FRYS.COM OPEN
NAPA, Calif. — The new PGA Tour season felt like an old one to a trio of Ryder Cup players Thursday at the Frys.com Open.
Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar and Jimmy Walker met on the 10th tee at Silverado. With a morning chill in the air and beautiful scenery of Napa Valley, it was vaguely similar to the rolling hills of Gleneagles just two weeks ago at the Ryder Cup.
Except that no one was singing. There was hardly anyone in the grandstand, or on the golf course.
“It’s a little strange off the tee when no one is really here at 7:45,” Mahan said after opening with a 2-under 70, leaving him four shots out of the lead. “And out there at 7, everyone is singing along and the party is already started.”
It was back to normal for those three Americans, along with Lee Westwood of England, who made two late birdies to salvage a 73.
And it was another chance for Andres Gonzalez, who made it back to the PGA Tour for the third time. He has yet to keep his card, and while this was only the first round of the new wraparound season, he was plenty happy with no bogeys on his card and a 6-under 66.
Bae Sang-moon made seven birdies in the afternoon and joined Gonzalez at 66.
The star attraction at the Frys.com Open was the Ryder Cup trio, and there were about 500 people tagging along by the end of their round. The par-5 ninth summed up the round for each of them.
Mahan lagged perfectly from 75 feet for a two-putt birdie. Kuchar showed off a sharp short game, and his pitch from short of the green struck the pin and settled about a foot away. He shot 71. Walker thought his full wedge was perfect until it took a hard hop and landed in a gnarly spot in the rough, leading to a bogey and a 75.
LPGA MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Top-ranked Stacy Lewis shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead in the LPGA Malaysia, the second event in the tour’s six-tournament Asian swing.
Lewis birdied the par-5 16th hole to break away from a tight leaderboard at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi, Hee Young Park, Eun Hee Ji and So Yeon Ryu were tied for second.
Lewis leads the tour with three victories and earnings of $2,279,352.
Defending champion Lexi Thompson opened with a 71.
PORTUGAL MASTERS
VILAMOURA, Portugal — Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts matched the European Tour record with an 11-under 60 in the first round of the Portugal Masters.
Colsaerts’s 18-foot foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th slid just left. He had seven birdies and eagled the par-4 15th and par-5 17th at Oceanico Victoria. It was the 19th 60 in the history of the tour.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and France’s Alexander Levy were tied for second at 63 in the round that was suspended because of rain.
The Associated Press