by It was a good day to be a professional golfer named Patrick on Thursday. Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay share the lead at the Hero World Challenge after opening rounds of 65. The pair will start with a three-shot lead over the rest of the field on Friday. Leaderboard
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2018 was kind to both Cantlay and Reed, although public perception may tell you otherwise. Reed won the Masters, finished second in the Race to Dubai (eye roll), notched seven total top 10s on the PGA Tour and made it to East Lake for the fifth consecutive year. Personal life and surliness aside, he had a great year on the golf course.
As did Cantlay. The still-burgeoning tour pro won the 2017 Shriners and has notched eight other top 10s in the calendar year. He made the cut at the final three major championships and finds himself ranked in the top 20 in the world for the first time in his career. He has battled issues of slow play and has been slammed in the media, but his game still speaks for itself.
Anywho, both players fired rounds of 65 on Thursday and find themselves in a comfortable position. The pair actually teamed up for the Zurich Classic this spring, so they will be very comfortable playing together on Friday.
Other Leaderboard Notes
Playing in his first event since elbow surgery, Henrik Stenson opened with a 68 on Thursday. He sits just three shots back of the lead.
The World #1 carousel continues to turn and it is Justin Rose’s turn to try to take the top spot. He needs a T2 or better this week to overtake Koepka. An opening round of 70 puts him tied for 7th.
Tiger showed signs of rust on his way to an opening round of 73. His day was marred by a triple bogey on the 12th hole, but his iron play was off the whole day. Expect him to reign it in tomorrow.
Jason Day opened with a 71 on Thursday. He and his wife Ellie welcomed their second son into the world this month. His name is Arrow…this presented without further comment.
Houston, we have a project
Big news out of Houston with Tom Doak set to redesign the popular municipal Memorial Park Golf Course in the hopes of hosting the PGA Tour’s Houston Open as soon as 2020. Doak and Renaissance Golf Design will work with Brooks Koepka as a player consultant on the project. Memorial Park is a popular municipal course that sees upwards of 60,000 rounds per year. Read the full story here.
Shotgun Start: Hideki and his hero, Rickie hitting 30 and Cam Champ and the rooks
The PGA Tour’s Sean Martin joins the podcast in place of Brendan who is still in Disneyworld. A pair of Patricks sit a top the leaderboard but the story comes from the bottom with Hideki and his boyhood hero teeing off first. Sean spits some stats about the importance of Strokes Gained: off the tee and Andy debates consistency vs winning. Listen to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify
Quick Hooks
Don’t look now but Hosung Choi is back in the mix on the Japan Golf Tour. He is fighting with major champion Y.E. Yang for the top spot Golf Nippon Series JT Cup. Leaderboard
John Senden’s driver snapped during his backswing on Thursday causing a whiff. By rule, he had to take the ball off the tee and count the whiff as his first stroke. The rules of golf are fun!
Patrick Reed is leading the tournament but also continuing to talk about the Ryder Cup when asked. As you may guess, his comments on Thursday were spicy.
