Tough start for Gary
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KU’s Gary Woodland had a rough opening round today as he tries to defend his U.S. Open title.
He shot a 4-over-par 74, with four bogeys and two double bogeys. Normally not an awful score considering the usual toughness of Open courses, but today the course was gettable. He’s already 9 strokes out of the lead.
I was kind of afraid of this. He’s hadn’t been playing well coming into the tournament, and I was even more pessimistic after I heard his press conference earlier this week. He said he thought that long hitters like him had an advantage, despite the thick rough. “I don’t think the long hitters really ever get penalized 'cause of rough…maybe if I get a decent lie with a wedge I’m gonna have a chance to get it on the green, where a shorter hitter misses the fairway and they’re not gonna be able to advance (with) a 7 iron…nobody’s gonna go bogey-free, I would imagine, around this place.”
As it turned out, his tee shots missed the fairway more than half the time, and he paid for it. And the short game that looked so good last year failed him.
No repeat this year for Gary…he needs a good round tomorrow just to make the cut.
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@nwhawkfan he’s really been struggling!
