World's No. 1 finds himself 9 back of leader Van Pelt
By Alan Blondin - ablondin@thesunnews.com
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bo Van Pelt thought the tournament-record 8-under-par 64 he shot at Quail Hollow Club in 2006 was safe, considering the course has added length since then to a stout 7,476 yards.
Now he's not so sure, solely because of his own play Thursday.
He gave the tournament record he shares with two other players a run with a 7-under 65 that gave him a one-shot lead over Kenny Perry after the opening round of the eighth annual $6.5 million Wells Fargo Championship.
"I saw they added some length, and I thought to myself one time [Wednesday], I was like, 'Well, that 64 I shot is probably safe. I don't think anybody is shooting lower than that,' just because the greens have so much slope and they're so fast," Van Pelt said. "You can hit it in there close and you're just trying to two-putt."
Van Pelt didn't have to worry about Tiger Woods threatening the tournament mark after the world's top player recorded his highest opening nine-hole score in a tournament since the 2007 Players Championship.
Woods, in his second tournament after a five-month break from the game following revelations about his infidelity, shot a 3-over 39 on his opening nine and is tied for 88th at 2-over 74.
"I just didn't have it today," Woods said. "I had a two-way miss with everything."
Woods piped his opening tee shot down the fairway and birdied his first hole - the par-5 10th - but he gave the stroke back on the 12th, double-bogeyed the 17th with a tee shot in the water, and bogeyed the 18th and first holes to fall to 4 over. He managed to birdie holes 2, 5 and 8 before a closing bogey on 9.
Woods received positive fan support from the usual throng following his group, but he couldn't be buoyed by it.
"I was dropping balls out of hazards and finding balls in trees, so I had my own issues out there," Woods said. "I didn't really hear much to be honest with you, I was struggling so bad out there. I was just trying to piece together a round to keep myself in the tournament."
Woods failed to take advantage of rare pristine scoring conditions at Quail Hollow. The sun was shining on a warm day, greens were still a bit receptive because of heavy rain Tuesday night, and there was nary a breeze."This is one of those golf courses where if it's going good, you'd better try to get it because it can jump up and grab you in a heartbeat," Van Pelt said.
A total of 66 players shot par or better Thursday, including Camilo Villegas, who is alone in third and two shots behind Van Pelt at 67, and six players tied for fourth at 68, including Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Goydos and Andres Romero.
Perry, a two-time winner in 2009 whose only top-25 finish this year came in the season-opening SBS Championship, found some magic with an old driver and belly putter he hasn't used in a couple years.
"I found my old driver that I won twice with last year," Perry said. "I didn't know where I had left it and I found it and brought it here and drove the ball beautifully today. Thank goodness I found my old driver.
"... And I put a belly putter in play for the first time. I probably had 12 one-putts. I mean, I was making them from all over the place."
Van Pelt was also fortified by a long lost flatstick. He is second on the tour this year in the total driving stat and fourth in greens in regulation, so he's been among the game's best ball-strikers. But he's 162nd in putts per round. He said he went through about 10 different putters through the first three months of the year. "I was temporarily insane for about eight weeks," Van Pelt said.
He dug up the putter he won with last year and had used for about five years, but it was dinged up and rusty. So he sent it to be refurbished and shortened the shaft a bit before putting it back in play at the Verizon Heritage two weeks ago, where he tied for third for his best finish since his win.
"I guess I've got a lot of good feelings with that putter, so it was just good to have it back in my hands," said Van Pelt, who took 26 putts and one-putted 10 greens Thursday.
Van Pelt's first and only PGA Tour victory in eight-plus years on tour came in last year's U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee, which was played concurrently with the British Open and is now defunct.
"I felt like there had been four or five good opportunities to win, and for whatever reason on Sunday, it just wasn't my day," Van Pelt said. ". . . When I won in Milwaukee, the biggest thing was to me not to have to answer the question. 'Do you think this is going to be the first time you win?' or 'Hey, have you ever won on tour? It's just nice to be able to say yeah and kind of get over that hump."
He's playing with the pressure off, now, and believes the next win may come more freely. "Since then I haven't really put any pressure on myself to do it again," Van Pelt said. "Obviously I want to win again. I want to win a lot more. But I feel like every part of my game is getting better, and hopefully I'll keep giving myself chances."