last stint on the full PGA Tour was 2009 where he managed to card two top-25 finishes, but he didn’t make enough money to retain his card and dropped back to the Nationwide Tour for the 2010 season.

Eleven players carded 2-under par rounds, including Reteif Goosen, Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley; while defending champion and world number two Lee Westwood recovered from a slow start to post a 1-under par 69 to join 12 other players.

Robert Garrigus, who was also involved in that playoff with Karlsson and Westwood in 2010 after blowing a three-shot lead on the final hole shot an opening round 70 to join a large group of players on level par, including Westwood’s fellow tipster pick Robert Allenby, Ryder Cup player Padraig Harrington – returning to action after a knee injury – and former US PGA Champion Y.E Yang amongst others.

The third member of the tipster trio, course specialist and former winner of the St. Jude Classic David Toms, suffered a poor opening round and slumped to a disappointing 75, while Sergio Garcia faces an early exit from the tournament after a round of 78 which included an 11 on the par-5 third hole, where he found the water three times.

Palmer takes slender lead in HP Byron Nelson Championship

Spain’s Sergio Garcia is within one shot of claiming a first victory on any Tour since 2008 despite enduring a difficult third round at the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, Texas.

Garcia, who started the day as joint leader with United States’ Ryan Palmer, couldn’t find a birdie in his third round but did card four bogeys to go round in 74 shots to close on 4-under par. Garcia’s poor round might have been enough to see his challenge end, but Ryan Palmer equally made a hash of things.

The American fared little better than Garcia on the birdie front – finding just one gain and matching Garcia’s tally of bogeys to finish just one shot ahead of the Spaniard at 5-under par, leaving all to play for in the final round.

The windy conditions made good scoring difficult and the last three holes at TPC Four Seasons were played into the wind, and winds blew throughout the day at a sustained 25 mph, with some gusts hitting 40mph. Only eight players of the 74 left in the event managed to put together a sub-par round, while no player managed to avoid dropping at least one shot in their round.

India’s Arjun Atwal was one of the eight players to break par; his 67 moving him into a share of third place two shots behind Palmer. Atwal ‘s round included four birdies in five holes and he was joined on 3-under par by Japan’s Ryuji Imada, who carded a level-par 70.

Matt Kuchar – the highest ranked player in the field – and Gary Woodland both shot 68s to share fifth, along with Joe Ogilvy who shot a 2-over 72.

First round leader Jeff Overton is amongst a group of eight players on 1-under par and sharing 8th place. The group includes Nick Watney, who shot 73 and amateur Jordan Speith who opened his round with back-to-birdies before going on to card a 72.

Meanwhile tipster pick Dustin Johnson’s 69 moved him back to level-par for the tournament, five shots off the pace.

Garcia, Palmer tie Byron Nelson Championship lead

Sergio Garcia and Ryan Palmer share the halfway lead at the HP Byron Nelson Classic, TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, Texas. Palmer added a second round 67 to his opening 65, while Garcia carded a second successive 66.

Both players carded just one bogey each; Palmer’s coming at the 15th, while Garcia the 3rd and the pair scored 9 birdies between them to open up a three shot gap over Tim Petrovic and Scott Piercy on 8-under par 132.

Garcia showed no ill effects of the finger injury that forced his withdrawal from a British Open qualifier earlier in the week, hitting 11 of 14 fairways and 14 out of 18 greens in regulation on a breezy day that caught several players out.

“You would be happy with those stats on a day with not much wind,” Garcia said afterwards.

Palmer, meanwhile had made the cut only one in seven previous starts in this event, and prior to Thursday’s opening 65 had carded nine consecutive over-par rounds. Now, however, Palmer has elected for his caddym James Edmonson to call his shots, leaving Palmer the task of hitting them – and it is a strategy that has so far seemed to pay dividends.

“He’s never played good here and we finally decided that I was going to take over and just lead the horse around the ranch,” Edmondson said.

Nick Watney, Joe Ogilvie and Chad Collins share fifth place on 4-under par; Watney carding a 68, with Ogilvie a 70 and Collins a 69.

For the second year in a row, area amateur teenager Jordan Spieth made the cut at the Nelson. After his 2-under 68 on Friday, he was in a group of six players at 3 under.
Overnight leader, Jeff Overton shot a disappointing 74, while tipster pick Dustin Johnson became the sole representative for the weekend with a 75 to drop back to 1-over par. Both Charley Hoffman and Marc Leishman missed the cut following rounds of 74 and 77 respectively.

In total, 74 players made the cut at the 3-over par mark, including defending champion Jason Day whose second round 71 saw him squeeze in right on the mark.

Overton takes first round lead at HP Byron Nelson Championship

Jeff Overton’s bogey-free round of 64 was good enough to hand the Indiana golfer a 1-shot lead after the first round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas, Texas.

Overton, a three-time runner-up in 2010 and a regular pick in the Yourgolftravel.com PGA Tour tipster column, has yet to chalk up a victory on the Tour, but gave himself a boost after holing a tricky 10-foot putt for par that served as the catalyst for Overton’s six birdie haul without a blip.

Overton has missed only one cut in his 13 events to date in 2011, but has posted only one top-20 finish over the same period – a 6th in the Honda Classic.

Overton’s round of 64 saw him lead by one from fellow American Ryan Palmer, who shot 65. Palmer’s round could have been much better had he not carded a trio of bogeys during his round, but he still takes sole possession of second ahead of nine other players who shot 4-under par 66s.

That group of nine includes Spaniard Sergio Garcia, who had earlier withdrawn from a British Open qualifier this week due to an infected fingernail on his left hand. Garcia, who wasn’t fit enough to play a practice round ahead of this event, opened with a round that included an eagle on the par-4 10th hole, as well as a bogey on the 15th and three other birdies.

Garcia, a former Byron Nelson champion is seeking his first win on any Tour since his 2008 HSBC Champions success.

Garcia joins tipster pick Dustin Johnson, who was 2-over par after just two holes of his opening round courtesy of a double-bogey at the 11th hole – his second hole. From there, Johnson proceeded to bomb his way to six birdies with no further drops to share third spot on the leaderboard.

Johnson’s round of 66 was his eighth under par round from his last nine rounds in the Byron Nelson Championship.

The other tipster picks fared less well; Marc Leishman reached the turn 2-under par, but played the homeward stretch in 2-over to return a level-par 70, while Charley Hoffman made the turn in 2-over par, and posted the same total coming home to close 4-over after a round of 74.

Defending champion Jason Day opened with a 2-over par round of 72, mixing four birdies with an equal haul of bogeys and one double bogey.

Sergio Garcia’s Putter – Exclusive Interview

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