As the remnants of Hurricane Debby dumped nearly 5 inches of heavy rain all over central North Carolina on Thursday, washing out the scheduled start of the Wyndham Championship, the golfers who gathered in Greensboro had time on their hands.
Beau Hossler, the 29-year-old pro from California, was antsy, parked in front of the television at his rental house.
“Basically, I did nothing,” Hossler said. “I sat inside, watched ‘Game of Thrones’ for a bit, drank some coffee. We had some people over at the house, and my physio made chicken parmesan. I’m not great at taking days off, but when it’s forced like that, you’ve kind of got to do it. Maybe I should do it more often.”
Maybe he should.
Because the delayed first round of Greensboro’s 85th PGA TOUR event was the Beau Show.
Hossler shot 7-under par on the front nine of the Donald Ross-designed golf course at stately Sedgefield Country Club on his way to a 10-under 60 Friday and the first-round lead.
Billy Horschel shot an 8-under 62 and was alone in second place, while Nick Taylor was third after a 63. Five players were tied for fourth at 64.
Hossler’s 60 was a career-best round for the eighth-year pro, who is still chasing his first PGA TOUR victory.
“I played really nicely,” Hossler said. “I drove it well, and probably the highlight of the round was my mid-irons. A few 6-irons I hit really close. I almost made a hole-in-one with a 5-iron. It was one of those days where it felt like everything went right.”
Almost everything, anyway.
Hossler stepped to the 18th tee needing a birdie to tie Brandt Snedeker’s course record 59. But his drive drifted to the left and landed in the rough. His approach shot from there found a greenside bunker, and he scrambled for par to close out the 60.
“When I birdied No. 15, I was 10-under. I knew it was a par 70, and I had a chance (at 59),” Hossler said. “But No. 16 is not a great birdie opportunity. On No. 17, if you get it in the fairway it’s a great opportunity. I hit a pretty good wedge shot there, but it just spun a little more than I thought.
“Any time you can make a 4 on No. 18 here, you’ve done well. I knew if I had any chance to make birdie, I had to get it in the fairway. Once I was in the left rough, there was just no way I’d be able to get it on that shelf to have a real look.”
Even so, it was a satisfying day for a player who came to Greensboro 87th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 75 after the Wyndham Championship advance to golf’s playoffs, which start this coming week in Memphis, Tenn.
“I figure I probably need to finish in the top three or four, if I had to guess, to have any chance,” Hossler said. “This golf course has not treated me particularly well in the past, so I was just coming here and trying to play as well as I could and see what I got.”
What he got was a terrific start — four consecutive birdies followed by a tap-in eagle putt on the par-5 5th hole.
“This golf course, if you drive the ball in the fairway, it’s very scorable,” Hossler said. “But playing this course from the rough is difficult. There are five or six particularly daunting tee shots for me — blind looks where you’ve got to curve it a little bit. In the past they’ve given me a bit of trouble. Today, I drove it beautifully. From in the fairway, you can make some birdies.”
Horschel’s round of 62 also tied a career low for him. He shot a 62 at Sedgefield in last year’s second round.
This time, he holed out from the fairway on No. 2, a 143-yard shot for eagle.
“It was a really good, solid round of golf,” Horschel said. “If you can put the ball in the fairway, which has always been the case here, you can be aggressive, especially with soft conditions.”
Fan favorite Matt Kuchar was among the players tied at 6-under 64. Kuchar needs to win this tournament to extend his streak as the only player to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs in each season since their inception in 2007 — the year before the Wyndham Championship made the move back to Sedgefield.
By Jeff Mills
Special to the Wyndham Championship
