There must be something in the water at The Old White TPC that suits Jonas Blixt. The defending Greenbrier Classic champion is once again in the lead after shooting an opening-round 64 to take the lead at 6-under. Blixt has played some of his best golf in this event, with five of his last 10 rounds of 67 or better coming at The Old White TPC, according to Justin Ray of Golf Channel.
The 30-year-old opened the round strong with birdies on two of his first three holes. He dropped a shot on No. 13, before ripping off four more birdies before making the turn at 5-under. Two more birdies on his second nine gave him eight for the round, good enough for a one-stroke lead. With conditions prime for scoring, Blixt played aggressively and attacked pins, like on No. 6 where he drilled a 175-yard approach shot to three feet.
Blixt made 21 birdies on his way to winning the event last year and he's on pace to top that number this year. After the round, he said he decided to play aggressively after stepping to the first tee.
"I talked to my caddie about it and on the first tee," Blixt said, via Golf Channel. "There was no wind, so I just said to him, ‘I'm going to be really aggressive today.' He was like, ‘Yeah, I like that.' Just go out there and make as many birdies as possible."
While Blixt holds the first-round lead, he was one of nine players to shoot 65 or better. Eight players, including former No. 1 amateur Patrick Rodgers, are tied for second place at 5-under. Another eight players are two off the lead at 4-under, leaving a total of 17 players at 4-under or better through 18 holes. Steve Stricker is among the players at 4-under and this week could go a long way to determining his upcoming schedule. Stricker is currently not planning to play in the British Open in two weeks, but that could change if he plays well enough to move into Ryder Cup contention. A win, or top 10 finish this week would move him closer to that range.
The field includes a couple of veteran players gearing up for the British Open with Tom Watson and Nick Faldo both shooting 1-over rounds of 71. Here is a complete look at the scoreboard following the first round:
Place |
Player |
Score |
1st Round |
1 |
Jonas Blixt |
-6 |
64 |
T2 |
James Hahn |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Jason Bohn |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Joe Durant |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Chris Kirk |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
D.A. Points |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Patrick Rodgers |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Jim Renner |
-5 |
65 |
T2 |
Danny Lee |
-5 |
65 |
T10 |
Sang-Moon Bae |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Michael Thompson |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Steve Stricker |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Kevin Na |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Troy Merritt |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Chris Stroud |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Pat Perez |
-4 |
66 |
T10 |
Chad Collins |
-4 |
66 |
T18 |
Michael Putnam |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Ben Curtis |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Davis Love III |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Charles Howell III |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Patrick Reed |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Charlie Beljan |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
David Lingmerth |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Tyrone van Aswegen |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Kevin Chappell |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Luke Guthrie |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Robert Allenby |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Keegan Bradley |
-3 |
67 |
T18 |
Bobby Wyatt |
-3 |
67 |
T31 |
Gonzalo Fdez-Castano |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Mark Wilson |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Marc Leishman |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Woody Austin |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Scott Langley |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
John Daly |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Robert Streb |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Ricky Barnes |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Brice Garnett |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Will Wilcox |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Jim Herman |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Tim Wilkinson |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Billy Hurley III |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Camilo Villegas |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Johnson Wagner |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Angel Cabrera |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Bubba Watson |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
J.B. Holmes |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Steven Bowditch |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
David Hearn |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Justin Hicks |
-2 |
68 |
T31 |
Jamie Lovemark |
-2 |
68 |
T53 |
Chad Campbell |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
James Driscoll |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Jeff Maggert |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Brian Davis |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
David Toms |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Bill Haas |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Trevor Immelman |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Troy Kelly |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Patrick Cantlay |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Greg Chalmers |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Gary Woodland |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Stephen Ames |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Steve Marino |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Josh Teater |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Bud Cauley |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Wes Roach |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Andrew Loupe |
-1 |
69 |
T53 |
Kevin Tway |
-1 |
69 |
T71 |
Brendan Steele |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Kevin Kisner |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Martin Flores |
E |
70 |
T71 |
J.J. Henry |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Jimmy Walker |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Scott Stallings |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Heath Slocum |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Spencer Levin |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Will MacKenzie |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Brad Fritsch |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Scott Gardiner |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Jason Gore |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Nick Watney |
E |
70 |
T71 |
George McNeill |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Matt Bettencourt |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Morgan Hoffmann |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Ted Potter, Jr. |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Brendon de Jonge |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Oliver Goss |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Bronson La'Cassie |
E |
70 |
T71 |
Alex Aragon |
E |
70 |
T92 |
Darren Clarke |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Jhonattan Vegas |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Justin Leonard |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
John Peterson |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Scott McCarron |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Benjamin Alvarado |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Richard Lee |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Derek Ernst |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Jonathan Byrd |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Vijay Singh |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Carl Pettersson |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Brendon Todd |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Webb Simpson |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Tom Watson |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Kyle Stanley |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Daniel Chopra |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Nick Faldo |
1 |
71 |
T92 |
Alex Prugh |
1 |
71 |
T110 |
Rory Sabbatini |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Mike Weir |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Scott Brown |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Tommy Gainey |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Sean O'Hair |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Andrew Svoboda |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Doug LaBelle II |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Edward Loar |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Andres Romero |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Roberto Castro |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Brian Harman |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Harrison Frazar |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Ken Duke |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Bryce Molder |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Troy Matteson |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Cameron Tringale |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Kevin Foley |
2 |
72 |
T110 |
Hudson Swafford |
2 |
72 |
T128 |
Brian Anania |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Paul Goydos |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Thorbjorn Olesen |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Neal Lancaster |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
William McGirt |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Shawn Stefani |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Stuart Appleby |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
D.H. Lee |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Ben Martin |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Tim Clark |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
John Huh |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Jeff Curl |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Robert McClellan |
3 |
73 |
T128 |
Miguel Angel Carballo |
3 |
73 |
T142 |
Charlie Wi |
4 |
74 |
T142 |
K.J. Choi |
4 |
74 |
T142 |
Peter Hanson |
4 |
74 |
T142 |
Nicholas Thompson |
4 |
74 |
T146 |
Scott Verplank |
5 |
75 |
T146 |
Y.E. Yang |
5 |
75 |
T146 |
Chesson Hadley |
5 |
75 |
T146 |
Daniel Summerhays |
5 |
75 |
T146 |
John Rollins |
5 |
75 |
T146 |
Peter Malnati |
5 |
75 |
T152 |
Tag Ridings |
6 |
76 |
T152 |
Brian Agee |
6 |
76 |
154 |
Mikey Moyers |
7 |
77 |
155 |
Rod Perry |
8 |
78 |